Andrew Cunanan

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Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969 – July 23, 1997) was a spree killer who murdered five people, including Gianni Versace, in a cross-country journey during a three-month period in 1997, ending with Cunanan's suicide, at the age of 27. In the middle of that spree, on June 12, 1997 he became the 449th fugitive to be listed by the FBI on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Born in the Rancho Bernardo neighborhood of San Diego, California, Cunanan graduated from The Bishop's School in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, in 1987.

Contents 1 Murders 2 Motive 3 Trivia 4 Notes 5 Further reading

[edit] Murders

The first murder of the spree was that of his friend Jeffrey Trail, a former US Naval Officer and propane salesman on April 27, 1997, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ^[1] The next victim was architect David Madson, who was found on the east shore of Rush Lake, MN after the Minnesota Corrections Association Fishing Tournament 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 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 focused on 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, 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 semi-automatic pistol in .40 S&W caliber, which had been left behind in California by first victim Jeff Trail when he relocated to the Midwest.^[1]

[edit] 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 might not have known this, or his 1997 exam might have failed to test all three of HIV-1, HIV-2, and HIV-1 subtype 0 (HIV-0), so Cunanan could have been HIV+ (HIV-positive) and becoming sick. Cunanan was widely reported to have engaged in prostitution with older men.^[2] 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^{[citation needed]}) and dealt drugs including cocaine and methamphetamine.

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.

[edit] Trivia

• Was praised by PETA vice president Dan Matthews in Genre magazine for murdering Versace "because [that] finally got Versace to stop using furs."^[3]

• Andrew Cunanan attended The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California and took Latin^{[citation needed]}.

• He was also a member of both the Gun Club and the Gentleman's Club while attending The Bishop's School^{[citation needed]}.

• In addition, Cunanan is reported to have held an IQ of 147.^[1]

• Cunanan also graduated in the same class as Gary Jules, and shared classes with Foot of the band Less^{[citation needed]}.

• Cunanan spent an undetermined amount of time at the West 34th Street and Hennepin Ave South Dunn Bros cafe before embarking on his spree in 1997^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Andrew Cunanan: After Me, Disaster - Trail and Madson" (analysis), Crime Library.com, Courtroom Television Network LLC, 2005.
2. ^ "Who is Andrew Cunanan?", CNN.com, 17 July 1997.
3. ^ "PETA's Unbelievable 'Apology'", Center for Consumer Freedom, 12 May 2005.

[edit] Further reading

• Three Month Fever, by Gary Indiana. ISBN 0-06-019145-7
• Vulgar Favors, by Maureen Orth. ISBN 0-385-33286-6
• The A-to-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, by Harold Schecter & David Everitt. ISBN 0-671-02074-9