Actor Ashton Kutcher appeared at a Los Angeles court on Wednesday to testify against a suspected serial killer Michael Gargiulo. 

Gargiulo who has been dubbed “Hollywood Ripper” has been charged with murdering three women, including 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, whom Kutcher was dating at the time. 

The suspected serial killer, who is accused of killing three women – 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio in 1993, Ashley Ellerin in 2001, 32-year-old Mario Bruno in 2005, and the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy in 2008, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ashton Kutcher had first met Ellerin at a friend’s birthday party months earlier. He had introduced his then-girlfriend to his friend at the party, whom she soon began dating.

By February 2001, they were both single. Kutcher had gone to pick up his date but she did not answer.

The night she was killed, they’d made plans to grab dinner and drinks. But as Kutcher was running late, he called her at around 8:30 p.m. to notify her that they should just get drinks instead.

She had told him it was no problem and that she had just showered and planned to blow-dry her hair. This was the last time they spoke.

The actor testified in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom about the February 2001 incident,

“I knocked on the door. There was no answer. 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.”

And before he left, he peeked through the window. All the lights were on and he saw what appeared to be red wine stains on the carpet. Kutcher who said he had been at the house just about a week ago during Ellerin’s Hollywood housewarming party thought them to be wine stains.

“I didn’t really think anything of it,” he said and the next day he found out Ellerin, who was a part-time stripper and a fashion student was dead.

Ashton Kutcher also added that he was “freaking out” when he spoke with police at the time as his fingerprints were on the door. Gargiulo’s attorney, Daniel Nardoni told him not to worry and that he is not a suspect, to which Kutcher replied, “Thank you.”

After Ashton Kutcher finished testifying, he was escorted out of the packed courtroom by a sheriff’s deputy.