Michael Gargiulo | Ep.1

Michelle Ward (0:00)

This podcast explores themes of violence against women, rape and murder. It includes explicit dialogue. Listener discretion is advised. Please note, some of the voices you hear in this series have been performed by actors.

Under the shimmering lights of Hollywood in the 2000s, a killer lies in wait. He's someone people think they can trust, a neighbor. But he's biding his time, stalking the streets, hunting for his next victim. From ID and Aero Media, I'm criminal psychologist Dr. Michelle Ward, and this is Mind of a Monster, The Hollywood Ripper. Chapter 1, Michael Gargiulo.

SPEAKER_2 (0:44)

Michael Gargiulo was watching, always watching.

SPEAKER_3 (0:49)

She was stabbed, and I mean butchered, almost 50 times and her throat was cut.

SPEAKER_4 (0:56)

I touched her and she was like, you know, ice cold.

Nathan Solis (0:58)

That's when the shock set in.

Michelle Ward (1:00)

A media frenzy erupts when this modern day serial killer is convicted of attempting to murder one woman and succeeding in murdering two other women, all neighbors he ambushed in their own homes.

SPEAKER_6 (1:15)

News at 10, actor Ashton Kutcher appears in the Hollywood Ripper trial.

Michelle Ward (1:19)

For the first time in my work on the Mind of a Monster series, I'm investigating a case that as of today isn't over. This killer awaits trial in another murder case in Illinois.

SPEAKER_2 (1:32)

Trisha parked her car and walked up to the side of the house, key in hand, but she never made it inside.

Michelle Ward (1:40)

Throughout this season, I'll be delving into the disturbed mind of Michael Gargiulo. He's one of the most contemporary, and as a woman living in LA at the time, troubling serial killers I've investigated.

SPEAKER_7 (1:54)

The rage of the killing of Ashley was so extreme.

SPEAKER_8 (1:59)

The attack on Maria Bruno was so vicious, so callous, it almost was like a personal thing.

SPEAKER_2 (2:08)

The methodical and systematic slaughter of women by Michael Gargiulo. That's what this case is about.

Michelle Ward (2:26)

It's 2019 Michael Gargiulo is standing trial for multiple murder charges in Los Angeles. I remember it vividly. Dubbed the Hollywood Ripper case, it makes headlines all over the world. Journalist Nathan Solis reported on the case, and he takes me into that courtroom where the sole survivor is about to face her attacker.

So Michelle Murphy takes the stand. It must have been a moment of high drama. She's finally face to face with her attacker 11 years later. What do you remember about her testimony and the atmosphere in the courtroom at that time?

Nathan Solis (3:11)

The room felt incredibly fraught with tension, not necessarily out of fear for her safety, but fear for her having to confront this again. She was just so incredibly brave and strong in the eyes of everyone in that room at that time. I wrote in my notes because Gargiulo is about, I think, six feet tall and she's petite and she's much smaller than him, but she's tearing herself like she's 10 feet tall because she had so much courage and conviction to be up there. She struck me as someone who had no problem looking at Gargiulo. She was the one that survived and she looked directly at him. And I don't think that's something that we can all say for ourselves.

Michelle Ward (4:10)

Michelle Murphy's testimony opens the trial. Everyone wants to hear from the woman whose survival unmasked a suspected serial killer. The 37-year-old takes the stand. She's only a few feet away from the 43-year-old Michael. He's bald, pale and wearing thick-rimmed glasses. Virtually unrecognizable from the repairman with Hollywood good looks, who was Michelle's neighbor in Santa Monica back in 2008 Did she mention about her interactions that she had had with Mike Gargiulo before the night when he attacked her?

Nathan Solis (4:46)

Yeah. So the two of them lived in opposite apartment buildings in Santa Monica. And they had a common alley in between the two of them. And that's where they would park their vehicles. He had a utility truck parked. She would sometimes see him. And he would occasionally wave to her. That was the extent of their interactions.

Michelle Ward (5:10)

She didn't feel like she was being watched or stalked. No.

Nathan Solis (5:13)

No. But apparently his apartment looked right into her apartment. So it was just a matter of him looking out his window.

Michelle Ward (5:23)

Oh, gosh.

Michelle's testimony takes us back to April 28th, 2008, a warm spring evening in Santa Monica. She's put in her laundry and now she's working out in the back alley behind her apartment building. She's jumping rope. Michelle is 26 and keeps in good shape. She's 5'1 and attractive with dark shoulder length hair. By 9 p.m., her laundry is done. She empties the dryer and goes up to her second floor apartment to take a shower. A relaxed evening lies ahead. Her roommate is out of town, so Michelle has the place to herself. But it's a Monday night, so nothing crazy, just TV and then sleep. She cracks open the living room window to let in a cooling breeze before going to bed at about 10.30.