Hidden in Plain Sight: The Hollywood Ripper

About this episode

The episode discusses the chilling case of the Hollywood Ripper and the murder of Ashley Ellerin, highlighting the events leading up to the crime and the perpetrator's background.

In February 2001, Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher drove to a woman's house to pick her up for a date. She didn't answer the door. He looked through the window, saw what he thought was a red wine stain on the carpet, assumed she had gone out without him, and left. The next morning her roommate came home and found her body. She had been stabbed 47 times. The man who killed her had been living a block away, watching her, for months. He had introduced himself as a helpful guy who could fix her furnace. He was friendly at parties. He was, by every account, completely ordinary. He had done this before. He would do it again. And he would not be caught for another seven years. 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you liked this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING Here is everything used to research this episode. 🔗 WEB SOURCES CBS News / 48 Hours - The Hollywood Ripper: How 48 Hours Helped Crack the Case…

People in this episode

Host: Megan Alda

Topics covered

• true crime
• murder
• Hollywood
• serial killer
• investigation

Keywords

• Hollywood Ripper
• Ashton Kutcher
• Ashley Ellerin
• murder
• serial killer

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CBS News, E! Online

More episodes of Macabrium

• Proxies: The Faceless Man · June 10, 2026 · 58 min
• Into the Triangle: The Devil's Sea · June 3, 2026 · 1h 10m
• The Recipe: Blood and Lye · May 27, 2026 · 28 min
• Boogeyman: The Hook-Handed Stranger · May 27, 2026 · 37 min
• England's Most Haunted: What the Stones Don't Tell · May 22, 2026 · 44 min
• Borrowed Faces: Forty Million in Two Minutes · May 20, 2026 · 52 min