LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) – Actor Ashton Kutcher told a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday (May 29) that he was in turmoil after learning that a young woman, who was supposed to go on a date with him, was found dead.
He was testifying as a witness at the trial of a man dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, who is charged with her murder and that of two others.
Kutcher said he arrived at the Hollywood bungalow of fashion design student Ashley Ellerin on the night of Feb 22, 2001, after speaking to her by phone earlier to arrange a date, the Los Angeles City News Service reported.
But when he got there two hours after the call, he found the lights on and the door locked. Peering through the window, he saw “what I thought was red wine spilled on the carpet”.
“I didn’t really think anything of it,” Kutcher said, adding that he assumed Ellerin had gone out with a friend since he turned up late.
Ellerin, 22, was found dead at her home the next morning by a roommate. She had been stabbed 47 times, prosecutors said.
Kutcher, now 41, said when he learnt what had happened, he spoke to the police and was “freaking out” because he knew his fingerprints would be on the front door of her home.
Michael Gargiulo, 43, is on trial for the murders and the attempted murder of another person. He was arrested in 2008 and has pleaded not guilty.
In 2001, Kutcher was making his name as one of the stars of television comedy That ’70s Show.
Ten years later, he was cast in hit comedy Two And A Half Men.
In 2005, he married actress Demi Moore. After their 2013 divorce, he wed his That ’70s Show co-star Mila Kunis, with whom he has two children.
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