Spree Killer With a Mystery Motive

A fashion Icon living a life of success. A viscous killer on the run. The largest manhunt in US history. It was if the killer was saying to the whole world "Catch me if you can" and nobody could. This story had it all.. Sex, drugs, celebrity, and murder. It is the story about a celebrity hungry killer and the tragic ending of a fashion Icon. It is a story that had the entire world fascinated, yet ended without rhyme or reason and left everyone wondering why?

Milan Italy is a high stakes world of glamour and illusion. In 1997 Johnny Versace sits on the fashion throne. He spent $50,000,000 a year in advertising alone. Johnny's provocative fashion designs merge fine art with raw sex appeal. He is the designer de jour for rock stars and royalty alike. His spectacular fashion shows are must see events. Versace has homes in Milan, Lake Como and New York. But when it comes to over the top luxury, nothing can top his South Beach Mansion, Casa Casarina. The mansion has a Roman feel to it, especially the pool which makes one feel like they are in a Roman bath. Johnny loved to relax there after all the stress and drama of one of his fashion shows.

On the morning of July 15th, Johnny is up early. Around 8:15 he left the house and walks up Ocean drive to the News Cafe to purchase the morning paper. After reading the paper, Johnny walks back and unlocks the iron gates of his mansion completely unaware of a man lying in wait across the street. Apparently Johnny's itinerary was published in all the fashion magazines. The man in the shadows was 27 year old Andrew Cunanan. To his friends he was a charismatic party boy. But beneath the surface, a menacing persona had been growing for a long time.

Andrew Phillip Cunanan was born in 1969 to a working class family in San Diego. His mother, Mary Ann was the Daughter of Sicilian immigrants. His Filipino father, Pete was a Naval Officer who later became a stock broker. Pete always had a lot of pretension about wealth and being somebody in life and instilled the values into Andrew that what you looked like and how much money you had were much more important than whether you earned a decent living or whether you had decent family values.

Andrew attended Bishops, an exclusive private school in La Hoya. Andrews parents didn't have a lot of money but what they did have they spent on Andrew because as he grew up he became very demanding. Though openly gay, Andrew was deceitful about every other aspect of his life. He started lying at a very young age claiming to have come from a rich and famous family, which, of course, was very different than where he really came from. He would capture the best bits and pieces of other peoples lives and pretend it belonged to him. He loved to be the center of attention and to be noticed.

By the time he was a Junior at Bishops, this constant longing was becoming an obsession and he was headed down a dangerous path. There are strong indications that while at Bishops he started taking drugs which is another contributor to the already dangerous mix of his obsessions and personality flaws. Many believe he is becoming psychopathic. In order to get the kind of clothes he wants to wear he is probably starting to turn his first tricks with older men as a male prostitute. He had told many of his friends that one day he would have the finest things in life. He also didn't like to work and wanted things to be handed to him.

Andrew attended the University of San Diego but dropped out in less than a year. When his friends asked him why and told him that he wouldn't be able to achieve his life's goals without a college education, his response was that he would just get himself a sugar daddy. The one thing that Andrew was good at was finding very wealthy older wealthy gay men and latching on to them, probably by telling them whatever they wanted to hear. To that end, Cunanan moved to San Francisco and started cruising the Castro, the city's gay district. He regularly spun tall tales about his fabulous life drawn mainly from the pages of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ, which he had been reading from a young age.

In 1990, the San Francisco Opera hired Italian fashion designer Johnny Versace to create the costumes for their production of Capricho. Cunanan would get a chance to meet one of those celebrities he had only read about in the fashion magazines. He was absolutely driven to have any kind of contact, however brief with anyone famous. At an after Opera party for Versace at a popular gay nightclub called the Collisis. Rumor has it that Versace approached Cunanan and mistook him for he had met in Italy. He asked Cunanan if they hadn't met at Lago de Como. Cunanan played along replying "yes I think so". He was so excited afterwards that he raced home to his friends apartment in Berkley where he was staying and started jumping up and down on the bed saying "I can't believe who I met tonight".

Soon after meeting Versace, Andrew moves back to San Diego and becomes a fixture in the City's gay community of Hillcrest. In 1999 he meets a young Naval Officer named Jeff Trail in a Hillcrest bar. Jeff trail was everything that Andrew was not. A real clean cut stand up guy and not at all a liar Andrew and Jeff soon become best buddies but Andrew keeps Jeff in the dark about much of his life. By this time Andrew is starting to deal drugs and is certainly a male escort. He has the gift of gab and can easily amuse older men. He was obviously offering himself up to older men.

In 1994, Andrew his the jackpot. Norman Blachsford is a wealth businessman whose partner of 26 years recently died. Andrew zeros in on him and over the next year cultivates a relationship with him. In 1995 he moves into the older man's La Hoya condo and soon he has everything he ever wanted, a fancy address, a monthly allowance, fancy clothes and a new car. He had finally gotten his sugar daddy. But Andrew isn't satisfied with just one man and when he meets 31 year old David Madson, a handsome architect from Minneapolis he falls hard. Andrew wines and dines David and showers him with gifts. He tells anyone who will listen that David was the love of his life. But Cunanan has to keep Blachford and Madison a secret from one another.

This was a real problem for Cunanan. He couldn't be with David Madson and keep his fancy address and Madson didn't understand this. But there are more secrets. Cunanan is developing a taste for crystal meth, rough sex, and S & M. He once told his friend Stacy that she had no idea of what he was capable of. That would certainly turn out to be true. Andrew could feed his craving for drugs but his hunger for celebrity was growing more and more ravenous. In fact it was about to propel him on a deadly course.

Johnny was born in Reggio Di Calabria in southern Italy. He became a star at an early age in Italy. He moved to Milan at the age of 24 and launched his own firm in 1978. His brother helped him out with the business to get it started. In the early 1980's Johnny bought a building in the center of Milan's fashion district which doubled as his home and workshop. Whoever entered the building was greeted by Johnny's trademark, the Medusa which to Johnny meant seduction. The Medusa became synonymous with Versace. By the late 80's and early 90's Johnny's fame skyrocketed. He became a huge success in the US and attracted a legion of celebrity followers.

Versace was able to make rock stars and other celebrities incredibly sexy. He was absolutely brilliant at packaging celebrities to make them look their finest. Many of Johnny's designs were inspired by his life he led in South Beach at Casa Casarina. When Johnny was in town, everyone knew about it. After all, he was famous and you can't keep that a secret. Versace bought Casa Casarina in 1992 for $2,900,000 and transformed it into a 19,000 square foot spectacular showplace. From it's leopard skin ceiling to it's ornate mosaic swimming pool to it's pink volleyball court, it was pure Versace.

While summering in the south of France with Blachford, Andrew write lots of love letters to David Madson lying about his vacation and who he is with. Back in La Hoya that fall Cunanan demands that Blachford buy him a $125,000 Mercedes Benz. He tells Blachford he will leave him if he doesn't get it and Blachford tells Cunanan to go ahead and leave. Madson is also getting fed up with Cunanan's excuses and erratic behavior. Not long after Blachford gives Andrew the boot, Madson also ends their relationship. To make things worse Cunanan's best friend Jeff Trail is getting out of the Navy and intends to head to Minneapolis, David Madson' home town. For Cunanan it is a triple whammy. He tells all his friends how depressed he is.

In April of the following year, Cunanan throws himself a farewell dinner and tells his Hillcrest friends that he is leaving San Diego for good. He says he is going to San Francisco but in fact had bought a one way ticket to Minneapolis. Neither Jeff nor David want him to come but Andrew can be very convincing.

On Friday, April 25th 1997, Cunanan flies to Minneapolis and persuades David Madson to pick him up at the airport. Cunanan stops by Jeff Trails apartment while Jeff is at work and lets himself in with a key under the mat. Andrew starts rifling through Jeff's things and although Jeff had never told anyone where he kept his gun Cunanan finds it. Cunanan leaves Trail's apartment and convinces David Madson to let him spend the night in his loft. On Sunday evening, April 27th Jeff Trail discovers his gun is missing and wants to get it back. Around 9:45 he heads over to Madson's. People said they heard fighting and cursing the night before and they heard some thumping and then nothing.

After David Madson misses his second day of work, worried coworkers get the super where Madson lives to let them in. What they found was horrifying. They find a body rolled up in a rug. They call police and they arrive at the scene. They thought the body was David's but when the medical examiner opens the rug he finds the body of Jeff Trail brutally murdered by 27 hammer blows to the head. By the time they finished the investigation they have missed so many clues to the identity that it isn't funny.Andrew's suitcase was there with a luggage tag on it. When they discover that Madson's SUV is missing he becomes the prime suspect. The police now have an all points bulletin out for David Madson. They aren't even aware of Andrew Cunanan's presence or the connection to Jeff trail.

On May 3rd, that speculation is quickly trumped when two fisherman find David Madson's body on the shore of a lake north of Minneapolis. He had been shot once in the face and twice through the head with a 40 caliber handgun. Theorizing that Madison came home right after Cunanan killed Jeff Trail, the police speculate that Cunanan held his former lover, David Madson, hostage for two days before taking him to the lake and killing him. After another search of Madson's apartment cops turn up Cunanan's black bag containing hand cuffs, leg restraints, pornography, 40 caliber bullets, and an empty holster but no gun. Finally Andrew is a suspect finally but they still have to catch him which
will prove more difficult than anyone would have believed. There is a thin line between fame and notoriety. In a perverse way Cunanan got what he wanted, to be known all over the country. And like any good celebrity, he knew how to stay just out of reach.

By the mid 90's Johnny Versace had expanded his empire. The Versace now adorned everything from fashions to home furnishings. But fashion was still his mainstay. In 1994, one extraordinary dress grabbed everyone's attention. It was Versace safety pin dress and when Elizabeth Hurley wore it to a premier it accentuated her curves so much that it launched her career instantly. It also made Versace a household name. Johnny always had the knack for being at the right place at the right time and dazzled the world with his unbelievable talent.

On May 4th, 1997 in a wealthy Chicago neighborhood, Marilyn Miglon arrives home from a business trip to find her elegant home in disarray and her husband, real estate Baron Lee Miglon missing. When police search the garage they find his body shoved under his SUV. His head was totally wrapped in tape except for the very top of it, and he had been kicked in the head over 50 times. He was also nearly decapitated with a pruning saw. Police had never seen anything like it before. Police are stumped. The killer had shaved and left whiskers in the sink and he had apparently helped himself to some food while he was there. Missing is Lee's Lexus and about $2000 in cash and gold coins.

Three days later when a police woman notices some tickets on a red SUV in front of the Miglon's house. When she calls in the plates in she learns that it is David Madson's stolen SUV. To investigators it appears that Cunanan may be engaging them in a game of cat and mouse. They the dust Miglon's house for fingerprints and Cunanan becomes the suspect once again. Now there was a prominent upstanding businessman linked in death to a gay hustler. It was catnip for the media and they pounced. Miglon's family publicly denies any previous publicly denies any previous connection with Cunanan and the Chicago police agree. But that doesn't stop the rumors from swirling. And there is another problem with this crime spree. No one can figure out what Cunanan's motives are.

Andrew Cunanan has now murdered in two States upping the anti of his crimes to the Federal level. The FBI and the Fugitive Task Force get very involved in trying to locate Cunanan. The FBI discovers that Miglon's car phone puts out a signal each time the car is turned on and start tracking him that way. On May 8th, the FBI picks up a signal outside of Philadelphia. They start closing in on the killer. But on May 9th the media fins out the FBI is tracking Cunanan with the car phone and the story is picked up Nationally and broadcast over the radio. Not long after the car phone signal goes dead. The suspect has made a narrow escape but an escape never the less. No one knew where Cunanan would turn up next. But there is also no doubt in anyone's mind that he would strike again.

In the spring of 1997, Johnny Versace is on the verge of a financial coup. He takes his privately help firm and lists it on the New York Stock Exchange. The king of South Beach is on the road to becoming an Emperor. Everything in his life is going perfectly and he is a very happy person.

Now driving south on I95, Andrew Cunanan is desperate to get rid of Lee Miglon's Lexus. He pulls into a deserted cemetery and drives down an isolated road and parks next to the caretakers cottage. 45 year old William Reese never sees it coming. Apparently Andrew made Mr. Reese get down and then shoots him execution style. He then steals his truck. When Reese doesn't show up for dinner that night, his wife calls police. At the cottage officers find Reese's body and Lee Miglon's Lexus nearby. It doesn't take long for police to figure out that Cunanan has struck again. Now the hunt is on again for Andrew Cunanan this time in a red pickup truck.

Andrew Cunanan has always been a social chameleon. Perfect practice for someone wanting to blend in. He continued to elude the authorities even though he was right under their noses. The FBI and the task force is extraordinarily frustrated, They just can't seem to find this guy no matter what they do. In the meantime the National media jumps on the story. Cunanan's murder binge is front page news. The media frenzy is only feeding his ego. Many of his friend say they can picture him bragging about something like that. But for the first time in his life Cunanan has to avoid the spotlight. And avoid he does, very, very well.

While the FBI struggles to figure out Cunanan's next move, they are talking to everyone who knows him but they have no better idea of what he might do than do the FBI and members of the task force. They also set up systems to call them if they should be contacted by Cunanan but that does no good either, Cunanan is too smart for that.

Around May 11th, Cunanan drives into Miami Beach. Miami was the perfect place for Andrew to escape to because South beach is another gay community with a lot of Hispanics and Cunanan looked Hispanic and could speak the language. It is a transient community where people don't know other people's past. If you see a stranger you think nothing about it. At the North end of Collins Avenue, Miami Beach's main drag, Cunanan checks into The Normandy Plaza Hotel. Around the Plaza Hotel are a lot of seedy hotels and a lot of down on their luck characters drinking out of their whiskey bottles by day and sleeping on the beach by night.

Cunanan has found an ideal hideout. If you don't bring yourself to the attention of the police, there is no reason to be worried about it. Cunanan is now safely camouflaged in a town buzzing with so much action. With stars like Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, and Versace, Cunanan's appetite for celebrity must have been raging. In the June 1997 issue of vanity Fair magazine the was a photo spread of Johnny Versace's opulent South Beach mansion. It is not hard to picture Andrew Cunanan kicked back with one of his favorite magazines planning his next move.

In the summer of 1997 Johnny Versace previews his greatest collection yet in Paris. The entire line done in metallic fabrics. The fashion critics rave. He is absolutely at the top of his game. After the show he and partner in Life, Antonio, fly to Casa Casarina. He is looking forward to a little relaxation in the sun after an awesome fashion show. Versace's foothold on Ocean Drive helped transform South Beach into a glitzy gay mecca. There was so many drugs, so many hustlers, and so many strange people one could sense that something bad was bound to happen.

A few miles away from Versace's villa, Andrew Cunanan has settled into a routine. By day he holes up at the Normandy Plaza Hotel with his fashion magazines and TV. By night he trolls Miami's netherworld looking for enough cash to keep him going. He reverts back to what he does best, turning tricks. After several weeks in Miami, he starts to run out of money. He goes to a pawn shop and sells the gold coins he stole from Lee Miglon for $190. He is oddly unconcerned about using his real identity. Most people close to the case feel he is doing this simply to taunt the cops. But when the ticket is
run through the Miami Dade police system it falls through the cracks and never gets noticed.

By the middle of June Cunanan has been on the run for more than six weeks. The FBI ups the urgency of their investigation and puts Cunanan on their 10 most wanted list. But the people of Miami have no clue that Cunanan is even there. There were sketches of him in the local news but no one is going to close their bar for that.

But one month later, on July 11th, the manager at a sandwich shop recognizes Cunanan and calls police. But by the time he got there he had already left. Later that night their is another of Cunanan. A man from the nightclub Twist said he thought he saw the serial killer but again by the time anyone does anything about it, it is too late. The next day Cunanan skips out of his bill at the Normandy and vanishes into thin air. He reappears Tuesday morning, July 15th, on Ocean Drive across the street from Johnny Versace's mansion.

That day Johnny wakes up early. Around 8:15 he left the house and walks up Ocean drive to the News Cafe to purchase the morning paper. At around 8:30, after reading the paper, Johnny walks back and to his villa completely unaware of Cunanan lying in wait across the street. As he unlocks the iron gates of Casa Casarina, Cunanan pulls a 40 caliber handgun from his knapsack and aims it at the back of the designer's head and pulls the trigger. Versace's companion's came to the door to see him lying in a pool of blood on his steps. They chase Andrew down the alley near his mansion but then Andrew disappears.

When police the Detective in charge, Paul Scrimshaw, is asked by the officer on the scene if he knows who this is the Detective replies no and is told that it is Johnny Versace, he realizes he has what he calls an APE (Acute Political Emergency) case on his hands. Scores of law enforcement arrive on the scene along with a swarm of reporters. But with Andrew Cunanan at large there is little time to waste. The cops find their first clue on the third level of the garage. They find a pile of clothing next to a red pickup truck. The police run a check of the trucks registration and learn it has been stolen by the most wanted man in America.

Cunanan has struck a fifth time. His celebrated victim is rushed to Jackson Memorial hospital where, at 9:21 AM, he is pronounced dead. The manhunt for Andrew Cunanan kicks into high gear. This was an all hands on deck situation. Inside the red pickup truck police found Cunanan's drivers license and passport. It was obvious that Versace's killer wanted the world to know his name. In the glare of the media spectacle, he was preparing his grand finale.

Almost 12 hours after Johnny Versace is shot dead, police name Andrew Cunanan their prime suspect. Within a day of the murder the investigation turns into the largest manhunt ever conducted in the US. There are literally hundreds of Investigators working for the Miami police and they are again talking to everyone who ever knew Cunanan, even the Italian police, but they know even less than the cops do. Cunanan's wanted poster is now in every cafe and bar in Miami Beach. His picture on every TV in the country.

The publicity brings the police their first break. The pawn shop owner where Cunanan pawned Lee Miglon's gold coins comes forward and Cunanan's pawn ticket leads authorities to the Normandy Hotel. But the cops aren't the first ones there. The media has already been there. Meanwhile Versace's siblings, Donatella and Santo, flew into and had Versace cremated. Donatella carried Versace ashes back to Milan in an Orchid covered box. Very Versace. Still no one could find Cunanan.

There are a number of Investigators who feel that if Cunanan had managed to elude everyone who was looking for him up to that point there was reason to believe that he could elude them further. A week after the murder a caretaker notices a houseboat that he is in charge of taking care of has been broken into and calls police. A gunshot rings out. Police arrive in less than five minutes and so does the media. Police believe they finally have the killer cornered. Swat teams fill the house with pepper spray in the hopes that it will drive Cunanan out and they will finally be able to get some answers to their motive questions. The siege goes on all afternoon. The TV cameras catch every minute of this high drama. The reporter think they see curtains move on the houseboat and are absolutely convinced that Cunanan is on the other side of the window.

Meantime in Milan, another media spectacle is playing out. Johnny Versace's funeral is publicised world wide and the sadness is audible. Princess Diane and Elton John are sitting in the front row with their eyes full of tears.

Unable to drive Cunanan out of the houseboat the police have no choice but to go in after him. When they enter, it is obvious that someone had been staying there. Police climb to the second floor. They come upon a shocking scene. Cunanan has put the gun in his mouth, fired it, and committed suicide. So much for all the answers they wanted. They have been outsmarted by a psychopath at nearly every turn from when this fiasco began.

Around 10:45 that night police make an announcement to the press that the reign of terror brought on us by Andrew Cunanan was over. So many unanswered questions remain. Why South Beach and had he planned the Versace murder in advance? But many feel that if you look back at his whole life and how important it was for him to be known for something big it all kind of makes a morbid sense. What exactly motivated Andrew Cunanan's deadly spree remains a bitter mystery.

Never the less it is ironic that this wanna be loser destroyed countless lives and caused so much grief and pain and for what? To leave us with a good story to tell? Maybe that is what motivated him but we will never really know. Behind the iron gate of Casa Casarina that Andrew Cunanan could only ever dream about. Locked out those walls, Andrew, in his own twisted way gained his own fame by linking his name forever to the name of Johnny Versace.