Andrew Cunanan, Killer

By Ruth Kanton

On July 15, Gianni Versace left his house in Miami Beach, Casa Casuarina, at around 8:30 a.m., and headed to News Café to pick up his morning coffee and a bunch of magazines. He walked home, and as he was opening the gate to his mansion at around 8:55 a.m., witnesses stated that they saw a man rushing over to Versace, and shot him twice in the back. In the ensuing commotion after the shots rang out, the man ran away from the scene, and a number of people saw him enter a parking garage. Police were called to the scene, and found Versace lying on the steps, bleeding from two bullet wounds, one in the back of the head, and one in the left cheek. One witness ran after the assailant, but was unable to catch him. Versace was rushed over to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:21 a.m. News of the shooting spread like wildfire, and in a few hours, news stations were on the scene, their vans and trucks blocking the roads as they delivered the breaking news. Miami Police quickly locked down the city, and began tracing the gunman's steps, following the witness reports. In the parking garage, officers found Reese's red truck parked, with clothes dropped on the ground next to the truck. The clothes matched witness descriptions of what the shooter was wearing. According to witnesses, a man had rushed out of the parking garage and hailed a cab.
Who killed Gianni Versace and why?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trellis Publishing
• Release date: Jul 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201643850

Book preview

ANDREW CUNANAN, KILLER

RUTH KANTON

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANDREW CUNANAN

VALENTINES DAY MURDERS

ASHLEY FALLIS

BROOKE WILBERGER

CAROL TAGGART

DOMINIQUE DUNNE

FAITH HEDGEPETH

JOYCE CHIANG

Andrew Phillip Cunanan

Andrew Phillip Cunanan was born on August 31, 1969 in National City, California. He was the youngest child of Modesto Pete Cunanan, and Mary Anne Schillaci Cunanan. Modesto, a Filipino immigrant, was serving in the U.S. Navy when Andrew was born, while Mary Anne, an Italian-American, was a stay at home mom. Andrew had three older siblings, Regina, Elena and Christopher. Andrew’s pregnancy was difficult on Mary Anne, and after he was born, she had a severe case of postpartum depression. To help her combat the depression, she was hospitalized for three months. Andrew was the favorite child in the home, and despite their modest living conditions, he always got what he wanted from his parents. Modesto left the Navy, where he served as a chief petty officer, and began working as a stockbroker. Having grown up poor, and with his modest life as an immigrant in America, Modesto prioritized social mobility, and instilled in Andrew that he needed to climb the social ladder to gain an edge in life. He gave Andrew a copy of The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette, and encouraged him to behave in a way that would propel him higher on the social ladder. Mary Anne was marginally different from her husband, and was particularly conservative and a devout Catholic. She and Andrew were close, but Andrew seemed to pay more attention to his father’s teachings about social mobility.  Mary Anne inherited a bit of money, and the family moved to a slightly better neighborhood. In the new home, Andrew was given the master bedroom by his parents, which had its own bathroom.

He attended Bonita Vista Middle School, and later, his parents enrolled him in a prestigious private school, The Bishop’s School, which was in the more affluent La Jolla neighborhood. As one of the top college prep schools, the family believed that Andrew would have a better shot at becoming a success, and avoid the life his parents were living. At The Bishop’s School, Andrew’s reputations as a prolific liar became taking root. A poor kid in a school full of children of the elite and the affluent, Andrew did his very best to make sure that no one knew that he was poor. He told other students that his father was a Philippine sugar plantation owner. He was a charming individual, and his good looks and confidence made it easy for him to manipulate others. He created multiple personas based on what he believed was trendy at the time, and his lies and stories got grander. His behavior was over-the-top, and he was voted Most Likely to be Remembered in his high school yearbook. He was smart and talkative, with an IQ of 147. He graduated in 1987, and enrolled at the University of California, San Diego, and majored in American history.

In 1988, Andrew’s life received a major change. Modesto was being investigated for being part of an elaborate embezzling scheme, and was accused of embezzling $106,000 in stocks. Not willing to face prosecution, he sold the family home and fled to the Philippines. He left the family penniless, forcing Mary Anne to relocate to a smaller home and find a job to support the family. While the embezzlement accusations were outlined in the divorce papers Mary Anne filed, the San Diego police maintained that there was no such investigation into Modesto. Unable to pay school fees, Andrew dropped out of college. He travelled to the Philippines in December 1988, and managed to track his father down, but was appalled that Modesto was living in squalor. According to reports, because he had no money to pay for his return fare, Andrew worked as a prostitute in the Philippines, and he mainly catered to diplomats. He traveled to the United States a month after he had left.

Hillcrest, San Diego

Andrew had come out to his friends and classmates in high school, and many of his family members knew that he was gay. Shortly after his father fled, Andrew came out to his mother. A devout Catholic, Mary Anne did not believe what her son was telling her, and an bitter argument ensued. Andrew, who had no history of violence prior to that day, shoved his mother against the wall. Mary Anne dislocated her shoulder. After dropping out of college, Andrew moved to Hillcrest, a predominantly gay neighborhood in San Diego. The party scene and vibrant social network in Hillcrest was perfect for Andrew, and he became a frequent fixture in clubs and parties. His charm and boisterous personality won over both young and older men, but Andrew’s sights were set on the older, richer men. He lived off the generosities of his sugar daddies, and was always seen buying drinks for everyone at clubs he visited.

Andrew was always dressed in expensive clothes, and would pick up restaurant tabs whenever he was out with a group of friends. Shortly after he came back from Philippines, he began a relationship with Norman Blachford, who was in his later 60s. Blachford was a semiretired businessman, and he was particularly generous to Andrew. He lived in a Vietnam-style home right on the beach in La Jolla, and funded Andrew’s lifestyle. According to friends, he gave Andrew a $2,500 monthly allowance, a dark green Infiniti, and even took him to Paris to visit. While his clothes were definitely more on the conservative side – preppy style, or sweatshirts and baseball caps – Andrew’s personality was not. He was loud and boisterous, and his easy laugh could be heard across the room. He was an avid partier, and with his older dates and rich friends, Andrew was making his way up the social ladder. He was well versed in topics of art and politics, and his charming personality was a hit with many in his circle. His stories got grander, and the lies more outrageous. He even told his friends that his mother was Jewish, and that his father was an Israeli millionaire. With his benefactors firmly by his side, Andrew was welcome in the community, and for almost ten years, was on the upper rungs of the social ladder.

As he got closer to age 30, his status in the community became challenged as younger men entered the scene, fighting to get their own sugar daddies. He began to realize that he couldn’t successfully compete against them, and got a little subdued. Things came to a head when Andrew’s biggest benefactor, Blachford, finally let him go. His access to the monthly stipend and other benefits was greatly curtailed, and with no job, his lifestyle took a massive hit. He took out credit cards and racked up massive debt, and his social status quickly spiraled downwards. Many in his social circles avoided interacting with him, with some having gotten tired of listening to his lies. With no money and few friends left, Andrew even resorted to selling his pain medication to make some money. His personality seemed to be changing, and his gregarious personality morphed into something more subdued.

Jeffrey Trail and David Madson

Jeffrey Trail was born on February 25, 1969, in DeKalb, Illinois, to Stanley and Ann Trail. He graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis and went on to fight in the Gulf War. After he was discharged, he began working for the California Highway Patrol. Trail met Andrew sometime after he moved to San Diego, and the two became fast friends. They were close, and often went to shooting ranges together. Andrew would often introduce Trail as his Kindergarten friend to other people. Their other friends had no idea how the friendship worked, and many were of the opinion that Andrew had a strange hold over Trail, and that for some unknown reason, Trail always did Andrew’s bidding.

Andrew would travel to San Francisco frequently, and in December 1995, he met David Madson, a Minneapolis architect, in a bar. Madson was on vacation, and the two men hit it off. The two began a long distance relationship, and at one point, friends believe that Andrew introduced Madson to Trail. By spring of 1996, Madson had called his relationship with Andrew quits. He told friends that there was something shady about the way Andrew was funding his lavish lifestyle, and suspected that it was something illegal. Trail’s friendship with Andrew began deteriorating in 1996, and after Andrew’s relationship with Blachford ended, the rift between Andrew and Trail grew even wider.

According to Michael Williams, Trail was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how Andrew was making ends meet. I asked Jeff how Andrew was making ends meet after being frozen out by Blachford, Williams said in an interview. Jeff said, 'You know, I think Norman was giving him an allowance for a while, but I know that he's back to his old profession.' When Williams asked about Andrew’s former profession, Trail readily admitted that Andrew was back to selling drugs again. He sold ecstasy, cocaine, and crystal meth, and was a pretty avid drug user himself. Andrew preferred meth, and with his relationship with Blachford gone, his depression drove him to start heavily using again, and he was drinking heavy and taking pills also. To the surprise of many of his friends in San Diego, Trail abruptly quit his training at the California Highway Patrol, and got a job as a district manager for a propane delivery company based in Minneapolis. Trail’s relationship with Andrew by this time was nonexistent, and he apparently told a number of friends that they had a huge falling out, and that he never wanted to see Andrew again. Williams said: I asked Jeff if he'd talked to Andrew. He told me that Andrew and he had had a huge falling out and that he would never speak to him again. When I asked why, he said he was just sick of the lies and the bullshit and all the stories. Williams added that Trail became furious when Andrew tried to recruit him in his import-export business, a term he used to describe selling drugs. From this point, the relationship between the two was over.

As Trail became acclimated to his new life in the new town, his friendship with Madson got stronger. Andrew, miffed that he was abandoned by Trail and Madson, sank deeper into depression. Friends worried, and many stated that by April 1997, he was taking copious amounts of painkillers and alcohol like there was no tomorrow. He was taking the pills he sometimes sold, and adding vodka to his usual cranberry juice. He often slept late into the afternoon. The happier Madson and Trail seemed, the angrier Andrew got. He began planning a trip to Minneapolis, and told friends that he had to take care of some business with Trail. Having maxed out his two credit cards, Andrew had to call one company to ask for an extension on his card so that he could buy