LOS ANGELES - An air conditioning repairman pleaded not guilty Thursday to the stabbing deaths of two women, including a former girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher.
Michael Thomas Gargiulo, 32, of Santa Monica, Calif., faces two counts of murder and two counts of burglary in connection with the killings of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, Kutcher's former girlfriend, and Maria Bruno in Monterey Park, prosecutors said.
Ellerin who was found dead in February 2001 in her Hollywood Hills home. Bruno was fatally stabbed in 2005.
Gargiulo pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court as part of a separate case.
"He is adamant he was not involved," his lawyer Anthony Salerno said.
No decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
Gargiulo was arrested in July and is being held in connection with an April 28 knife attack on a Santa Monica woman. He is facing attempted murder and burglary charges in that case.
Police said DNA evidence collected from that crime scene helped link Gargiulo to the two killings.
Kutcher, who starred in the television series "That '70s Show" and is married to actress Demi Moore, told police he went to pick up the fashion student-model for a post-Grammy Awards party, but she didn't answer the door.
He checked a back window and spotted what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet and then left. Her body was discovered the next day by a friend.
Police have said Gargiulo might be linked to another killing that occurred in 1993 in a Chicago suburb. High school student Tricia Pacaccio was found stabbed on her doorstep, clutching her door key.
John Gorman, spokesman for the Cook County State Attorney's Office, said Thursday the investigation remained open and he could not comment further.
Salerno said Gargiulo, a native of Illinois, denies any connection to Pacaccio's death.
