UPDATE: An arrest warrant was filed this week against Michael Gargiulo, 35, with the murder of Tricia Pacaccio, 18, on August 14, 1993. After two witnesses came forward in May 2011 reporting that Gargiulo admitted killed Tricia Pacaccio.
“Witness D” came forward after watching a “48 Hours Mystery” episode that included a profile of Gargiulo. “Witness D” said that Gargiulo admitted he killed the Pacaccio while working at a bar and grill in Los Angeles in the late 1990’s. The witness said that Gargiulo told him he was wanted in Chicago, and that he “had a body” and that he stabbed a girl.
“Witness E” also reported that Gargiulo confessed while working at the Los Angeles bar and grill. Witness E reported that Gargiulo first said he buried the girl, but then said, “I’m only kidding. I actually left the bitch on the step for dead.” In a subsequent conversation, “Witness E” asked Gargiulo if he had committed the murder in Chicago and Gargiulo replied, “I can’t tell you that,” according to the arrest warrant.
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An indictment announcement is expected today in the 1993 stabbing death of Tricia Pacaccio, an 18-year-old Glenview Glenbrook South High School grad, against a former Chicago-area man facing two murder charges and an attempted murder charge in California.
Michael Gargiulo, a teen who also attended Glenbrook South High School, was questioned after the 1993 homicide, and DNA samples were also obtained, but the teen was not charged. He later moved to California.
Tricia Pacaccio was stabbed in the chest in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 14, 1993, apparently arriving home from a night out, as she was about to unlock the side door to her family’s home in Glenview. Her father found her body hours later. Glenview police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department investigated the case.
The indictment of Michael Gargiulo follows an episode of 48 Hours Mystery in May 2011 on the Pacaccio murder, and a tip that came in to a Glenview Patch article [LINK EXPIRED] from a man who said Garguilo had confessed to Pacaccio’s murder.
In 2008 Gargiulo was charged with a 2005 slaying in El Monte, California, and a 2001 homicide in the Hollywood Hills. He was also charged with a 2008 attack against a woman in her Santa Monica home. One of the victims didn’t answer the door when her date celebrity Ashton Kutcher arrived to her home to pick her up. Kutcher saw what he thought were wine stains on the floor of her residence when he looked in a window. He left thinking he was stood up. The wine stains were actually blood stains.
Initially, detectives believed the killer had been waiting for Pacaccio as she returned from a night out with friends on Friday the 13th of August. Police classified the murder a crime of passion and said they were certain she knew her attacker.
Pacaccio was a well-liked at Glenbrook South High School. She was a smart student, strong in math. She was killed one week before she was due to arrive for her freshman year at Purdue University. She planned to study engineering and environmental issues.
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