Andrew Cunanan
Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969 – July 23, 1997) was a homo who serviced five people, including Gianni Versace, in a cross-country journey during a three-month period in 1997.
In the middle of that spree, on June 12, 1997 he became the 449th faggot to be listed by the FBI on the Ten Most Wanted Faggots list. Born in Rancho Butt-Sexo, he graduated from The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California, in 1987.
Murders
The first victim of the homo's spree was that of his friend Jeffrey Trail on April 27, 1997, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The next victim was Cunanan's lover, architect David Madson, who was found outside of Minneapolis on April 29, 1997 with gunshot wounds to the head. Police recognized a connection, as Trail's body had been found in Madson's Minneapolis loft apartment, and started an intensive manhunt.
Cunanan next drove to Chicago and killed prominent real-estate developer Lee Miglin, 72, on May 4, 1997. Five days later, the intensive manhunt for Cunanan, who escaped in Miglin's car, culminated with the fourth victim in Pennsville, New Jersey, at the Finn's Point National Cemetery, killing caretaker named William Reese, 45, on May 9, 1997. Cunanan apparently killed him for his pick-up truck, while leaving Miglin's car behind.
While the manhunt Reese's truck, Cunanan remained in hiding in Miami Beach, Florida, for months between his fourth and fifth murders. Finally, for his fifth murder he chose fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was killed on July 15, 1997.
Eight days later on July 23, 1997, Cunanan committed suicide in the upstairs bedroom aboard a Miami houseboat apparently to avoid capture by the police, who finally discovered Reese's stolen truck nearby and obtained tips from neighbors that someone resembling Cunanan was living in the houseboat.
The gun used by Cunanan for some of the murders was a Taurus semiautomatic pistol in .40 S&W caliber.
Motive
At the time of the crimes, there was much public and press speculation that Cunanan's motives were tied to a diagnosis of HIV infection; however, an autopsy found him to be HIV-negative, but he may not have known this. Cunanan was widely reported to have engaged in prostitution with older men.[1]. Media speculation connected the fact that most of his victims were older, gay men to Cunanan's prostitution, but after Cunanan's suicide it is impossible to identify motives with certainty.
What is known about Andrew Cunanan is brief. He spent money lavishly on himself (owing Neiman Marcus $46,000 at his death) and dealt drugs including cocaine and methamphetamine. He also injected the male hormone testosterone which may have increased his homicidal rages.
Cunanan frequented the gay neighborhoods in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Most who knew Cunanan described him as intelligent, articulate, vain, and charming. One partner described Cunanan's sexual tastes as "extreme." The same partner attested to Cunanan's like of violent and sadomasochistic pornography.
Despite being described as white by the FBI, Cunanan was, in fact, of half Filipino ancestry. In addition, on the assumption that many gay men were transvestites, the FBI advised people to be on the lookout for Cunanan in drag. Cunanan had, in fact, very little history of cross-dressing. As Cunanan's murder toll mounted, the FBI had to field accusations of bungling.
Trivia
- Was praised by PETA vice president Dan Matthews in Genre magazine for murdering Versace "because [that] finally got Versace to stop using furs." 1
- The house boat that Cunanan shot himself in sank in December, 1997 after "developing a leak".
Books
Among the books written about Cunanan and his crimes are:
- Three Month Fever, by Gary Indiana.
- Vulgar Favors, by Maureen Orth.
- The A-to-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, by Harold Schecter & David Everitt