Ashton Kutcher testifies at ‘Hollywood Ripper' trial after friend's murder

LOS ANGELES — Actor and entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher took the stand Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom in the murder trial of a man known as the “Hollywood Ripper.”

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Kutcher told the court that he arrived at the home of Ashley Ellerin in February 2001 to take her on a date, but he said she didn't answer the door. He said he knocked, tried the front door and looked in a window, where he said he saw what looked like wine stains on the floor, according to ETonline. Then he left.

Ellerin, 22, was found murdered the next day by a roommate, and prosecutors say the "Hollywood Ripper," Michael Gargiulo, killed her. Gargiulo, 43, is also accused of another murder and attempted murder between 2001 and 2008, ET reported.

The actor, who is best known for his roles on “Two and a Half Men” and “That ‘70s Show,” said he had spoken to Ellerin earlier in the day and had planned a date with her for later that night, but Kutcher said he was late and he thought she had already left by the time he arrived.

"I knocked on the door, and there was no answer," Kutcher testified, according to The Associated Press.

"I knocked again, and once again, no answer. At this point, I pretty well assumed she had left for the night, and that I was late, and she was upset," he said.

He said he was “freaking out” when he found out the next day that she had been murdered.

Prosecutors believe Gargiulo entered Ellerin's home when she was in the shower and stabbed her 47 times until she was nearly decapitated, according to the BBC.

He pleaded not guilty to two murder charges and an attempted murder charge. He’s facing a separate murder charge in the death of an 18-year-old woman in Illinois in 1993.

Cox Media Group