Convicted serial killer Michael Gargiulo extradited to Illinois for 1993 murder of teen Tricia Pacaccio

By Todd Feurer, Lauren Clark, Ruth Chenetz, Chuck Stevenson, Doug Longhini, Maureen Maher, Dave Savini, Josh Gelman

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — Convicted serial killer Michael Gargiulo appeared in a Cook County courtroom on Friday, after he was extradited from California to face charges in the 1993 stabbing death of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio.

Cook County Judge Anthony Calabrese ordered Gargiulo, 48, held in the Cook County Jail as he awaits trial on a first-degree murder charge in Pacaccio’s death.

“The arrest and prosecution of Michael Gargiulo marks a crucial moment in our pursuit of justice for Tricia Pacaccio,” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. “While nothing can erase the pain of her loss, we remain committed to the Pacaccio family and are grateful that they can finally see this case move forward.”

Gargiulo, the so-called “Hollywood Ripper,” already is facing a death sentence in California in the 2001 stabbing death of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin – who was killed just hours before she was about to go on a date with actor Ashton Kutcher – and the 2005 slaying of Maria Bruno, a 32-year-old mother of four young children. He was also found guilty in the attempted murder of 26-year-old Michelle Murphy in Santa Monica in 2008.

“48 Hours” correspondent Maureen Maher has been on the trail of Gargiulo for more than a decade and helped break the case wide open.

Pacaccio’s murder is a case “48 Hours” has been working on since the summer of 2008. It took years to gain her parents trust — that maybe somehow by telling Tricia’s story, “48 Hours” could help catch her killer.

After Pacaccio’s family heard that Gargiulo was arrested in California in 2008, they were certain he would soon be charged with Tricia’s murder; but nothing happened until 2011, when “48 Hours” ran its first show, “The Boy Next Door,” on the so-called “Hollywood Ripper” and Pacaccio’s unsolved murder. Almost immediately after the show aired, a witness reached out to correspondent Maureen Maher.

“48 Hours” put the family in touch with Chicago authorities and soon after, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced he had been indicted in Pacaccio’s murder, 18 years after her death.

Gargiulo, however, didn’t appear in a Cook County courtroom until Friday, as his California case made its way through the courts.

In 2019, Gargiulo was found guilty of all charges in the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno, and the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy. Gargiulo was a neighbor of each victim at the time of the attacks.

Ellerin was found stabbed dozens of times and nearly decapitated, while Bruno’s body was mutilated as she slept, prosecutors said during the trial. Because of the violent nature of the murders, the killer was nicknamed the “Hollywood Ripper.” But prosecutor Dan Akemon said he was more like the “boy next door,” noting that he lived near all of his victims and appeared to obsess over them before their murders.

In February 2001, Garguilo murdered 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin in her Hollywood Hills home. She had been stabbed 47 times.

Kutcher arrived to pick her up for a date following the murder, but left when she did not answer the door. He testified in Gargiulo’s trial.

In 2005, Gargiulo is accused of killing a young mother, 32-year-old Maria Bruno, who lived in the same El Monte apartment complex as him. Her breasts had been cut off.

In 2008, Gargiulo moved to Santa Monica, where prosecutors say he tried to stab another woman, 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, to death. Murphy, also a neighbor of Gargiulo, escaped and survived.

In 2021, Gargiulo was sentenced to death in the California cases.

Pacaccio’s parents spoke with CBS News Chicago Investigator Dave Savini in 2010 about their fight to get justice for their daughter.

Rick Pacaccio found his daughter stabbed to death on family’s doorstep on Aug. 14, 1993, with her house key in her hand.

“How could this be? How come I couldn’t help her,” the father told Savini in an emotional interview. “When they need you the most, you can’t help them.”

Authorities suspect that Gargiulo hid in the bushes and waited for her to come home in the middle of the night.

Diane Pacaccio says her daughter struggled with her killer.

“I know my daughter fought back, too, but he stabbed her too many times,” she said.

At the time of Pacaccio’s murder, Gargiulo lived down the street from Pacaccio, and was a classmate of hers at Glenbrook South High School, but wasn’t officially linked to the case until 2003 when Gargiulo’s DNA was found on Pacaccio and it turned out to be a match. At the time, Cook County prosecutors declined to approve charges against Gargiulo.

“What we had to go through is insulting,” Pacaccio’s mother, Diane, said in 2019 after Gargiulo was convicted in California.

Pacaccio’s friends and family have argued for years that authorities in Illinois mishandled the case against Gargiulo, allowing him to go free to commit more crimes.

California police think there may be even more victims than those Gargiulo is convicted of killing or attacking.

Meantime, Gargiulo is due back in court in Cook County on Sept. 20.

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