Report: Detectives Think 'Hollywood Ripper' May Have Killed 10 More Women
LOS ANGELES (CBS) -- A detective in California thinks the man charged with the 1993 murder of a young Glenview woman, already dubbed "the Hollywood Ripper," might also be responsible for as many as ten other killings.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Regine Schlesinger reports, last week, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez announced murder charges against Michael Gargiulo, 35, in the murder of Tricia Pacaccio, 18, of unincorporated Northfield Township near Glenview.
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Gargiulo was a friend of Pacaccio's brother.
He is now being held in Los Angeles on two fatal stabbings and an attempted murder.
Now, Los Angeles County Sheriff's detective Mark Lillienfeld tells the Chicago Sun-Times that Gargiulo issued a "cryptic" statement while being held in California in 2008.
Gargiulo, who had been working at an air conditioner repairman and had been inside thousands of homes over a period of years, told authorities just because 10 women in the homes were killed doesn't mean he was responsible, the Sun-Times reported.
But a spokeswoman for Alvarez told the newspaper the statement by Lillienfeld was "inflammatory and misleading."
Pacaccio's parents have fought for years to have Gargiulo charged with their daughter's murder. DNA evidence linked him to the case eight years ago, but he wasn't charged back then and remained free and allegedly continued to kill.
Last May, BS's "48 Hours Mystery" devoted an hour to Pacaccio's case, which led to Correspondent Maureen Maher getting a tip from a man who used to work with Gargiulo in New York. Ultimately, two witnesses came forward, claiming Gargiulo bragged about stabbing a girl in Chicago and leaving her for dead.
