Case File: Andrew Cunanan

Andrew Cunanan was the youngest child of an American mother and a Filipino-born father who served in the U.S. Navy and later became a stockbroker. An exceedingly intelligent and outgoing youth, Cunanan regaled friends in his hometown near San Diego with fanciful tales of material wealth and success, but the reality was far less glamorous. His father was a strict disciplinarian who clashed with his son, and by his late teens, Cunan’s father was accused of embezzlement and fled the country, leaving his family in dire financial straits. 

Despite lingering anti-LGBTQ prejudices of the era, Cunanan seemed comfortable with his sexuality at an early age and began a series of relationships with older gay men in California and Arizona, many of whom provided much-needed financial support. He developed a reputation for manipulation and instability, and despite support from his partners and a side business dealing drugs, his lavish lifestyle had left him deeply in debt by his mid-20s.

It was during this period that Cunanan met two of his future victims. Jeff Trail was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who Cunanan met while based in San Diego. Some accounts would later state that the pair had a short-lived relationship; others maintained that they were simply friends, but that Cunanan had become increasingly obsessed with Trail, even after he moved to Minneapolis in late 1996 after leaving the U.S. Navy. 

Cunanan met David Madson in a San Francisco bar in 1995 while Cunanan was living in the city’s Castro district. Madison lived in Minneapolis, and the couple had a long-distance relationship until Madson broke things off the following spring, telling friends that felt Cunanan had become increasingly unstable. And Madson had reason to be concerned. By that time, Cunanan’s friends noted his increased drinking and drug use, and in the fall of 1996, Cunanan was financially cut off by his latest wealthy lover, leaving him financially and emotionally adrift. 

In April 1997, Cunanan told friends in San Francisco that he was leaving the city for Minneapolis, ostensibly to repair his friendship with Trail. Trail expressed his unease with Cunanan’s arrival to friends and family members, stating that the pair recently had a serious argument that left him unsettled. 

Cunanan arrived on April 25, spending the night at Madson’s apartment before moving on to Trail’s home the following day. Law enforcement officials believe Cunanan and Trail had a serious quarrel, and that Cunanan stole Trail’s gun while Trail was out with a friend, then lured Trail to Madson’s apartment on the night of April 27. Cunanan then beat Trail to death with a hammer, later wrapping his body in a rug. 

Authorities are not sure why Madson did not stop Cunanan from killing Trail or report the murder afterwards, but his friends and family believe Madson was being held hostage by Cunanan. The two men were spotted walking Madson’s dog, but when Madson’s co-workers grew fearful of his absence, police visited his apartment, finding no trace of the man, but discovering Trail’s body. On May 3, Madson’s body was found near a lake a few hours outside of Minneapolis, shot to death with the same gun Cunanan had stolen from Trail.

Cunanan’s next victim was Chicago real estate tycoon Lee Miglin. Although authorities are still uncertain how and why Cunanan selected Miglin, Cunanan broke into his home, repeatedly stabbed him and stole his car and cash found in the home. Police got their first trace of Cunanan by tracking calls he made from the phone in Miglin’s vehicle. Cunanan ditched Miglin’s car at a cemetery in southern New Jersey, killing the cemetery caretaker, William Reese, a murder of pure expedience, with Reese the random victim.

Cunanan made his way to Miami Beach, and in early May, he checked into a rundown local hotel where he would spend the next two months. He was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List, and his crimes were showcased on America’s Most Wanted. Still, Cunanan did not go to great lengths to hide his identity, using his license to pawn stolen goods and spending time in the city’s vibrant gay social scene.

Early on the morning of July 15, fashion designer Gianni Versace was returning home from a nearby newsstand when Cunanan approached him in front of his house, firing two fatal shots. A bystander tried to apprehend Cunanan, but he escaped after killing his final victim.

Law enforcement soon found Reese’s stolen vehicle in a nearby parking garage, reportedly discovering clippings about his previous murders among his belongings. On July 23, 1997, eight days after the final killing, Cunanan’s body was discovered in a houseboat a few miles from the crime scene. He had died by suicide, using the same gun connected to several of the murders.

While Cunanan’s previous murders landed in the news, the death of the iconic Versace made headlines around the world. Police searched for clues that would link Cunanan to Versace, and some law enforcement believed that the couple might have met several years earlier in San Francisco, either at a party or a gay club. But Versace’s associates insisted the two men never met, and that Cunanan was possibly jealous of Versace’s success. 

The Cunanan murders prompted renewed scrutiny regarding how law enforcement, who had been able to track Cunanan during parts of his crime spree, had been unable to locate him during the two months he spent in Miami before the Versace murder. Some members of Miami Beach’s LGBTQ community criticized law enforcement for what they believed to be a lack of concern for the community’s safety, noting their failure to alert local businesses of Cunanan’s whereabouts. Others in the community bristled at the media’s intense focus on the sexual identities of Cunanan and several of his victims, which helped sensationalize the case with lurid depictions of gay life during an era where homophobia remained rampant.

The case inspired several books and documentaries in the years following Cunanan’s murders. In 2018, the second season of the TV series American Crime Story focused on the Cunanan murders, with actor and singer Darren Criss portraying Cunanan.