'I thought it was red wine': Ashton Kutcher recalls horror of girlfriend's 2001 murder as trial of 'serial killer' looms



Actor will come face-to-face with suspect during trial



Violent deaths of two other women linked to case

Arrest made after DNA evidence recovered from victim who survived attack

Actor Ashton Kutcher is due in court next year to testify in the trial of alleged serial killer Michael Gargiulo.

The 32-year-old actor has rarely spoken about the violent stabbing death of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin in 2001 - but his testimony to police reveals shocking details of what he saw on the night of the murder.

Gargiulo, now 34, is facing trial for the murder of Ellerin and two other women - and the attempted murder of a fourth.

He was arrested in 2008 after DNA evidence was recovered from the Santa Monica apartment of Michelle Murphy, who survived an alleged knife attack in April of that year.



Police say the evidence also links Gargiulo to the fatal stabbing of a Monterey Park woman in 2005 and the 1993 killing of high school classmate Tricia Pacaccio in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, where Gargiulo lived at the time.

Brutally stabbed: Prosecutors say Ashley Ellerin, above left, was attacked and fatally stabbed by Michael Gargiulo, abover right, in her apartment in 2001



On February 21 in 2001, Kutcher had received a call from his new love interest Ellerin.

The student, aspiring model and part-time stripper had tried to make a date with the then 23-year-old actor - but Kutcher had fatefully turned down the offer.

He said he would later come to visit her at her Hollywood bungalow - just behind the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Kutcher told police that he later tried to call Ellerin twice during the evening but she had not picked up her phone.

Kutcher drove to her apartment at 10.45pm in the hope of smoothing over what he thought was a looming argument, and found that the lights were on in her apartment and her car was parked outside.

After knocking on the door and calling out to her with no answer, Kutcher said he looked through a window into the apartment and saw what he thought was red wine pooled on the floor.

Difficult time: Ashton Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore look stressed as they leave Cube Restaurant in Los Angeles

He thought she was angry at him for not making the earlier date and left.

Unbeknown to Kutcher at the time, Ellerin had been stabbed 35 times and was lying dead just beyond his view from the window. The red wine he had seen pooled on the floor was her blood.

Kutcher's testimony next year will be crucial for prosecutors to prove the time of death and strengthen their case.

Gargiulo knew Ellerin and friends of hers say that he had taken an intense interest in her in the time before her murder.

The court case will undoubtedly bring back memories for Kutcher, who went on to marry actress Demi Moore in 2005.

Moore was at his side yesterday as they left The Cube restaurant in LA.