A string of grisly murders, a mysterious motive, and a killer with an unbelievable
backstory. There's a reason Gianni Versace's assassination continues to captivate the world.
Versace might be a globally recognized name today,
but that wasn't always the case. Gianni Versace first started the brand in 1978, and by 1997,
his fashion empire was worth an impressive $807 million, per Biography. However, the
very same year, Versace was targeted in an early morning, and extremely public, assassination.
On July 15th, 1997, Versace left his home in Miami Beach, went for a walk, greeted his neighbors,
picked up five magazines, and strolled back. He was just walking through his front gates
when someone approached him from behind and shot him twice at point-blank range,
then walked away. Tragically, Versace was pronounced dead at a nearby trauma center.
It wasn't long before the killer was identified as 27-year-old Andrew
Cunanan. Before killing Versace, Cunanan had already left a bloody trail across the U.S.,
which had garnered him the attention of the FBI. His story would come to an end in Miami,
too. When cornered on a houseboat, he died by suicide. He would leave behind no explanation
as to why he had targeted and killed one of the world's most famous fashion designers.
But as more of the story unfolded, the full tragedy became public.
A few months after Gianni Versace's death, Vanity Fair did a deep dive
into the life of his killer, Andrew Cunanan. Reporters found a well-read,
highly intelligent man who relied heavily on older men to fund his desire for a wildly
extravagant lifestyle. He was also described as "a chronic liar" who was obsessed with status.
Acquaintances claimed they had known that Cunanan was a deeply troubled
person. An old friend of Cunanan's recalled an argument with the killer, telling Vanity Fair,
"He grabbed me around the neck so hard he was choking me by his grip. [...] Something
had snapped in him. Now I realize the guy was hunting — he was getting the thrill of the hunt,
the thrill of the kill. I saw it in his eyes. I saw it in his body. He had stepped over the edge."
Vanity Fair also reported that Cunanan regularly
shared stories that made him seem larger-than-life,
such as name-dropping Versace and boasting about connections to famous and wealthy individuals.
"And I think even he believed it at times."
In today's world, most famous people are surrounded by security guards. But back in 1997,
that wasn't the case for everyone, including Gianni Versace. According to the Associated Press,
Versace's murder prompted scores of celebrities to reach out to private
security companies as they rethought the level of protection they were surrounded by.
The fashion designer was alone when he was murdered, which apparently wasn't unusual.
Speaking to the Associated Press, a Versace spokesperson revealed,
"Versace disliked security. He didn't like having
someone standing over him. He thought security isolated him from people."
Those closest to the designer reportedly wanted him to rethink his stance on hiring security and
employing bodyguards, but he refused. As Versace's longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico, told People,
"We never felt in danger [...] He didn't want to
draw more attention to himself than necessary with all the bodyguards."
By the time Andrew Cunanan shot Gianni Versace, he had already been connected to four different
murders. Cunanan was linked to the deaths of Jeffrey Trail and David Madson in Minnesota,
Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, and cemetery caretaker William Reese in New Jersey,
per Time. Of the victims, Madson had the strongest connection to Cunanan as his
former boyfriend. Although the motive for killing Trail has never been established,
Cunanan reportedly considered him to be his best friend, according to Vanity Fair. While
Miglin was targeted for unknown reasons, Reese was likely killed for his vehicle.
Jeffrey Trail was murdered in April 1997, and was Cunanan's first kill.
Trail's body was discovered in David Madson's apartment, per CBS, while Madson's remains were
later recovered from the nearby East Rush Lake. Along with Trail's body,
officers also recovered a duffel bag with Cunanan's name on it. Madson and Trail's deaths
were immediately connected, and law enforcement knew that Cunanan was driving Madson's red Jeep.
Authorities almost arrested Andrew Cunanan on a number of occasions prior to him killing Gianni
Versace. The first happened in Illinois, when Cunanan traded Madson's Jeep for the
green Lexus belonging to his next victim, Lee Miglin. According to the Los Angeles Times,
Cunanan had been on the run for days before he realized he was being tracked by law enforcement.
It's suspected that he heard a report on the news placing him in the Philadelphia area,
which is when he ditched the vehicle for a truck stolen from his next victim, William Reese.
He subsequently traveled to Miami, where he was recognized at a sandwich
shop. Employees called the police, who arrived after he'd left. Cunanan was also
a regular at a pizza place in the area, and employees noticed he'd cut his hair.
However, the most shocking miss occurred when Cunanan pawned a coin at a Miami Beach pawnshop,
per The New York Times. The shop owners followed procedure by checking his identification and
submitting reports to law enforcement, which contained Cunanan's real name,
and the hotel where he was staying. The forms were submitted to the local police department
five days before Versace's murder, where they promptly disappeared into a backlog of paperwork.
"I thought to myself, 'This is going to end really badly.'"
At the time of his death, Gianni Versace had been living with his longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico.
Versace had initially hired D'Amico in 1982 to help make some of his designs a reality,
according to The Telegraph. Ten years later, the couple moved to the Miami home that would
become renowned for its lavish parties. When Versace was murdered at this home in 1997,
D'Amico was inside and heard the gunshots. Upon the release of "American Crime Story: The
Assassination of Gianni Versace," which re-created the devastating murder, D'Amico told The Guardian,
"I felt as if my blood had turned to ice [...] I saw Gianni lying on the steps, with blood around
him. At that point, everything went dark. I was pulled away, I didn't see any more."
"My heart just stopped to beat."
Following Versace's death, D'Amico spiraled into a deep depression, as he explained to The Guardian,
"I was in a nightmare, I felt nothing and gave no
importance to anything [...] because it felt false to have expectations of life."
Versace was a family-owned operation from the beginning, per Insider. As Gianni built his
business, his sister Donatella and brother Santo worked alongside him. Eventually,
the family grew to include their children. When Gianni was killed,
the bulk of Versace's money passed to Donatella, Santo, and Donatella's daughter, Allegra.
Donatella stepped in to run and grow the business in her brother's absence. In 2017,
she discussed her own struggle in coming to terms with Gianni's death, telling The Guardian,
"My brother was the king, and my whole world had crashed around me [...] For the first five years,
I was lost. I made a lot of mistakes. [...] I had been listening to everyone else,
and then I realized, who was the person my brother listened to? Me."
The investigation into Gianni Versace's murder ended in December 1997. However,
the investigation failed to explain why Andrew Cunanan killed the fashion
designer. As the Miami Beach police chief told the Los Angeles Times,
"What we cannot establish is motive. [...] It might have been a robbery. It could have
been Andrew Cunanan seeking the exposure of gunning down a person of this stature. It could
have been revenge. We would all like to know, especially in a high-profile case like this."
Investigators reportedly weren't even able to figure out whether Cunanan
and Versace had ever met. While there were rumors that they knew each other,
nothing could be confirmed. While decades have passed since Versace's death, no motive
has ever been uncovered. Any theories regarding Cunanan's alleged motives are sadly just theories.
When TV producer Ryan Murphy announced the premiere of "American Crime Story:
The Assassination of Gianni Versace," not everyone was thrilled. In fact,
most of the key players in real life came forward to condemn this depiction of Gianni's murder,
including the Versace family. In an official statement to Vanity Fair, the family said,
"Since Versace did not authorize the book on which it is partly based nor has it taken part
in the writing of the screenplay, this TV series should only be considered as a work of fiction."
Murphy issued a counter-statement saying that, contrary to the Versace family's
insistence the TV show was fiction, he stood by the truthfulness of the script,
and the book on which it was based, per Entertainment Weekly.
Doubling down on the family's disdain, Versace's longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico, reiterated that
"American Crime Story" took many liberties with the truth. Speaking to People, D'Amico explained,
"I feel — together with those who knew me well — that my character is
a misrepresentation of myself and what our relationship was like."
At the crime scene, there was one small detail that kicked off a slew of rumors.
A dead bird was found alongside Versace's body, a tiny object with a potentially
huge meaning. Speaking to 48 Hours, a Miami Beach police officer revealed
that a dead bird often indicated a hit carried out in connection with the Mafia.
It was quickly discovered that the bird had been just an unfortunate casualty caused
by a splintering bullet, but it was made into something much more. According to Town & Country,
it was later discovered that Andrew Cunanan's father had been keeping the
rumor alive by continuing to point the finger at the mob instead of his son.
Decades later, the rumor still hasn't died. In 2010, a book even claimed that Versace's
murder had been ordered by and carried out on behalf of the Calabrian Mafia. As for why,
it was alleged that Versace had been in a network of people who were laundering money for the mob.
Reporting on the claim, The Telegraph revealed that the Versace family denounced the allegations
and promised they would take every step necessary to protect the late Gianni Versace's legacy.
Andrew Cunanan died by suicide on a Miami houseboat the day after Gianni Versace's
funeral. According to The New York Times, he had been trying to get a fake passport that
would allow him to get out of the country, but that didn't happen. Although Cunanan's suicide
brought an end to a manhunt that had been going on for months and spanned the entire United States,
it also left behind questions that would never be answered. As The Washington Post
quickly pointed out, it also meant that Cunanan would never be put on trial for
the killings and would only ever be known, technically, as an "alleged" serial killer.
Unfortunately, bringing the investigation to an end isn't quite the same as closure.
As a friend of Cunanan's victim Jeffrey Trail told 48 Hours,
"I didn't want him to do anything but go to jail and rot."
By the time Ryan Murphy went to film "American Crime Story" at Gianni Versace's mansion,
much of the furniture had been sold, but the building itself was still strikingly similar
to the designer's original vision, per Vogue. As the site of one of the most shocking murders in
recent history, Versace's mansion continues to generate interest with the general public. Plus,
the house's grisly history didn't end with Versace's assassination.
After Versace's death, the house was reportedly purchased and converted into a members-only
club that soon went bankrupt. From there, it was auctioned off and converted again,
this time into a hotel. The day before the 24th anniversary of Versace's death,
the property hit the headlines once more. According to NBC Miami,
two men were discovered in one of the hotel's suite, and an investigation ruled that they
had died in a double suicide. While there was no immediate statement made on any connection
between the 2021 deaths and the murder of Gianni Versace, the coincidence was not overlooked.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.