On July 15, 1997 Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace’s life abruptly ended with a gunshot on the doorstep of his Miami beach mansion. Many of us know and love the Italian fashion line known as Versace, but most people aren’t aware of the murder of its founder, Gianni Versace. His life was taken by a 27-year-old serial killer, Andrew Cunanan. Cunanan was a desperate man craving attention in all the wrong ways and found that attention by murdering men. 1
Cunanan’s road to murdering Versace began when Cunanan was 19. His father abandoned his family and fled to the Philippines to avoid embezzlement charges. He left his wife and kids broke and alone. Cunanan followed his father to the Philippines. He later returned shocked at the poor conditions his father was living in. Cunanan started spiraling downward. He acted out in hopes of attention, and sometimes he resulted to violence. There was one incident where he shoved his mother so hard he dislocated her shoulder. Later observation of his behaviors suggested he suffered from antisocial personality disorder, which results in a lack of remorse for one’s actions. Cunanan craved any kind of attention he could get. He would do anything to get what he wanted. His spiraling life led him cross country on a murder spree killing without motivation except for the attention he would gain by doing so.2
In 1989 Cunanan dropped out of the University of California, San Diego and moved to the San Francisco area where took on many aliases such as Andrew DeSilva, Lieutenant Commander Andy Cummings, Drew Cunningham, and Curt Matthew Demaris. He made up lies about where his money came from, but, in many cases, he appeared wealthy because he befriended and lived off wealthy older men. He began playing parts in creating violent pornography.3 He was often found at parties and high class clubs, which was how he met the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace at a San Francisco club. But this life of luxury didn’t last long.4 In 1996 Cunanan broke up with Norman Blachford, who at the time was financially supporting him and his expensive gay playboy lifestyle. Broke, Cunanan, maxed out his credit cards and sold drugs to survive. Not long after that, he got a one-way ticket to Minneapolis to visit a former lover.5
On April 27,1997 Andrew Cunanan committed his first murder, killing Jeffrey Trail, a former navy lieutenant who he had met at a bar in San Diego. His body was found two days later in David Madson’s apartment wrapped up in a rug after being beaten to death. Cunanan had been staying with Madson, one of his former lovers, at the time of Trail’s disappearance. Four days later the second murder was confirmed when David Madson’s body was discovered by fishermen near a lake north of Minneapolis on May 3,1997.6
With the car he stole from his second victim, Cunanan made his way to Chicago where he tortured 72-year-old Lee Miglin to death and left him bound in his house where Marilyn Miglin found her husband on May 4, 1997. Cunanan left Madson’s car in a garage a few blocks from Miglin’s home and murder spree, but not before he took all the money he could find in Miglin’s home and his jade green Lexus. Cunanan had no prior relations to Lee Miglin, and so he was believed to had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when Cunanan found him.7 After this murder, Cunanan was placed on the FBI’s Ten most wanted list.8 Still on the run, Cunanan made his way to New Jersey where he claimed his fourth victim by the name of William Reese. Reese was a custodian and Finn’s Point National Cemetery. He was found in the basement of his office with a gunshot wound to head. Cunanan then dumped the stolen Lexus nearby and drove off with Reese’s red pickup truck.9
Now in Miami, Cunanan left his red pickup in plain sight a few blocks away from Gianni Versace’s mansion.10 After the 50-year-old fashion designer returned from his morning walk, he found Andrew Cunanan at his front steps. Cunanan then shot and killed Versace on July 15, 1997.11 To kill Versace, he used the same gun that he stole from his first victim, Jeffery Trail, and that he also used to murder David Madson and William Reese.12 Cunanan fled the scene and hid out in a nearby house boat to avoid being found. Eight days after the murder of his last victim, Gianni Versace, Andrew Cunanan was discovered by the houseboat’s owner, who then shot Cunanan.13 Andrew Cunanan looked for attention his whole life, and he found it in all the wrong ways, but just like his personality, he ended everything with a bang.
- Gary Indiana, Three Month Fever: The Andrew Cunanan Story (New York: Cliff Street Books, 1999). ↵
- Evan Thomas, and Richard Alleman, “Facing death,” Newsweek (28 July 1997): 20. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2018, s.v. “Andrew Cunanan.” ↵
- Evan Thomas, and Richard Alleman, “Facing death,” Newsweek, (28 July 1997): 20. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2018, s.v. “Andrew Cunanan.” ↵
- John MCormick and Evan Thomas, “A lethal road trip: a gay socialite is suspected of taking off on a killing spree from Minnesota to Chicago to the Northeast,” Newsweek (19 May 1997): 52. ↵
- John MCormick and Evan Thomas, “A lethal road trip: a gay socialite is suspected of taking off on a killing spree from Minnesota to Chicago to the Northeast,” Newsweek, (19 May 1997): 52. ↵
- Andrew Phillips, “The Cunanan enigma: Versace’s killer takes his own life and leaves a mystery,” Maclean’s, (4 Aug. 1997): 32. ↵
- John MCormick and Evan Thomas, “A lethal road trip: a gay socialite is suspected of taking off on a killing spree from Minnesota to Chicago to the Northeast,” Newsweek, (19 May 1997): 52. ↵
- Evan Thomas, “End of the road,” Newsweek, (4 Aug. 1997): 22. ↵
- Evan Thomas, and Richard Alleman, “Facing death,” Newsweek, (28 July 1997): 20. ↵
- John MCormick and Evan Thomas, “A lethal road trip: a gay socialite is suspected of taking off on a killing spree from Minnesota to Chicago to the Northeast,” Newsweek, (19 May 1997): 52. ↵
- Evan Thomas, “End of the road,” Newsweek, (4 Aug. 1997): 22. ↵
110 comments
Ariana Melendez
It is interesting to read about the murder of Gianni Versace and all the moments that led up to it. I was aware of course of the Versace brand, but had no idea that its founder was murdered by a serial killer. It is sad to see how a young man’s trauma led to multiple murders. Nonetheless, this article does a great job of telling a detailed story that few people probably know about.
Jose Fernandez
I realized after reading the article that I didn’t know much about Versace. I knew about the brand but that’s about it. I found the article to be really interesting and very well researched. I really liked how the author talks both about the murderer and the victim and that he presents the most important facts about the case. The number of famous people throughout history that have been murdered is shocking.
Daniela Martinez
Andrew Cunanan’s desire to get attention led him to commit several crimes that are unforgivable. In any instance when a person chooses to so to speak play “God” and decides who should live or die is completely wrong. While granting that he had to go through a very difficult rough patch in his life it doesn’t justify his actions. In addition, the fact that his way of getting attention was through killing innocent people is truly saddening. Moreover the fact that Versace’s life was cut short when he was enjoying a very successful career.
Hailey Rodriguez
I, of course, have heard of Gianni Versace and I did know he was murdered, however, I did not know who killed him or his killer’s story. When Cunanan’s father left him and his family, it must have been very difficult and traumatic for Cunanan. However, this does not excuse him of becoming a serial killer or from being so aggressive with everyone, including his mom. It is hard for me to understand how and why pushed his mom so hard that he dislocated her shoulder. I can’t imagine how upset and scared she must have been. I also had no idea that Versace’s murder was so young and was gay. It is crazy that he lived off his rich, older partners for so long and that after supporting him so much he still killed some of them.
Cooper Dubrule
It’s crazy how after attaining a high status in society one seems to become a target in a sense for bad things to happen. Versace was in what seemed to be the comfort of his own home at the time of his tragic death. Andrew Cunanan surprisingly got away with a lot before finally murdering Versace. This article does an amazing job at going into detail on Andrew’s past life, showing how he became who he ended up.
Kathyleen Lauriano
I never really knew the person behind Versace, or that he was murdered. For Andrew to kill so many is just tragic. Especially a person who has had so much influence on todays fashion culture. I really don’t think he just killed to get attention, I feel like everyone has a motive but his wasn’t for attention. All in all this article was very informative and gave great detail on Andrew and his actions.
Katherine Watson
As sad as it is to say, I consider myself to be someone who knows about big name brands, yet I don’t know anything about their history or what they stand for morally. In this case, I had no idea that Versace’s founder was brutally murdered in his home. Although Andrew was a distraught man, he sure found a way of making sure that his victims felt his pain too. I hope that this man finds peace in his sentence and realizes the crimes that he has committed did not have to take place.
Pedro Gonzalez Aboyte
I am sure just about everyone knows this famous fashion line but not many, including myself, knew about Gianni or his assassination. It is truly baffling how a man like Cunanan eventually crosses paths with an important fashion designer and murders him. I had never before heard the story of Gianni’s assassination. Andrew was obviously a very troubled man who sought the attention he gained from murders. His life took a very dark turn and I also believe he had deeper motives than just attention seeking. There is a deeper need he wanted but never seemed to attain.
Kacey Diaz
Like most people I have heard of Gianni Versace, but what I didn’t know was that he was murdered by Andrew Cunanan. What is most chilling about Andrew Cunanan is that he didn’t care about his victims and felt no remorse for killing then and sometimes torturing them. Cunanan used the death of his victims for attention and that is heartbreaking. Overall, this was an interesting and well written article.
Antoinette Johnson
Andrew Cunanan looking for attention led to him murdering several men. Attention is a main goal for many serial killers. We can say that his father leaving him and his mother broke and alone is the reason he became this serial killer obsessed with attention. Andrew Cunanan let his inner turmoil cause him to go haywire. Letting your hurt and struggles cause you to murder others is just making your life worse. Andrew, his death was the attention he needed.