Michael Gargiulo ~ QUICK LINKS

This page will be periodically updated.

CASE NO. SA068002

PLAYERS

Defendant: Michael Thomas Gargiulo, (currently 36 and self-representing)
Prosecution: DDA Daniel Akemon & DDA Garrett Dameron
California Victims:
2001 Ashley Ellerin, 22
2005 Maria Bruno, 32
2008 Michelle Murphy (age at time of attack: 28)
Illinois Victim: 1993 Tricia Pacaccio, 18 (Calif. not prosecuting)

Case History
Michael Gargiulo was arrested on June 6th, 2008 for the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy in her Santa Monica home on April 28th, 2008.

While in LA County custody, on September 4th, 2008 he was also charged in the brutal stabbing deaths of Ashley Ellerin, 22, on February 21st, 2001 in her rented Hollywood Hills home, and Maria Bruno, 32, in her El Monte apartment on December 1st, 2005.

In total, there are seven counts against Gargiulo consisting of felony murder (PC 187a), attempted murder (PC 664/187a), first degree burglary (PC 459) and attempted escape (PC 664/4532(b)(1)). He has been in LA County custody ever since his arrest.

Gargiulo is also the suspect in a 20-year-old cold case murder that happened in the early morning hours on August 14th, 1993 in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago and Gargiulo's home town. Sometime after 12:30 AM, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio was stabbed to death just steps from her front door.  Gargiulo, a family friend and neighbor was 17-years-old at the time.  On July 7th, 2011, the State of Illinois charged Gargiulo with Pacaccio's murder.

The Chicago Sun Times reported Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Mark Lillienfeld (who testified in both Phil Spector trials) indicated that Gargiulo could be connected to the murders of ten women.

Prior Proceedings Court Clerk Case Notes
4/25/12
Defendant represented by Charles Lindner

05/14/12 
Defense Marsden motion argued and denied.
Court reporter's notes of Marsden motion ordered sealed.
Defense motion to proceed in pro per is granted. ("Pro per" means to represent himself. Sprocket)
Charles Lindner ordered relieved.
Discovery to be redacted prior to being turned over to the defendant.
Defense exparte motion for ancillary pro per funding 987.9 is logged with the court.
No objection by the defendant (for) subpoeaned documents received on 4/30/12 from Cook County Sheriffs Department are to be released to the people for copying.

05/23/12
Defendant has not received his pro per funds and has not been to (the) Law Library to prepare a motion for appointment of an investigator.
Matter continued for appointment of investigator and to have investigator in court.
Order directing defendant to supply oral buccal swab samples signed.
Defendant stipulates to chain of custody of records from Cook County Sheriff's Department.

06/5/2012
Defendant's motion pursuant to penal code 987. are filed and ordered sealed.
Said motions are transferred to assistant supervising judge in Dept. 123 for ruling.

06/19/2012
Defendant agrees to people giving notice to defense investigator to be present on the next court date.
Medical order is signed and faxed to Sheriffs Department Medical Services.

07/12/12
Charles Lindner is appointed as stand by counsel.
Clerk to give notice.
Next court date 08/21/2012

DOCUMENTS
Defense Motions
Continuance, Good Cause (PC1050)
Order to Receive and Have Boxes for Voluminous Discovery at MCJ (Capitol Case)
Order to Receive Law Library Privileges
(Exparte) Order for Defendant to Have One Hand Free and Uncuffed in Private Booth in Attorney Room at MCJ (Men's Central Jail. Sprocket.)
Order to Receive ALL Color Copies of Crime Scene Photos on CD and DVD

Prosecution Motions
People's Opposition to Defendant's Discovery Request for Physical Possession of...Crime Scene Photos

T&T PreTrial Coverage
08/21/2012 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 1
09/05/2012 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 2
09/26/2012 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 3
10/29/2012 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 4
11/28/2012 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 5
02/25/2013 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrail Hearing 6
03/20/2013 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 7 & Dmitriy Sheyko Sanity Ruling
04/26/2013 Michael Gargiulo Case: Pretrial Hearing 8

Mainstream Media Coverage
TruTV Crime Library
Michael Gargiulo Wikipedia
Chicago Sun Times
Chicago Mag.com
CBS 48 Hours The Boy Next Door (six part video of episode)
CBS 48 Hours Extra Michael Garguilo's Screen Test (video)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you and your families.

LAPD Cold Case Squad: Not Forgotten

David Lambkin, and some of the thousands of cold case files at the LAPD.

photo credit: Stefano Paltera

I'd like to point T&T readers to an excellent article by a wonderful writer I've had the pleasure to meet at the Stephanie Lazarus pre-trial hearings, Matthew McGough. Matthew wrote an in depth story on the Lazarus case that appeared in the June issue of The Atlantic.

In the Nov-Dec. issue of Miller-McCune, McGough takes us into the fascinating world of the Los Angeles Police Department's Cold Case Unit, the struggles visionaries had in getting the squad implemented, how the squad has grown in the past ten years and the headlining cases this unit has solved.

I was lucky to receive a print copy of the magazine, with photos and DNA charts. If you don't want to wait to pick up the issue, you can read McGough's article, Not Forgotten, online HERE.

Matthew McGough's web site

Stephanie Lazarus Pretrial Hearing 12

UPDATED


Stephanie Lazarus at a prior hearing



There is a pretrial hearing this morning in the Stephanie Lazarus case. You can find all my stories covering this case, as well as links to mainstream media stories here.

Lazarus is charged with first degree murder in the 1986 death of Sherri Rae Rasmussen, the new wife of her former boyfriend, John Ruetten. I will have an update on the hearing later this evening.








Sherri Rae Rasmussen




UPDATE 11:15 am

I arrive inside Judge Perry's courtroom, Department 104 a few minutes past 8:30. I'm in luck. The hearing hasn't started yet.

Sherri Rae Rasmussen's family is sitting in the front row. DDA Shannon Presby is speaking softly but intently to Nels, Sherri's father while showing him some documents. I get a couple seconds glimpse of the top page. I cannot be certain of what I saw, but it appeared to be a computer print of a photo of two people, outside in a beach setting. I "think" there was also quite a bit of text on the page also. The image looked "washed out" and I was too far away to recognize any faces in the few seconds I saw it.

DDA Paul Nunez is sitting beside Nels, Sherri's father, showing him something on a laptop.

Lazarus' mother is by herself, sitting on the very end of the first bench row. I don't see Lazarus' counsel anywhere. There are several reporters here from the mainstream media. Matthew McGough (who did that excellent piece in The Atlantic on the case), Greg Fisher, 48 Hours producer, Lisa, producer from ABC and Robert Dean, Dateline producer. The two Robbery-Homicide detectives are also here sitting on the right side of the courtroom in front of the bailiff's box.

8:41 am: Courtney and Mark Overland come out of the jail holding area. Presby comes over to Overland and is showing them a packet of information. Lazarus comes out from the jail area a few moments later. She's carrying a small bag and is wearing the same thing I've always seen her in, a white long sleeved undershirt on underneath her orange jumpsuit.

8:45 am: Judge Perry takes the bench and goes on the record, detailing that all parties are present. He states that this is a status conference, with the case set at 0/60 as of today. Perry asks if the parties are ready. Mark Overland asks the court to set the case for trial.

Presby states for the record that the prosecution handed over discovery to the defense today. Some of the discovery were items previously requested that they didn't' have as well as some new items. The prosecution also turned over to the defense Lazarus' LAPD personnel file, since the defense requested it and there are no privacy issues involved.

Presby then tells the court something that is somewhat of a bombshell, at least to the media in the gallery. The coroner's investigator, Lloyd Mahanay has died. He died on October 14th, 2011, just days before the case was originally slated to go to trial. Presby confirms for Judge Perry that Mahanay testified at the preliminary hearing.

Mahanay was the first witness the prosecution called at the prelim, and is also the key individual who collected the bite mark swab evidence from Sherri Rae Rasmussen's body at the scene back in 1986. The defense has contested this evidence because when it was found in the coroner's freezers, the envelope was torn and (apparently) the top of the evidence tub containing the swabs was sticking out.

Presby states the prosecution has received from the defense a report written by the defense's firearms expert. Presby tells Judge Perry that all other discovery items will be handled informally.

Judge Perry asks Overland what his schedule is like and Overland states he is in trial right now. Perry asks both parties about starting the trial on January 30th, 2012, by handing out the questionnaires on that date. Voir dire would then start on Thursday, February 2nd. If all went well then opening statements would start on February 6th.

Overland states that there are still some outstanding questions on the questionnaire and when would they be able to discuss those. Perry tells him that he has added a couple of questions per his request and he can E-mail the prosecution and defense the updated questionnaires so they can go over them.

I think something is said about the defense adding names to their witness list, but I'm not positive.

There is discussion about having one more pretrial conference to check in before trial starts. Judge Perry picks Friday, January 20th as a "soft date" and if there are any other motions to get them filed so that they can be argued on that date.

And that's it. The hearing is over. There is a short bit of friendly banter between Shannon Presby and Mark Overland and then Presby heads over to the family to speak to them out in the hallway.

LONNIE FRANKLIN, JR., QUICK LINKS

This page will be periodically updated.


Defendant: Lonnie Franklin, Jr., aka the "Grim Sleeper"
Defense: Seymour I. Amster and Louisa Pensanti

Prosecution:
DDA Beth Silverman
DDA Margueritte Rizzo

Victims:

From Wikipedia, list of Franklin's known victims in chronological order of attack:

Number	Name	Sex	Age	Body found
1	Debra Jackson	F	29	August 10, 1985
2	Henrietta Wright	F	34	August 12, 1986
3	Thomas Steele ‡	M	36	August 14, 1986
4	Barbara Ware	F	23	January 10, 1987
5	Bernita Sparks	F	26	April 15, 1987
6	Mary Lowe	F	26	November 1, 1987
7	Lachrica Jefferson	F	22	January 30, 1988
8	Alice Monique Alexander	F	18	September 11, 1988
9	Enietra "Margette" Washington‡‡	F	30	Survived
10	Princess Berthomieux	F	15	March 19, 2002
11	Valeria McCorvey	F	35	July 11, 2003
12	Janecia Peters	F	25	January 1, 2007

^‡ One of the Grim Sleeper's suspected victims, though there is no DNA evidence to support this claim. Being the only suspected male victim, it is believed that Steele either knew about Grim Sleeper's history of murders, or that he was friends with one of the victims.
^‡‡ Enietra "Margette" was told to use her middle name as her last name for her protection, but has since come forward as Enietra Margette Washington. Attacked on November 20, 1988, she is the only known survivor.

T&T PRE-TRIAL COVERAGE
7/11/ 2012 Going to Court: Gerhart Becker, Kelly Soo Park, Lonnie Franklin, Jr.
8/30/2012 Lonnie Franklin, Jr.: Pre-trial Hearing
10/24/2012 Kelly Soo Park Pretrial 8; Lonnie Franklin, Jr., Pretrial 3


OTHER MEDIA
Grim Sleeper Web Site - Based in England
CNN LAPD Uses Social Media to get ID Help on Grim Sleeper photo images 
DAILY BEAST More Potential Victims Linked to Grim Sleeper
DAILY BEAST More Bodies Linked: Tally now Sixteen 

LA WEEKLY Coverage
LA Weekly Grim Sleeper Archive

LA TIMES 
LA Times Grim Sleeper Archive
LAPD To Publish Unidentified Grim Sleeper Photos on Twitter, Facebook

New Trials Granted for Defendant's in Christian-Newsom Case

UPDATED

Murder victims Channon Christian, Christoper Newsom

I just finished watching live streaming on WATE.com out of Knoxville, Tennessee, the hearing regarding granting new trials for the convicted killers (Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman) in the Christian-Newsom murders. Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood granted the defendants new trials.

Occasionally the camera would pan to the parents of the two victims in the gallery. My heart went out to those parents and their extended families who will now have to sit through these trials and hear the gruesome details of what happened to their children all over again.

Blackwood could not contain his anger and disgust in revealing the tawdry details of Judge Richard Baumgartner's criminal actions while presiding over the Christian-Newsome cases. He sounded like an angry preacher at the pulpit. Blackwood, in his summation, stated that Baumgartner (who presided over drug court) knew since 2008 that he was addicted to pain pills. Blackwood stated that Baumgartner could of, at that time, stepped down from the bench but chose to continue taking pills. It's my understanding that the full details of Judge Baumgartner's crimes were initially sealed in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's (TBI) report. It was turned over to the defense attorney's back in September of this year. However, both the prosecution and defense attorney's agreed that the report would be treated as evidence in the hearing. Baumgartner's crimes included (but not limited to) trading drugs from defendant's who came before him in drug court to having sex in his chambers with a prostitute (Castleman) that he bought a phone for and paid some of her bills.

Update:
Some details from the hearing tweeted by WATE.com. (Thanks to my friend Carolina Blue, who also watched the hearing on live stream.)

"Baumgartner's physician, Dr. Dean Conley, tried to wean Baumgartner off his addiction and urged him to retire in 2008. Baumgartner admitted his addiction, but said he needed another three years on the bench."

"The TBI found that during breaks in Davidson's trial, Baumgartner would visit Castleman at St. Mary's Hospital behind closed doors for 15-20 minutes at a time. He told hospital employees he was her attorney."

"Baumgartner's assistant, Jennifer Judy, passed him a note during the Coleman trial when he slumped his head down. It said, "Sit up or get off the bench. You're disrespecting the families." "

UPDATE 12/6/2011:
Thanks to guest writer David in Tennessee, here is a link to a web chat with Knoxville reporter Jamie Satterfield, answering questions about Judge Baumgartner and the upcoming retrials.

Paper seeks to join Christian-Newsom case

Judge Grants New Trials in Christian-Newsome case