All Episodes

March 15, 2024 • 47 mins
The Hollywood Ripper trial begins nearly 28 years after the murder of Tricia Pacaccio. Michael Gargiulo is on trial for the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno, as well as the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy. Due to California law allowing "prior bad acts" evidence to be introduced, prosecutors also detail the murder of Tricia Pacaccio to show a pattern of behavior and the eerie similarities between each of the attacks. Michelle Murphy, the lone survivor, also testifies at the trial. We speak to detectives who worked on the case, plus former L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Joshua Ritter about key aspects of the trial, and the most impactful witnesses in the attack on Michelle Murphy, and the murder of Tricia Pacaccio.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
On May second, twenty nineteen,almost twenty eight years after Tricia Paccaccia was
killed in Glenview, Illinois, themurder trial for Michael Garzulo finally began in
Los Angeles Superior Court. Garzula wason trial for the murder of two women,

(00:29):
twenty two year old Ashley Ellren andthirty four year old Maria Bruno,
and the attempted murder of twenty sixyear old Michelle Murphy. The prosecution team
was made up of La County DeputyDistrict Attorneys Dan Aikman and Garrett Damerin.

(00:50):
Garzula was represented by lead defense attorneyDale Rubin and Daniel Nardoni. After he
was originally arrested in two thousand andeight, it took Garzulo over ten years
to finally get to trial due todelays throughout the preliminary hearing, as well
as Garzulo changing lawyers multiple times,even representing himself for a few years.

(01:14):
When the trial finally got under way, Garzulo was a much different looking man
than when he was initially arrested.His head was completely shaved. He sported
a white goatee and black rim glasses. The judge presiding over the case was
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry PaulFiddler. The jury was made up of

(01:38):
five women and seven men. Theprosecution alone had nearly two hundred and fifty
witnesses. As prosecutor Dan Aikman beganhis opening statement, he showed pictures of
the four women Garzula was accused ofstabbing. Aikman called Garzulo the boy next

(02:00):
door killer, saying he would identifya target that lived close to him,
then he would hunt them down andslaughter them, referring to Garzulo's crimes as
the methodical and systematic slaughter of women. Another focus for the prosecution would be

(02:20):
the proximity of Garzulo to each ofthe women. Later in the trial,
the prosecutors even took the jury outto view the crime scenes in an effort
to show exactly how close he livedto all four victims. Aikman also showed
the jury pictures of all forty sevenstab wounds scattered throughout Ashley Elren's body.

(02:46):
Maria Bruno was also found with seventeenpuncher wounds. The chilling nine one one
call for both the Murphy attack andthe murder of Maria Bruno in Almont were
played in the courtroom. The natureof how Elren and Bruno were murdered was

(03:06):
another key point to connect the crimesto Garzulo, as well as multiple statements
Garzula made to witnesses and his moof watching his victims stalking them until he
attacked. The case would have fourseparate attacks to dissect. The jury was
tasked with establishing Garzulu's guilt in threeof them. In Garzulo's defense team opening

(03:32):
statement, attorney Daniel Nardoni countered thatover the course of the trial, the
jury would see that no physical evidencelinked Garzulo to either of Ashley Elrend's or
Maria Bruno's murders. He argued therewere several other men who had better access
and motives for killing both women,including the two men who were at Ashley

(03:54):
Elrend's house the night she died,as well as Irving Bruno, the estranged
husband of Mario Bruno, who hadbeen out with Maria the night she was
murdered. But there was no denyingit was Michael Garjulu who was at Michelle
Murphy's apartment when she was attacked inApril two thousand and eight, on day

(04:17):
two at the trial, Michelle Murphy, the only survivor of the four attacks,
took the stand. Let's bring inreporter Mark Mester, former anchor reporter
at kg LA. Mark, howimportant was Michelle Murphy's testimony and what do
you remember about it? Well,I think Michelle Murphy is the reason why

(04:41):
this killer is behind bars. Shewas the one who was stabbed, I
believed more than a dozen times whilein her home in Santa Monica. For
whatever reason, this brave woman wasable to fight back and that's how authorities
were alerted and that's how it initially, that's how they captured Michael. But

(05:01):
yeah, Michelle was essentially the missingpiece of this puzzle and how she not
fought back, this serial killer wouldstill very much be on the loose.
Michelle Murphy told the court how shewoke up to find a man straddling her,
stabbing her in the arms and chestwith a serrated knife. Murphy demonstrated

(05:23):
the attack to the court, showinghow her attacker stabbed her repeatedly with his
left hand. This was another keypoint for the prosecution because Michael Garjula was
left handed, and later evidence wouldshow the other attacks, according to the
DA, were also likely committed bya left handed attacker. To try and

(05:48):
save herself, Murphy wrapped her handaround the blade of the knife and kicked
the attacker off. After the attack, Murphy said she locked the door and
closed the window in the living roomwhere the man had climbed in. She
called her boyfriend first, who callednine to one one around eleven forty seven

(06:11):
pm. As police arrived. Shewas taken by ambulance to the hospital.
She later underwent hand surgery, physicaltherapy, and counseling to deal with the
effects of the attack on her Murphytestified that she never went back to her
Santa Monica apartment. She moved toa new place and had family and friends

(06:32):
pack up her belongings. Santa Monicapolice officer Stephen Smetzer was first on the
scene. Smetzer also testified, tellingthe court he found a large amount of
blood in Murphy's bedroom and living room. He also saw a shoeprint on the
railing below the opening window where theattacker had cut the screen to gain entry,

(06:57):
and a trail of blood leading fromthe front door of Murphy's apartment to
the back alley where Garzulo's apartment wasMurphy also told the jury that in the
months before the attack, she wouldsee Garzulo in the alleyway, parked in
his gust the plumber Van. Murphysaid he would wave at her from the

(07:20):
driver's seat and did so as manyas ten times, possibly more than twenty.
Other than that, the two neverinteracted. One of Garzulo's former co
workers, Aaron Miranda, later testifiedthat he saw Michelle Murphy twice outside of

(07:41):
Garzulo's home, and that Garzula wouldcomment that Murphy was hot and that he
wanted to get with her. Healso described Garzulo getting out of the van
once to stay hi to Murphy.Also testifying for Michelle was her then boyfriend
Vincent, who is now her husband. Buno described her as hysterical after she

(08:05):
was attacked. He remembered telling herto leave the apartment and go to Woolshire
Boulevard, which he thought was ahighly traffic area where there would be people
on the street. Buno hung up, got into his car, and drove
to Murphy. A third witness inthe Murphy case was her roommate Oga,

(08:26):
who was in Poland at the timeof the attack and didn't hear about it
until days later, Like Murphy,she never returned to the apartment either.
One of Garzulo's old friends from GlenView, Mark Petridge, who stayed in
touch with Gardulo after he moved toCalifornia, testified that he met up with

(08:48):
Michael Garzulo and his then wife AnnaLuis in San Diego in two thousand and
eight. Petridge testified that Garzula wasacting nervous and out of sorts during the
two days, and even talked aboutplanning to move to Mexico. He also
noticed Gardula had a bandage on hishand which seemed to be from a cut.

(09:11):
Garzulo told him it was from workstuff. Remember, Michelle, Murphy's
attacker sustained a self inflicted cut tohis hand while she fought him off.
Less than a week after Garzulo leftSan Diego, Petridge found out Michael was
being charged for murder. Chad Goodwin, a sergeant for the Santa Monica Police

(09:35):
Department, was one of the twoofficers who transported Garzulo to jail when he
was arrested in two thousand and eight. Goodwin told the court that while Michael
was being transported, he asked officerswhat agency they were with. Unlike the
murder cases Garzula was accused of,his defense team did not challenge to the

(10:00):
attack on Michelle Murphy, but theycontinued to deny Garzula's involvement in the two
California murders. And even though Garzulawas not being tried for the nineteen ninety
three murder of Tricia Piccaccio at thetrial, prosecutors were still able to show
jurors the evidence of Pocaccio's murder underthe California Prior Bad Act statute. Let's

(10:26):
bring back criminal defense attorney and formerLa County Deputy District Attorney Joshua Ritter.
Josh what is the Prior Bad Actstatute and how can it be used in
a case like this? Prior BadActs evidence, or different incarnations of the

(10:48):
same idea are used in other jurisdictions, but in particular in California, it
falls under Evidence Code eleven one BEAnd what that essentially says is, first,
you cannot try a person just basedupon their character. So, in
other words, you cannot present evidencein court of all of the bad things

(11:11):
that a person may have done intheir life. They were cheated on their
taxes, or they committed different typesof property crimes in an effort to prove
that they committed something like murder.So we don't allow for a person to
be prosecuted just based on their badcharacter, but there is an exception for

(11:37):
prior bad acts or uncharged crimes ifthose crimes fall into certain categories that are
helpful to prove something other than thatperson's character. Meaning if you can prove
intent or motive, or a lackof accident or a common plan. There

(11:58):
are different exceptions where you can showthat. Listen, in a prior uncharged
incident, this person, we cantie this person to having committed something remarkably
similar to what they're being charged withhere, and you can use that to

(12:20):
prove that they were the person whocommitted this crime or that they had a
similar motive for the person that we'reaccusing of this instant crime. And it's
incredibly powerful evidence because of the waythat jurors naturally think. They think,
what are the chances that this personwould have done something so similar before,

(12:41):
And especially if you have more thanone prior bad act to present to a
juror, it can be very verypowerful evidence. And it is a practice
that's used often by prosecutors, butis also very closely washed because again judges

(13:01):
and the appellate courts are concerned tobe making sure that we are not prosecuting
someone for their bad character. Theother thing I should add of why it's
so powerful is that those prior badacts do not have to be proved beyond
a reasonable doubt. So as longas you can prove those prior crimes,
those uncharged prior crimes beyond what's calleda preponderance of the evidence, the jury

(13:28):
can use that for its intended purpose, and preponderance is a much lower standard
than beyond a reasonable doubt. Preponderancejust means more likely than not, So
that's where you will see uncharged crimes. Where it might be a crime where
police and everyone else believe that personcommitted it, but they don't feel it

(13:48):
strong enough to have brought that crimeas a standalone crime on its own.
They'll use it as prior bad actsor eleven ZHO one B evidence that could
be very impactful evidence in a case. Ultimately, it'll be up to the
jury, based on the facts andcircumstance, to determine whether someone's guilty or

(14:13):
innocent, but the fact that badacts come in can significantly impact the case.
To discuss the evidence in Tricia Poccaccio'scase, her parents, Rick and
Diane Pocaccio testified, as well asTricia's younger brothers, Douglas and Thomas Poccaccio.

(14:37):
The Pocaccio family all testified that Triciawas known to be very clean,
washing her hands and showering frequently.Rick Poccaccio also testified about how they would
frequently fight about Tricia taking long showersand using up all the hot water.

(14:58):
He also noted she had showered thenight of August thirteenth before leaving for the
road rally that night. Rick knewMichael Garzilo as a kid from the neighborhood,
even helping Garzulo fix his car sometimebefore Tricia's death. He talked about
his relationship with Tricia's brother Doug,but said there was no relationship between Michael

(15:24):
and Tricia. Then he recalled themorning he found Tricia. Tricia's brother,
Doug, who was friends with Garzulofrom a young age, testified as well.
He spoke about the night Tricia wasmurdered and how he and three of
his friends had actually gone to theroad rally where he saw Tricia. He

(15:48):
was the last member of the Pocacciofamily to see her alive. Doug spoke
about his relationship with Garzulo, butsaid they saw each other less frequently by
the summer nineteen ninety three, butDoug did see Garzulo the night of Tricia's
murder. After attending the road rally, Doug testified that he stopped by a

(16:12):
party with his friends, then returnedhome and planned to go see a movie.
Coincidentally, it was Michael Garzulo whodrove Douglas Boccaccio to the movie that
night. Garzulo and his then girlfriendpicked up Doug along with his friend Jonas

(16:33):
Lndren, dropping them off later thatnight. The next morning, Doug Boccaccio
woke up to the sounds of hisfather screaming. Tricia's other brother, Thomas
Boccaccio, also testified Thomas was friendswith Garzulo's younger brother. He also woke
up abruptly that morning to the soundsof his older brother charging up the stairs,

(16:59):
running into Trisha's room after seeing herdead on the doorstep. Thomas testified
that Michael Garzula was among the neighborswho had gathered around the house, which
was now corded off by the police. Thomas said when he finally went outside,
police had to physically restrain his father, who was yelling at Garzulo who

(17:21):
did this. Friends of Garzulo andDoug Paccaccio were also called to testify about
the night Tricia was murdered. Hishigh school girlfriend, Allison, was particularly
important for the Paccaccio case. Shewas also with Michael, Doug, and
Jonas that night. The next day, the same morning Tricia's body was found

(17:45):
outside, Michael had called her aroundeight am, asking her to come over
because he wasn't feeling well. Allisonsaid she had plans with her parents that
day, but at nine am,Michael called back crying about Tricia Poccaccio being
murdered. She eventually went over tohis house to comfort him. One day

(18:10):
later, Allison was back in Michael'sroom speaking to him about Tricia's murder.
Michael then said he had to getrid of some knives and told her not
to speak to the police. Allisonalso confirmed that Michael hadn't had any contact
with Tricia Poccaccio before she dropped himoff at home on the night Tricia was

(18:32):
killed. Remember, Michael Garzulo wasn'tcharged in two thousand and three because Cook
County couldn't prove that as DNA onTricia's fingernails didn't come from casual contact.
The court also heard from two keywitnesses in the paccaccio case, Teamer Leary

(18:52):
and Anthony d Lorenzo. Despite checkeredpassed and spending time in and out of
prison, it was Leary and DeLorenzo's testimony to a grand jury that finally
got Cook County state attorneys to presscharges. The defense attacked their credibility and
questioned why they were deciding to comeforward now, particularly timer Leary. De

(19:19):
Lorenzo testified that Garzulo brought up amurder in Chicago six or seven times,
originally saying the police were after himfor a murder he didn't commit, but
the key conversation happened in two thousandand two inside De Lorenzo's car, where

(19:40):
Garzulo said he had buried the bitchand left her on the stairs for dead.
Timer Leary also testified he spoke aboutseeing the CBS forty eight Hours episode
on TV seeing Rick Boccaccio speak abouthis daughter Tricia and how it broke him.

(20:02):
He texted de Lorenzo about it andposted the comment on patch dot com
about his knowledge of Garzulo before eventuallyspeaking to Cook County detectives and a grand
jury in Chicago. The defense attemptedto attack his credibility, going over his
text messages with de Lorenzo and howLeary had asked for immunity before testifying to

(20:27):
the grand jury. Attorney Dale Rubinalso grilled de Lorenzo on the different names
Timur would use since he was facingcharges in New York while he was in
California. De Lorenzo said Timer woulduse names like Michael de Lorenzo, Tony

(20:48):
Stork, and while he was workingat the Rainbow Room with Garzulo, he
went by Michael Stewart. Let's bringback Maureen maher former correspondent for forty eight
hours. Maureen, what did youknow about Tim or Larry when you spoke
with him? Was a story credible? I think Teamer would be the first

(21:10):
person to tell you he's like theworst possible witness that anyone could have in
any kind of case. Timer forsure has a pass where He's been in
trouble throughout the eleven years that wewere waiting for Guardulo to go to trial.
Timer had been in and out ofjail, and at one point when
Doug Longini went to see him,he was in I believe he was in

(21:36):
a jail in upstate New York.I'm not one hundred percent sure was upstate
New York, but like we hadto visit him in jail to have a
conversation with him. It's also oneof the reasons we didn't put him on
TV right away was like he haddeep concerns about some past events in his
life that if he got on TVthat it could cause more trouble. He

(21:56):
really just wanted to get the informationto Cook County. He didn't trust Cook
County and Cook County didn't trust him, and I really, to be honest
with you, did not have afull appreciation for how tenuous that relationship was
between Team or Anthony and Cook Countyuntil years later when he got up on

(22:18):
the stand during the trial in Californiaand they testimony as to just how difficult
it was. And I think thedefense used that in the la trial.
They used that to try to useit to their advantage that you know,
he didn't have a stellar pass.This is a guy who he's got a
record, and you know, theprosecution doesn't normally like to deal with people

(22:42):
who have records. But his testimonyis pretty solid. I found him to
be credible. Just because you havea record doesn't mean you're not credible.
You have to find out what thatperson was in trouble for and does it
relate in any way to the testimony. He was in no way offered any
deals. He just wanted protection.And at one point during the la trial,

(23:04):
the defense was going after him saying, well, why would you need
an attorney? What were you askingfor? Why did you need an attorney?
And Teamer yelled from the witness standbecause Moreen Maher told me to which
I'm not sure those weren't exactly mywords. But when I spoke with him
the day after we first ran theguard Zulo program in May of twenty eleven,

(23:25):
and he seemed extremely concerned about interactingwith investigators, I said, you
should have a lawyer to represent you. So I don't think I implied they
that it wasn't a good idea forhim to talk. It was more like,
look if you're concerned, take alawyer with you. But all you
need to do is tell the truth. And you have more than one person

(23:47):
who heard guard Julo say what hedid. You have two guys. They
both might have sketchy backgrounds, butif you have a lawyer there representing you,
you can separate whatever it was thatthey did. They got in trouble
from before with the incredibly important andpertinent information that they're trying to pass on
to Cook County in a case thathas gone nowhere in decades. Several DNA

(24:11):
experts with the Illinois State Police testifiedabout the DNA found on Tricia's fingernails,
which matched Michael Garzulo. Karen Abinanti, a forensic scientist with the Illinois State
Police, is the one who didthe testing on Tricia's fingernail clippings and the

(24:32):
key chain found at the crime scene. Abinanti testified that she swapped all eight
of Tricia's nails using one swab andscrubbed the undersides and the top sides of
all the nails. She told thecourt how the mixture found on Tricia's fingernails

(24:52):
identified Tricia and a male profile thatcould not be excluded from Michael Garjiah.
Abananti explained that ordinarily, in thatsituation, she would expect to find a
small amount of someone else's DNA onanother person's fingernails, but in this case

(25:14):
there was just as much of Garzuloas there was for Tricia. Abananthi said
that typically that amount of DNA froma foreign profile could be consistent with a
struggle if there was scratching, punching, or something of that nature. She
also testified that frequent hand washing wouldaffect whether or not foreign DNA would stay

(25:41):
on a person's fingernails. Remember,Tricia's family testified that she washed her hands
frequently and had showered before going outto the road rally the night of her
death. Interestingly, Abananti said shealso found a partial profile on the keychain
that matched Tricia and one other unknownindividual, but that profile was not Michael

(26:07):
Gardulo. Greg D. Dominic,who was also employed by the Illinois State
Police Forensic Science Center, also testifiedthat when comparing the DNA from Tricia's fingernails,
the male profile that was identified wouldbe expected to occur in one in

(26:30):
ninety eight billion black individuals, onein three hundred and ninety million white individuals,
or one in five point seven billionHispanic unrelated individuals, while the DNA
and how it was collected became akey point of contention. Remember, Garzula

(26:55):
wasn't on trial for the murder ofTricia Boccaccio. As the trial continued,
the focus shifted to the murder ofAshley Elren, the first woman Michael Gargulo
allegedly killed after he moved to California. Key witnesses for Ellern's murder included Detective

(27:15):
Tom Small, Ashton Kutcher, whowas supposed to go out with Ashley the
night she was murdered, Mark Durbin, Ellren's landlord and lovefling, who admitted
to having sex with her hours beforeshe was killed, several of Ashley's friends,
and a blood spatter expert who wouldtestify about the crime scene. One

(27:37):
of Ashley's roommates, Jennifer DeSisto,also testified about finding Ashley's body the next
morning. She was asked about Ashleystating five different men at the time she
was murdered, including her apartment managerMark Durbin. The defense questioned her about

(28:00):
these relationships, and the friend tellingdetectives that Ashley would joke about having sex
with multiple men just so she coulduse them. The next key witness was
also the most famous one, ActorAshton Kutcher, took the stand to testify
about the night he went to pickup Ashley for a party after the Grammys,

(28:22):
but left when she didn't answer thedoor. Kutcher told the court that
he knocked on Ashley's door around tenforty five pm, but she didn't answer.
He knocked again and assumed she hadleft for the night because he was
late. Kutcher testified that he lookedinto the window and noticed a red stain

(28:45):
on the floor, which he thoughtwas red wine and didn't think it was
anything out of the ordinary. Kutcher'stestimony was key for establishing a timeline for
Ellerin's murder. He last spoke toher at eighty four pm over the phone
to tell her he was running late. He testified that she told him she

(29:07):
had just gotten out of the shower, but when he called her around ten
pm to say he was on hisway, she didn't pick up. Kutcher
also testified about finding out about Ashley'smurder the following day. He said he
went to detectives and said, myfingerprints are on the door and that he
was freaking out. Kutcher was nevera suspect, according to the police,

(29:32):
and wasn't publicly linked to Ellern's murderinvestigation until three years after her murder.
In two thousand and four, whenAshley's parents spoke with In Touch magazine.
Her father, Michael, said Kutcher'sbehavior that night Ashley was killed suggests he
felt she was a disposable date,adding that because of him, the perpetrator

(29:56):
got a twelve hour head start.Julo's defense team didn't cross examine Kutcher.
Instead, they used his testimony topoint the figure at another witness, Mark
Durban, Ashley's apartment manager, whowas a last known person to see Ellern
alive. Durbin told police he wasin her apartment between seven pm and approximately

(30:23):
eight fifteen the night she was murdered. According to Durbin, the two had
sex around seven fifteen, and thenhe left while Ashley was getting into the
shower. He said he left aroundeight fifteen to get home to his girlfriend,
who was to arrive home at eightthirty. Defense attorney Dale Rubin hammered

(30:45):
Durbin about the timeline and his owntestimony of what happened while he was in
the apartment when Ashton Kutcher spoke toAshley at eight twenty four pm. She
said she was getting out of theshower, but Durwin testified that he was
still there when Ashley was taking ashower. He also told police that while

(31:08):
he was there, Ashley got aphone call and was making plans with another
man. Attorney Ruben argued the callwas Ashton kusher call at eight twenty four,
questioning how Durbin could have been inthe house while the call happened and
while Ashley was in the shower ifhe left at eight fifteen. When Ruben

(31:32):
asked Durbin how that would affect histime frame, Durbin responded that it would
certainly would, noting when he saideight fifteen pm it could have been eight
twenty five pm. He said itwas possible he was still there at eight
twenty four pm when Kutcher called.Ruben was questioning the timeline of events because

(31:55):
Ashley's neighbor, Todd Jackson, hadtestified that the knight of ashton murder,
he was walking his dog across thestreet and heard a woman's scream. Between
eight fifteen and eight thirty pm,Jackson said his dog alerted twice in the
direction of Ashley's house. Durbin alsotestified that he called Ashley twice between nine

(32:21):
and nine twenty pm, but Ellerndidn't answer. Prosecutors believe by then she
was already dead. Durbin said heknows those calls were to Ashley because he
remembers not being able to reach her. Attorney Dale Rubin asked Durbin bluntly about

(32:42):
six phone calls he made that night, including one at one fourteen am,
but Durbin said he couldn't remember ifhe had called Ashley or his girlfriend.
Rubin also pointed out Durbin had afresh cut on his arm that detectives had
noted in a report. Durbin saidhe showed police the cut because he was

(33:04):
worried he could be a suspect inAshley's murder. He continued to grill Durbin,
asking if he had ever spoke tohis girlfriend, who was now his
wife, about his affair with Ellerin. Durbin said they never discussed it,
and Reuben accused him of lying toher for years. Several of Ashley's friends

(33:29):
testified about Garzulo's presence at the apartmentin the weeks leading up to her murder.
As Christopher Durand pointed out, Garzulohad shown up to a party at
the residence weeks prior. Anthony Costellanitestified he actually offered to stay with Ashley

(33:49):
that night because he was worried aboutleaving Ashley by herself after Garzulo kept staring
at Ashley all night. During openingstatements, the prosecutors showed a photo from
the party with Ashley and her roommateswith two other friends. In the background
of the photo, a shadowy figurecould be seen looking on from the background.

(34:14):
Prosecutors believed the man shown in thebackground was Michael Garzulo. Another one
of Ashley's friends, Monica Grandy,told the court about Garzula once opening the
front door to Eleren's home with thekey. She said Ellern was upset and
yelled, what the eff are youdoing here, and she testified that Garzulo

(34:35):
appeared angry and said something about needingto check the furnace, but left the
house after the exchange. Another keywitness for the prosecutors was blood spatter expert
Steve Shalibi, a senior criminalist forthe La County Sheriff's department who testified about
the blood drops and the bloody shoeprints in the hallway of the Ellrence crime

(34:58):
scene. Shlee testified that the bloodyfootprints were headed out towards the door,
with the blood drops being generally tothe left of the shoe prince. According
to shleeby that indicated the attacker usetheir left hand to kill her. As
the prosecution pointed out multiple times throughoutthe trial, Michael Garzulo is left handed.

(35:24):
Ellern's case relied heavily on circumstantial evidencebecause there was no DNA found at
the scene and no witnesses who sawGarzulo enter or leave her apartment that night,
but a big part of the prosecutor'scase against Garzulo also relied on stories

(35:44):
he would tell to friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Merco Hoffmann testified
that Garzulo, at one time afriend of his, liked watching Americus,
most wanted to learn from criminal's mistakes, and if he ever was accused of
a crime, he plans to lie, lie until you die. Hoffman testified

(36:08):
that Garzulo talked about the murder ofa woman who lift a block away from
him in Hollywood, sharing intimate detailsabout the murder, including that the victim
was attractive and got her head cutoff. According to Hoffman, Garzula would
also research forensic science online. Garzulo'sdefense team tried to bar Hoffman from testifying,

(36:32):
arguing he had researched the case onlineand accused him of being biased against
Garzulo. The next stage of thetrial focused on Maria Bruno. Unlike Ashley
Ellern's murder, there was key DNAevidence at the crime scene of Bruno's murder.

(36:52):
A blue medical booty found just outsideMaria's apartment had three drops of blood
that mapped the DNA of Maria Bruno. As Mark Lillianfeld told us. Investigators
also found DNA matching Michael Garzulo onthe elastic band of the booty. We

(37:13):
also spoke with Lillianfeld about the matchingbooty found in the attic of Garzulo's apartment,
along with a Christmas cart addressed tohim. Susanna Netchel, a criminalist
with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentCrime Lab, testified about the DNA found
on the booty. The court alsoheard from several people who had interacted with

(37:37):
Garzulo, including some of Garzulo's neighborswhen he lived in Almonte. The apartment
manager, Grace Urius, testified thatwhen Mario Bruno moved into the complex,
she was very concerned about security andmentioned her divorce from her husband Irving,
and didn't want him to have access. Us also remembers Garzulo asking her if

(38:02):
he could put cameras in front ofhis apartment door. When detectives searched Garzulo's
apartment in the complex, they founda false bottom, which Urius said was
not there before when she rented theunit out to Garzulo. Another neighbor,
Frances Jeremio, spoke to Garzulo inthe laundry room following Maria Bruno's murder.

(38:28):
She said that Michael Garzulo had toldher that Maria's breast had been removed and
put in her mouth, but DetectiveLillienfeld said that type of information wasn't even
public, showing Garzulo had intimate detailsabout the investigation. He also remarked that
police don't have blood at the crimescene. Brenton Dolson, another neighbor,

(38:53):
testified that Garzulo had spoken to himabout Maria Bruno one day in the apartment
complex, saying that's how I likehim, thin with large breasts. Grace
Quack, Garzulo's girlfriend at the time, who he lived with in the Elmonte
apartments across from Bruno, testified thatshe had seen Garzula wearing blue booties for

(39:15):
his job as an air conditioning repairman. Quack was on the stand to speak
about their relationship, how Michael wasphysically abusive, stayed up all night,
and would come and go at allhours. As Quack tells it, she
grew tired of being abused, soshe moved out on Thanksgiving weekend to move

(39:39):
in with her parents. Days afterthe murder, Quack was with Garzulo in
a Pasadena restaurant when she came acrossan La County Sheriff's department flyer with Bruno's
photo on it and a composite drawingof a man Bruno's neighbors saw, stocking
her. After seeing the flyer andrealizing it occurred in the same apartment complex

(40:02):
they lived in, she spoke withGarzulo about it. According to Quack,
Garzulo responded that he knew the womanand she was very beautiful. He also
mentioned that he had once helped hercarry her groceries inside. He also seemed
to know intimate details about Maria,noting she drove a Mercedes, worked in

(40:25):
a video shop, had kids,and was divorced. Defense attorney Daniel Nardoni
questioned Quack about her interview with detectiveswhere she said she didn't think Garzula was
living at the Almonte apartment back whenBruno was murdered. Quack responded that while

(40:45):
they were living together, Garzula wouldsometimes not come home at all. She
said she believed Garzulo was spending muchmore of his time with another woman,
Velma Correo, the mother of hisfriendild Maria Bruno, had four children herself
with her husband Irving Bruno, anotherkey witness for the Bruno case. Irving

(41:09):
Bruno testified next. He spoke abouthis relationship with Bruno, describing the couple
as homebodies until two thousand and five, when hiring a nanny allowed them to
start going out and eventually led toMaria beginning to drink more. Irving testified
that on two occasions he was abusivetowards Maria, pushing her once years prior

(41:34):
during an argument, but in twothousand and five the two had been out
for a night and got into anotherargument in the car. When they arrived
home, Irving walked around the car, threw Maria to the ground, and
punched her in the eye. Policeweren't called and no charges were laid,
but Irving said that was the beginningof the end of their marriage, and

(41:58):
they separated soon after that incident.As Mark Lilianfeld told us, Irving volunteered
a lot of this information to policewhen he was interviewed after the murder.
The Brunos did speak about divorce,but according to Irving, Maria wanted to
give it some time and see wherethey are in a year. Irving also

(42:21):
testified about the day before Maria waskilled. He and Maria had spent the
day together, taking their son toa doctor's appointment, toys r us,
lunch at Denny's, then grocery shopping, and a carpet store to purchase some
rugs for Maria's apartment. Later thatnight, the two went to a local
restaurant called Carmen's and had some drinks. At one point, Maria went to

(42:45):
the bathroom and cut her hand,which the restaurant manager helped her with.
The manager also testified that Maria wassloppy drunk that night and had to be
cut off by the bar. Irvingsaid they eventually he left the restaurant around
two am, then, after stoppingat Irving's to pick up Maria's keys,
headed to her apartment. Irving hadto describe in detail how the two had

(43:09):
sex, starting from the bathroom andthen to Maria's bed. After Maria fell
asleep, Irving said he got dressedand put a blanket on Maria to cover
her up. He left the apartmentaround three am and drove back home around
eight am. The next morning,he had no way to get a hold

(43:31):
of Maria since she had left hercell phone in his car, so he
drove his car back to her apartment. Irving knocked on Maria's door for three
to four minutes, loud enough thata neighbor hurt him and asked what he
was doing. He explained he wastrying to reach someone inside. Then look
through the window. He noticed thebathroom light was on, which he thought

(43:54):
was odd, and then he noticedthe screen for the window was on the
floor. Irving opened the window andcrawled into the apartment. He noticed a
set of knives on the kitchen floor, then saw blood in Maria's bedroom and
eventually found her body with one ofher nipples cut off and placed on her

(44:15):
chin. He called nine one oneand then spent ten to twelve hours at
the police station, where he cooperatedwith detectives, allowing them to search his
home and business, and giving themthe clothing he had worn the night before
as evidence. During the cross examination, defense attorney Dale Reubin grilled Irving for

(44:39):
over two hours. He focused onIrving's story of hitting Maria, as well
as Maria seeing other men during andafter their relationship, accusing Irving of becoming
jealous. He also zeroed in onIrving telling detectives that he would sometimes blackout

(45:00):
when he was drinking, which hesaid happened the night he hit Maria.
There were questions about Irving's testimony aswell. He told detectives that the night
Maria was killed, the couple hadleft the restaurant around two am, but
the restaurant manager testified there was areceipt of their bar tab at eight thirty

(45:21):
two pm, leaving a few hoursbetween Maria receiving her last drink and the
couple leaving. Irving also said hewent home that night because he had money
from the couple's business in his carthat he was worried about leaving overnight in
Almonty. The defense pointed out thathe had left the money in the car

(45:43):
throughout the day while the couple hadgone to the doctor's appointment with their son,
to toys ARUs at Denny's for lunch, and then later at that restaurant.
Irving also spoke about Maria's blood beingfound in the front passenger seat of
the car, a Nissan Armada.He told investigators that Maria would sometimes masturbate

(46:06):
while riding in the seat and mayhave done so while menstruating. Irving Bruno's
cross examination took almost a full dayin court. Finally, the trial moved
on. After Irving's testimony, prosecutorstook the jury and the judge to all
three of the California crime scenes inHollywood, Almonte, and Santa Monica to

(46:29):
see where the victims and Garzulo livedat the time of each crime. Garzulo's
lawyers were present, but Garzulo wasvoluntarily absent. He also objected to the
jury being allowed to see the locationduring the day, noting that the murders
occurred at night and quote, whatthe jury is going to see during the

(46:53):
day is not going to be thesame exact way as it would be in
the evening as far as visibility andviewing the building. Once the jury viewing
was complete, the lawyers, jurors, detectives, and Judge Fiddler returned to
court for the final stages of thetrial. In our next episode, we

(47:16):
wrap up the final witnesses, closingarguments, and the jury's verdict with a
possible death sentence on the table.I'm Kelly Hyman and this is once upon
a crime in Hollywood, the HollywoodRipper.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

1. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

1. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

2. The Joe Rogan Experience

2. The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

3. Dateline NBC

3. Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2024 iHeartMedia, Inc.