Man Who Murdered Designer Versace Started Killing Spree in MN

Designer Gianni Versace. He was murdered in South Florida in 1997. His murderer was Andrew Cunanan who never actually made it to trial. Cunanan was one of America's Most Wanted fugitives and was never caught. He was found dead in July of 1997 after committing suicide 8 days after shooting Versace in broad daylight on the front steps of his home. That is where his killing spree ended, but it actually began a few months earlier in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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According to Only in Your State/Minnesota, Cunanan had come to Minneapolis in April of 1997, 3 months before shooting and killing Versace. He was visiting his friends Jeffrey Trail and David Madson.

Trail's body was found in David Madson's apartment. The co-worker had come to check on Madson, who had failed to show up at work for several days. At first, police suspected that Madson had killed Trail. Eventually, police learned Cunanan had stolen Trail's handgun. He then lured Trail to Madson's apartment, ostensibly to retrieve the gun. But when Trail arrived, Cunanan bludgeoned him to death with a claw hammer.

After this, Cunanan apparently stole a Jeep, which happened to belong to David Madson. He drove to Chicago where he stabbed real estate developer Lee Miglin to death. He then stole Miglin's vehicle and drove to the east coast. He then killed his fourth victim. His name was William Reese. FBI agents found this to be true as the same gun was used to kill Madson earlier. He then stole his vehicle and drove to Florida. FBI agents issued a nationwide search. That went on for over two months until the fateful day in July when he shot and killed designer Gianni Versace on the front steps of his home as he was returning from a cafe where he had purchased some magazines. This was in broad daylight with witnesses.

The search for Cunanan went on for 8 days. When they finally found Cunanan, they found that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Agents found the gun he had used was the same gun used to shoot Versace and two of the other victims.

You can see the entire story here. WCCO news in Minneapolis also did a story on Cunanan's killing spree