Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
Ashton Kutcher's Date Was Murdered - The Michael Gargiulo Story
15 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What led Michael Gargiulo to commit his first murder?
Did you know that Ashton Kutcher was about to go on a date with a woman and she didn't show up because she was murdered? So this all starts with this teenager, Michael. And Michael, he's around 17 years old when this story starts and he's living in Illinois. And Michael, he's a creepy ass guy. Like he's violent and he tends to get obsessed with women that he finds attractive. And
One day in 1993, he decides that he's gonna act on these violent tendencies and murder just some random pretty girl. And his first target is gonna be this girl, his friend's sister.
And I don't know if he plans all this out or if it's like a spur of the moment thing, but one night he gets a knife and he goes to his friend's house, which they're like neighbors so they live pretty close, and he hides in the bushes outside the back doorstep. Sometime later, his friend's sister comes home from a night out. And suddenly, bam, he jumps out of the bushes and he starts stabbing her.
And he stabs her 12 times and this unalives her. Then he leaves. Later, police are called and they show up and they start investigating. But they can't seem to find any solid leads or any evidence against anyone. So the case goes cold and Michael never gets caught. And about five years go by and it's now 1998. And Michael decides to leave Illinois and move all the way to Los Angeles, California.
And there he tries to be an actor and a model, but eventually he gets a job as an AC repairman. And a few more years go by, and it's now 2001, and Michael's like 24 years old now, and he decides to strike again. He unfortunately finds another woman who he takes an unhealthy interest in. Her name is Ashley, and Ashley's 22. She lives like a block from Michael.
And one day, her car gets a flat tire. I assume that she's parked at home. And Michael, he sees this and he approaches her and he offers to fix it for her. And of course, she's nice to him because, you know, she's a nice person. But from that moment on, he becomes obsessed with her. And he starts kind of stalking her.
Like he'll park outside her place at weird hours and just wait, or he'll often just show up to her apartment unannounced. And one night, I guess his obsession becomes too much for him and he decides that he's going to murder her. Here's the thing about this night though. On this night, Ashley actually has a date scheduled. a date with an up-and-coming actor named Ashton Kutcher.
Now, it's only 2001 at this point, but Ashton, he's fairly well-known during this time. Like that 70s show, it's in its fourth season, and it's doing well. So Ashley is actually dating a well-known actor. Although they haven't been dating very long, like maybe a few weeks, and I don't think they're serious or anything.
But anyways, on this night, Ashton is supposed to take her to a Grammy's after party. So she's at home getting ready. And while she's getting ready, Michael shows up to her apartment. Maybe she let him in, maybe he let himself in, we're not really sure. But either way, he's there. And boom, he pulls out a knife and he starts stabbing her. And he stabs her 47 times.
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Chapter 2: How did Michael's obsession with Ashley Ellerin escalate?
And that is when he somehow meets this woman, Michelle. Michelle, she's another neighbor of his, although I believe he lives in a different apartment complex this time. But he meets Michelle and he becomes obsessed with her and he starts stalking her. And he lives pretty close to her, so it's not hard for him to do.
And so his creepy ass is always kind of waiting outside her apartment, ready to say hi to her, like, hey, where my hug at? Like he's that kind of guy. One night he decides it's time to strike again. So again, he waits until it's late and she falls asleep and then he breaks into her apartment. Then he sneaks into her bedroom and he pulls out a knife.
And bam, he starts stabbing her over and over again. And Michelle, of course, wakes up and she panics. And in her panic state, pow, she kicks him off of her. And when she does, Michael accidentally cuts his arm, which starts bleeding. And Michael, I guess he can't believe that she's fighting back. And he actually runs away saying, I'm sorry. And he leaves her apartment as fast as he can.
And when he does, he leaves a trail of blood from where he accidentally cut himself. So Michelle calls the police and they come out and they investigate. And they take that blood that he left and they put it in their database. And boom, the DNA is a match for Michael. And so, bam, the police go and they arrest him. Here's his mugshot.
And soon they're able to match his DNA to the DNA on the shoe covers, which links him to Maria's murder. Also, they're able to eventually connect him to the two previous murders as well. And so ultimately he goes to trial and he's found guilty and he gets sentenced to death.
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