Episode 2: The Furnace Guy

Seven years after Tricia Pacaccio’s murder, Cook County’s Sheriff’s Office were now treating it as a cold case. A new investigative team submitted Tricia’s fingernail clippings taken from the crime scene as DNA evidence, hoping to get a match. Meanwhile, Michael Gargiulo had moved to Hollywood, where he met 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, who lived a few blocks from his house. After introducing himself as an air conditioning repair man, “Mike” would eventually start showing up at some of Ellerin’s parties uninvited. Ashley was living a glamorous Hollywood lifestyle, partying with some famous actors like Vin Diesel and Ashton Kutcher. The night of February 21, 2001, she had plans to meet Kutcher for drinks after the Grammy Awards, but she never made it there. We speak with Detective Tom Small of the L.A.P.D., who investigated the case, and began searching for a man who was only known by Ashley’s friends as “Mike the furnace guy”.