![]() ![]() The forthcoming FX television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace-a second installment of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story franchise-will attempt to fill in the gaps of this crime, shedding light on both the why and the how. Cunanan’s suicide brought an end to the nationwide manhunt, but it marked the beginning of a two decade-long search for answers. He’d shot himself in the head with the same gun used to take the lives of three of his victims, including Versace. On July 23, 1997, less than two weeks after Versace was killed, the body of Andrew Cunanan was found in a houseboat off Miami Beach. (Versace’s family members have always maintained that the designer did not have HIV.) However, an autopsy revealed that Cunanan didn’t have the virus. Rumors raged that he had gone on a killing spree to find out who infected him with HIV. Cunanan told not a soul his reasons for killing Versace and wrote nothing down. In the case of Versace, however, the “why” has remained an mystery. In its fusion of pitiless violence with the exclusive, rarified world of celebrity-an act that showed in an instant how defenseless the rich and famous can be-the crime has had nearly the same cultural impact as other high-profile murders, like that of Sharon Tate in 1969 by Charles Manson’s “Family" and the deaths of Beverly Hills couple Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989.īut these horrific acts have motives attached to them, as psychotic and savage as those motives may be. The gunshots that ripped the sultry quiet of Ocean Drive that day have, in certain ways, never gone completely quiet. As the song concluded, the sounds of weeping echoed throughout the church. Elton John and Sting, his closest celebrity friends, closed the service with an emotional rendition of "The Lord is My Shepherd," a psalm chosen by Versace’s team. With camera crews fighting for space outside, more than 2,000 people filed into the memorial, many of them wearing Versace: Naomi Campbell, his favorite model Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld, his champions in the fashion industry and Princess Diana, his most famous client. ![]() They claimed Gianni’s body and returned to Italy, where, on July 22, 1997, one week after his murder, Versace was given a funeral fit for a prince at the Duomo, Milan’s soaring 14th Century cathedral. While the police combed the Miami area, Versace’s shattered siblings, Donatella and Santo, flew in from Milan. CARLA ELITE AESTHETIC SERIALPolice soon identified him as Versace’s murderer, and the frantic hunt for a man the media called a serial killer dominated the news cycle. Cunanan, 27, described by his own mother as a “high class homosexual prostitute,” was already a wanted man-a suspect in four murders in three states-and had gone into hiding in Miami more than two months earlier. Then he turned around and casually walked away. He walked up five marble steps and slipped his key into the lock on the iron gate.Īt that precise moment, a dark-haired man wearing knee length shorts, a gray tank top, a baseball cap, and a backpack surged up the same marble steps.Īndrew Cunanan shot Gianni Versace, twice, execution-style. ![]() ![]() A regular at the buzzy Ocean Drive restaurant, Versace bought a coffee, exchanged greetings with the manager, scooped up issues of Vogue and The New Yorker, and headed back to Casa Casuarina, the opulent palatial villa he’d spent millions acquiring and renovating. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |