In 2001, fashion student Ashley Ellerin was killed in her Hollywood home, just months after meeting Ashton Kutcher for the first time. In the same month, of her murder, the couple reportedly struck up a romantic relationship. However, when Kutcher went to pick her up for a date he had no idea the Hollywood Ripper had tragically taken her life.
Ashley was tragically stabbed to death in her Hollywood home on February 21, 2001, where she was found with 47 stab wounds. On the same night, she was meant to go out with her new boyfriend, movie star, Ashton Kutcher. Testifying at her trial, in 2009, the star was forced to relive the horrific ordeal of the moment he found out what had happened, after ‘knocking on her door’ after she had been stabbed to death.
Ashton Kutcher saw a ‘stain on the floor’ on the night of Ashley Ellerin’s murder
On February 21, 2001, the No Strings Attached star went to the 22-year-old student’s flat, to pick her up as they were set to attend a post-Grammys party.
However, there was no answer at the door. Speaking at the trial, of a man dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, in 2019, he said: ”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.”
The star recalled peeking through a window, and seeing a red stain, however, thought nothing of it, assuming it was wine. He then left the property, but later came to realize it was Ashley’s blood, as she had been murdered by Michael Gargiulo.
Ashley had met then-24-year-old Gargiulo when going to get her tire fixed, prior to her death. Since then, the killer had been coming to her apartment uninvited, offering to fix things, which is when she feared she had a stalker.
Ellerin’s body was found a day after the murder, by a roommate. Upon finding out what had happened the day after their ‘planned date’ Kutcher said he was “freaking out” and told detectives his fingerprints would be on the front door of her home.
Michael Gargiulo was convicted of the murder of Ashley in August 2019, and was also convicted of the murder of Maria Bruno, 32, in 2005. He was also found guilty of attempted murder in an attack on a Santa Monica woman in 2008.
In 2021, he was sentenced to death for the two murders.
The star was three seasons into That ’70s Show when the murder took place
Kutcher rose to fame in 1998, four years before the murder, when he started playing Michael Kelso in That ’70s Show, alongside now wife, Mila Kunis.
At the time of Ashley’s murder, the show had three seasons, and the now 46-year-old was a 23-year-old star on the rise.
In terms of his movie career, the former Two and a Half Men star was coming off the comedy movie, Dude, Where’s My Car? with many more blockbuster features to come over the years.
In terms of his love life, the star began dating Dark Angel actress Ashley Scott in the same year as Ellerin’s murder. However, they called it quits after nine months.
He married Demi Moore in 2005, before filing for divorce seven years later, when he then began daring Mila Kunis, 14 years after first meeting.
The celebrity couple tied the knot in July 2015, and have two children together.
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