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Celebrity Justice
Suspect Named in Murder of Ashton's Ex

Posted Aug 30th 2008 9:29AM by TMZ Staff

Ashton KutcherPolice have used DNA to link a man to the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin -- who happened to be dating Ashton Kutcher at the time of her death.

The story goes like this: Back in the pre-Demi days, Kutcher told police he went to pick up Ellerin for a post-Grammy party, but she didn't answer the door. He looked through a back window and saw what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet. He eventually left.

Those weren't wine stains and her body was discovered the next day by a friend.

Michael Gargiulo has been in custody since June for attempted murder of another woman. That's when DNA tests were used to link him to several murders, including Ellerin's.

Gargiulo's lawyer, Anthony V. Salerno, says he has not been charged in Ellerin's murder, but admits he's the prime suspect.

Tags: Ashley Ellerin, AshleyEllerin, Ashton Kutcher, AshtonKutcher, girlfriend, killed, Michael Gargiulo, MichaelGargiulo, murder, suspect

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(Page 5 of 5) Previous 15 Comments

61. i'm sorry but this is hilarious!! everyone blamin ashton for this even though we all have no idea if he's involved in it or not. everybody has their own opinion, i get it, but come on now!! we don't know the whole story and more than likely will never know so ya gotta stop blamin him for it.

Posted at 2:04PM on Aug 30th 2008 by satana

62. The real tragedy is that he didn't break in to have some of that delicious wine. Everyone knows that wine is a powerful antioxidant.

Posted at 2:22PM on Aug 30th 2008 by gluehead

63. I agree with Tam and find it odd he looks through the windows and notices red wine stains. What else did he possible notice that we may not know? I would be concerned with that alone to call someone for a key to open it up or the police since they had a date and he knew her well enough being her ex. I find it odd he was not more concerned about her well being afer looking through the windows? To do that after she not answering the door shows he was "looking" for her. She could have been upstairs ill needing help, although tragically it was worse. A date. No phone calls to break it. No one answers the door. He see red stains. Why did he assume they were wine? If it were me...CALL THE POLICE AND ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE A KEY. I wonder could she have still been alive if he would have acted right away? Will we ever know?

Posted at 2:01PM on Sep 3rd 2008 by suzanne

64. #46 bebe is smart~~Gee, psycho much? Go take your meds. Going nuts about someones comment on a cheesy gossip site tells me you aren't all there. Not a comment site? Sure looks like it to me!

#59 Leslie~~I don't think people think he had anything to do with it. I think they are just questioning how little he cared.....

Posted at 2:20PM on Aug 30th 2008 by Monkey Love

65. Um rwpoly: I agree to let the case unfold it takes years to get the evidence linked but age 22 to 23 is a MAN not a baby, child, or teen. A man and yes there are men that are insensitive and dumb. Dr Phil need to tell another man to get his *@#? out of a dixie cup. It's called passion and if he shows care and concern for Demi shouldn't he have the same care and concern about his EX. Not just assume that she left wine. I would be concerned if I saw left wine on the carpet and NO SHOW. Unless you had a open revolving door relationship which is something he's not claiming. Something that I do know. that even if he's the main suspect it makes there case stronger to have exhausted all your suspects. Since they have a guy that is in the lime light they need a case thats solid as a rock because they will have pressure on all sides and debates.
How clueless to have concern to look through window and not a concern about being missing and stains. Is he that insensitive or a murderer? Will the world ever know?

Posted at 2:50PM on Aug 30th 2008 by g8

66. MAybe she didnt mean anything to him...... he didnt have toi give those details to the cops,.....

Posted at 2:57PM on Aug 30th 2008 by Sammy

67. I agree with Tam: So, the murderer locked the door when he left? Didn't "Ash" try to open it? And, exactly, who leaves wine stains on their floor. I have read "Ash's" interviews on other matters. He sounds like he's slightly retarded (oh, I'm sorry, I can't say that word anymore). No, really; he sounds like he's a little slow. Yeah, cute, great smile, but... that's his level of concern, "It's a bummer"? What an SOB. But on top of all of this TMZ is pathetic. Because this poor woman was never Ashton's "ex." As someone else pointed out, they were dating. And so, in death, this poor woman, Ashley Ellerin, will always be known as "Ashton's ex"? What an insult to her memory, her family, her life, as if she had nothing to offer and she was no one and nothing. That's keeping with TMZ's "philosophy" that no one matters in this world unless they're celebrities. Yeah, great; that's fine, as long as it applies to the pigz who write and work for TMZ (yeah I said pigz--why bother spelling correctly? Animals can't read.).

Posted at 3:40PM on Aug 30th 2008 by Clearsky54

68. where in the article does it say the door was locked?

Posted at 4:03PM on Aug 30th 2008 by invictuz

69. #66--no where, dumb ass. We were wondering if Ashton tried the door...some of you people are so dense.....

Posted at 4:36PM on Aug 30th 2008 by WTF

70.
Seems to me that Ashton knew or could see what had happened and just didn't care to get involved with the whole mess. I'll bet when he was asked about the blood stains, the only thing he could think of to say was that he thought they were wine stains. The detectives must have rolled their eyes at that one.

It doesn't seem that Ashley was of any importance to him. What a sad story.

Posted at 6:10PM on Aug 30th 2008 by DIANE T

71. I think it is unfortunate that people these days are so blind and can just walk away after someone doesnt answer the phone or pick up. Wouldnt you be the least bit suspicious? How could is night have gone on...Any "normal" person, i think, would of had it on there mind the whole time as to why this person didnt answer or show up?? Strange...

Posted at 3:31PM on Sep 3rd 2008 by Molly

72. Quit over reacting already!

Posted at 1:07AM on Sep 1st 2008 by BB

73. I read a lot of you guys commenting that his explanation is too short and that he is "hiding something". What you need to realize is that there is obviously a LOT more to the story, and the police know it.
Often information is withheld from the media/public because sharing it would impede the investigation. I'm sure a lot more went down than Ashton showed up, saw what he thought were wine stains and left, and I'm sure that he told the police every detail. They just don't want to make those details public. Maybe Ashton saw something that only the killer would know, and they were waiting for someone to incriminate themselves by mentioning details that weren't public and nobody else would know about.
All I'm saying that if Ashton just said "I showed up, she didn't answer. I saw wine stains. I left", the police would NOT be satisfied. For him to not be considered a suspect, the police would have to have enough information to be completely satisfied that he was not their man.
Regardless, the loss of such a young life is a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends, and I hope that if nothing else they can at least get closure in this case.

Posted at 3:12AM on Sep 1st 2008 by Amanda

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