FASHION student Ashley Ellerin was killed in her Hollywood home in 2001.
Here we take a look inside the tragic death of the 22-year-old student and her connection to Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher.
Who was Ashley Ellerin?
Ashley Ellerin was a 22-year-old fashion student from North California.
She attended the LA's Fashion Institute of Design of Merchandising in the fall of 2000.
Tragically, in February 2001, Ashley Ellerin was brutally stabbed to death.
How did Ashley Ellerin know Ashton Kutcher?
Ashley Ellerin met Ashton Kutcher, who was then an up-and-coming actor, in December 2000.
The pair later reportedly started a relationship in February 2001.
Ashton – who began dating Ashley that month – testified at the trial, and detailed the night she was found dead, revealing how he went to pick up the 22-year-old fashion student to take her to a post-Grammys party.
What happened to Ashley Ellerin?
Ashley Ellerin was found in her Hollywood home with 47 stab wounds, on the night she was due to go on a date with Ashton Kutcher on February 21, 2001.
The impact of the stab wounds had nearly decapitated her.
The man convicted of her death was Michael Gargiulo.
Prior to her death, Ashley had met then-24-year-old Michael Gargiulo when she went to get her flat tyre fixed.
Ashley feared she had a stalker after her killer had started showing up to her apartment unannounced offering to fix things.
Detailing the night Ashley was found dead, Kutcher told the court of how he arrived at her home, but his date didn’t answer the door.
He explained: ''I knocked on the door. There was no answer. Knocked again.
''And once again, no answer. At this point I pretty well assumed she had left for the night, and that I was late, and she was upset.''
He added that before he left, he peeked through the windows and saw what he described as a stain on the floor.
He said: ''I saw what I thought was red wine on the carpet. But that wasn’t alarming because I went to her house party [days before] and it was like a college party.
''I didn’t think much about it.''
He added: "I remember the next day after I heard about what happened, I went to the detectives and said 'my fingerprints are on the door'.
''I was freaking out."
The stain later turned out to be Ashley’s blood.
Who is Michael Gargiulo and where is he now?
Michael Gargiulo is a former bouncer, air-conditioner repairman, and aspiring actor who was convicted in August 2019 for murdering Ashley Ellerin in 2001.
He was also convicted of the murder of Maria Bruno, 32, in 2005 – but at his sentencing, he argued he shouldn't have been convicted.
"I'm innocent. I've been framed by tunnel-vision detectives," Gargiulo said.
The former bouncer, air-conditioner repairman, and aspiring actor was also found guilty of attempted murder in an attack on a Santa Monica woman in 2008.
In 2021, Gargiulo was sentenced to death for murdering the two women.
Daniel Nardoni, one of Gargiulo's lawyers, objected to the sentence, saying "it's not right to execute a mentally ill person."
Gargiulo's crimes were "vicious and frightening," according to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler who sentenced him to death.
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