Jury finds 'Hollywood Ripper,' man who killed Ashton Kutcher's friend, guilty

Accused serial killer Michael Gargiulo was found guilty by jurors Thursday on two counts of first degree murder, TMZ reported.

KNBC reported that prosecutors portrayed the 43-year-old as a "stone-cold serial killer who preys on women."

Gargiulo has been nicknamed the "Hollywood Ripper" because of the nature of his attacks.

In May, actor Ashton Kutcher took the stand on behalf of 22-year-old fashion student Ashley Ellerin, his friend who was one of Gargiulo's victims, E! News reported.

According to TMZ, Kutcher said in his testimony that Ellerin was supposed to be his date to a 2001 Grammy's after-party. He went to her home and knocked on her door at 10:45 p.m., but got no answer. He said he looked through the window and saw what he thought was red wine spilled on the floor and left.

Ellerin was found dead in the house the next morning. She had more than 47 stab wounds.

Gargiulo is also accused of fatally stabbing 32-year-old Maria Bruno in her El Monte, California, apartment in 2005, and stabbing 26-year-old Michelle Murphy in her Santa Monica apartment in 2008. KTLA reported that Murphy survived and fought off Gargiulo, causing him to cut himself and leave a trail of blood, which led to his arrest.

He is expected to stand trial over the 1993 killing of Tricia Pacaccio, who was stabbed to death outside her family's Chicago home, according to E! News.

Before then, on Tuesday, he will move to the sanity phase of the trial to determine his state of mind during the California killings.

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