Criminology - Andrew Cunanan

Episode Date: May 1, 2022

Andrew Cunanan was very intelligent. He knew how to manipulate people and used that to get what he wanted from everyone in his life. But, like many con artists, he was never satisfied. Andrew was always looking for the next big thing, always craving something bigger and better. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss Andrew Cunanan. Cunanan's name became infamous after a murder spree that culminated with the murder of fashion giant Gianni Versace. A manhunt ensued that ended after Cunanan took his life as the authorities closed in on him. What drove Andrew to begin killing? And, why did he target Gianni Versace? You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello everyone and welcome to episode 205 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Hey, Morford, what's going on with you, buddy? A hell of a lot of stuff. I'm doing a lot of packing and getting ready for a move. I know a lot of times I jump in and say not very much, but I'm busy as can be right now. How about you?

Yeah, we got CrimeCon coming up. So I know you and I are taping and writing and recording and doing a lot to get ready for CrimeCon. It always takes a lot of extra stuff up front for us to be able to spend that time. Yeah, it's definitely not really a vacation where you go away and just everything, you know, you relax and you don't have to do work. You actually have to probably do a little bit more work to make it all happen. But we're excited.

And just a reminder that Morph and I will be at the Indigo Lounge. in Bally's on Saturday night at 9 for kind of a meetup, Gibby will be there. So if you're at CrimeCon, come see us. Yeah, we'd love to have you there and talk, some shop and hang out. All right, Morf, let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Anthony Eisenhower, Eileen Messina, and Julie D. So that's a lot of great new support. We really appreciate it.

Yeah, thanks very much. It means a lot to us that you're willing to support criminology. And for anyone that would like to, you can go to patreon.com slash criminology. All right, buddy, it's time to jump into this episode. You know, streaming services lately have been a buzz with shows about con artists becoming and Delvey, the tender swindler, bad vegan, the dropout. There's a ton of them. And they're all about someone who tricked people for money or in order to live a lavish lifestyle. The link some of these con artists went to in order to carry out their plans is pretty shocking. And the details of what they did are riveting and something you'd expect to see in more of a

fictional made for TV show as was how long it took people to realize that they were being lied to. But these people weren't some thieves that just came in and took what they want. made a quick getaway, they took their time to create relationships with those who they victimized. Today we are talking about a con artist who, in his desperation, after his plans went awry, became a spree killer taking five lives, including that of fashion icon Gianni Versace. We're talking about Andrew Kunanan. Andrew Philip Kunan was born in National City, California, on August 31st, 1960.

to Modesto Kunan and Marianchilossi. Modesto was a stockbroker and a Navy veteran. Early on, people recognized that Andrew Kunan was a smart kid. At just 10 years old, he had reportedly not only read, but memorized an entire set of encyclopedias. He was said to be incredibly intelligent with an IQ of 147 in just the third grade. Andrew went to a private prep school in La Jolla, California for $12,000 a year. As Andrew got older, he used what he learned in books and magazines to spin stories about places he had never actually been to, discussing exotic, expensive foods he could never afford.

But because Andrew also was a smooth talker with a lot of charm and personality, most people would never question him. He presented himself as a wealthy person of means and would leave generous tips and insist on picking up large dinner bills, paying in cash. There are quotes about Canaan and people who knew him from all over the country. Michael Williams, a restaurateur in San Diego, said at best to Vanity Fair. Andrew did his homework. He would investigate older, wealthy gay men who didn't have families, and he would place himself in those circles. And that was his living.

In 1987, when he was 18 years old, Andrew went to the University of California in San Diego to study American history. While in San Diego, he called himself Andrew De Silva. The FBI's Freedom of Information Act released for this case is heavily redacted. But it does reference a De Silva that lived in the Rancho Santa Fe area and according to the FBI report was quote, quite prominent in charity and social work. It seems Kunanan may have stolen this name from the late James De Silva, an arts philanthropist who donated almost $2 million to UC San Diego for a sculpture collection. De Silva was listed in multiple issues of the Clarion, America's folk art magazine in the 1990s,

credited as a major donor. Kunanin posing as De Silva claimed to be from a wealthy Jewish family. He would also sometimes use the alias baron Ashkenozy when making reservations at fancy restaurants. He bragged that he knew a Filipino senator. He claimed that his father was a millionaire from Israel and aristocrat on New York's Fifth Avenue or a general from the Philippines who knew the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, depending on who he was talking to. According to Vandy Fair, Kunan also claimed that his mother, Marianne, would regularly spa with singer Deborah Harry, also known as Blondie. In 1988, Marianne Cunanan, who was Italian and a devout Catholic, not Jewish, and not Israeli, claimed that Modesto Cunanin had split, abandoned under four children after he was accused of embezzling over $100,000.

This was a much different picture than Cunanin liked a pain of his wealthy Jewish family, with a large inheritance waiting for him and his siblings. It became harder and harder for Andrew Cunaninan to pass off his lies to people close to home. When he was around 18 or 19 years old, his mother realized that he was gay. The rest of the family was aware by then. According to San Diego Reader.com, he had been openly gay since his days at the Bishops, but he had never talked about it with his mom. After two years, Kunannon dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco.

This city came to be one of his favorite places. It was a place he could reinvent himself once again. Many people there never knew he dropped out of college, instead believing he had earned his master's degree. He would also lie at various times and say he had attended Choate, Yale, and Bennington College. He also claimed that he had a pilot's license. At other times, he would claim that he had a daughter from a previous marriage to a Jewish princess. Kunan did actually have a goddaughter that he would doad on, but no children of his own.

His knack for learning from magazines extended to his relationship with her, too, as he purchased a magazine subscription about Ball House building. just in order to build her Grand Chateau for her toys. It was in San Francisco on October 21st, 1990, that Andrew Kunanan would meet fashion giant Johnny Versace, and while neither of the two men knew it at the time, the meeting would prove to be faithful for both of them. They met at a San Francisco nightclub called Colossus, where Versace told Kunan that he recognized him from a prior party on Lake Kornanin.

Coma. Versace was only in San Francisco because he had recently completed costume designs for the San Francisco opera. Andrew Kunanan, by all appearances, seemed delighted that Versace had recognized him, according to witnesses. Bandy Fair reported that Kunanin was smugly pleased. It turns out, though, that Versace was likely mistaken, and that Kunan had actually never met him or been anywhere near Lake Como, but Kunanin went with the flow and effortlessly pretended that he had been at Versace's party. By this point, Canaanan was used to a lavish lifestyle. He had befriended Norman Blatchford, a millionaire with a house on the hills over the coast in La Jolla, California. The home had once been owned by another friend of Canaanans, Lincoln Aston, a wealthy older man who had been bludgeon

to death by a drifter he picked up in 1995. It was actually Kunanin's idea for Blatchez to sell his other homes and live in Loyah full time. Together, Kunanin and Blatchford would travel, going to New York City for Broadway shows and flying to France. Blatchford also let Kunanin have plenty of time for himself, though, alone or with his friends. But Andrew Kunanin was a guy who was always looking for the next big thrill. The next person he could impressed or be impressed by.

In December 1995, Kunanan met architect David Madsen at a bar. Kunanan sent him a drink and they went back to Kunanin's room at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. From there, they started a close relationship. In San Diego, Kunanin was also close with Jeffrey Trail, who Andrew would sometimes call his brother. Trail had graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and had served in the Persian Gulf, retiring in 1996 as a lieutenant. Right out of the Navy, he joined the CHP, but retired the very same year.

According to Vandy Fair, Trail claimed that there was too much paperwork. But Kunanin told people that Trail had transported cocaine across the border, and he had gotten scared about being mixed up in drug running and won it out. Trail and Kunanin often went shooting together. Trial was impressed by how skilled and knowledgeable Cunanin was when it came to guns. Andrew knew a lot about guns, including various calibers and sizes. Despite the friendship, it was clear to Trial that Cunanian used him. Once, Andrew gave Trial a present, but it was actually a present for himself.

Andrew told Trial to wrap it, what to say, and specifically told him to say he was a CHP instructor when he gave Andrew the gift in front of none other than Norman Blatchford, all part of Andrew's plan to make Blatchford jealous. Eventually, Trow began to grow tired of Canaan and his embellishments, which would often unwillingly include him. Around the same time, architect David Madsen was beginning to grow distant from Andrew as well. He felt that Andrew was unreachable or gone too often, much of that time being spent with Norman Blatchford.

For his part, Blatchford gave Andrew $2,000 every month to spend on whatever he wanted, as well as the 1996 Infinity 130T, a brand new car at the time. But none of this was enough for Andrew. He felt he deserved more and that he was destined for bigger and better things. You know, to me, Morph, it seems pretty obvious that Andrew Kunanin set out to use basically everybody who he encountered, right? He wasn't in love with any of these guys. it was all about, you know, what can I get from this person? How can I manipulate this person, make them jealous?

You know, he was getting a couple of thousand dollars a month from this Blatchford guy, a brand new infinity, which, you know, they're not cheap now. They weren't cheap in 1996. But even all of that, it just wasn't good enough for him. And I think that's kind of something that you find with many con artists. Even if they have a good thing going, it's not enough. They want more. They want a bigger score.

They want to go after a bigger target. And it seems like there was no shortage of people that were with him that he had access to. It seems like it could be an endless pool of people to sort of leach off of and, you know, try and bleed dry or whatever is ultimately. plan was the ironic thing was perhaps he could have found one of these people that he could have had a relationship with and stayed with and had a nice lifestyle for himself, but he, for whatever reason, chose to keep moving on to something else. If Andrew chose to, maybe he could have had a relationship with one of these people that lasted and he could have had that lifestyle

permanently. Oh, I absolutely believe that he could have. It's just not what he wanted to do. right. It wasn't in his makeup. He didn't want to settle down. He didn't want to be with one person. You know, I think part of it is the thrill of the chase for a guy like Andrew Kuhnan. And let's not forget. We talked about how extremely intelligent this guy was. So I think that all factors in to being a master manipulator. The smarter you are, the easier it is. to figure out what people want and how to get them to do what you want them to do. And I wonder if some of it is not all greed. Maybe there's some kind of thrill in being cunning and deceiving people, you know,

sort of like when you hear about a celebrity that goes in and they could buy an entire story if they shop with something. And maybe it's just because he got some kind of sick thrill out of what he did. Yeah. I think there's a thrill aspect to a. as well. I think it's a mixture. I think money is obviously a factor, but you're right. That thrill factor is there as well. Cunanan broke things off with Norman Blatchford around September 1996 and stayed at a residence hotel in Hillcrest before he moved in with two men. Eric Greenman and

Tom Eads, Blatchford didn't bother to ask for his infinity back. And Cunanin later said that he sold it for $20,000 when he needed cash. Andrew would often walk Greenman's Rottweiler, named Barclay. But he didn't really do any other type of exercise. And according to Vandy Fair, he felt physically he just wasn't up to it. He would regularly complain to others, even the co-owner of Flick's video bar where he would go almost nightly that he couldn't get a date. Greenman remembered that Kunanin didn't bring.

home a date the entire 10 months they lived together. Tim Barthel co-owner of the Flicks video bar recalled that Andrew got into those circles with money and charm. He just kind of wiggled his way in. And as Greenman stated, he had

to flash money because a good-looking guy wouldn't look at him. The rejection and not being the center of attention was aggravating for Andrew Coonanan. Andrew told David Madsen that he was going to turn his life around and get a job.

Madsen repeated this story to his friends, and he seemed genuinely happy for Canaanan. Around the same time, Mattson moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Andrew Madsen had broken up the year before, but Canaan had not moved on. A photo of Madsen was still taped to the front of Andrew's fridge. Around this time, in March of 1997,

Jeffrey Trail told his friend Rick Allen, who lived in Minneapolis, that Kunan had asked him to help with illegal business dealings. but he didn't help him. Trial was against illegal drugs, and Andrew had asked him the service security for what Vanity Fair reported was some type of import-export business. But in reality, it was some kind of drug dealing. Trell told Rick Allen that his response to Kinnanin was, Fuck You. And Trow told his friend Michael Williams from San Diego that he never wanted to see Andrew Kuhnan again. In the beginning of April 1997, Koonanen met 26-year-old Tim Schroen.

at a gay nightclub in San Francisco, Andrew bragged about knowing celebrities like model and actress Liz Hurley, Lisa Kudrow from Friends and Madonna. He also offered Schwager drugs, claiming he knew dealers in San Diego and that Swager should help him move some of the drugs, but Schweger declined his offer. Despite Schweger declining Andrew's drug dealing offer, Coonanin didn't seem upset, and the pair quickly went to Andrew's room at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. But what happened after that was a blur for Tim Schweger. He later told Vanity Fair, I think I was drugged that night or I had too much to drink. I've had these memory flashbacks of trying to fight him off during the night. Though Tim had been wearing underwear, he woke up nude. And Schweger knew after that night that Andrew

Kunanan was dangerous. Andrew told Tim he was going to go to Chicago for some business and that he'd be gone for a little while, which was actually a relief for Tim. But when they ran into each other unexpectedly the next weekend, when Kunanin was supposed to be in Chicago, Tim was uncomfortable and rejected him. So Andrew Kunanin moved on. I think the possibility that Andrew Kunanin drug this guy and and possibly attacked him or did something else to him, he can't even remember.

It's troubling because it shows another side besides a swindler or a hustler or someone that's just trying to milk someone for money. This shows that he might have a dangerous side where he could physically harm someone. Well, you know, if you kind of read these statements from Tim Schweger, he doesn't actually say it in the Van de Fair article, but you can kind of read between the lines. And it sounds like he believes he was sexually assaulted that night. So I think you're right on point, morph, when you say, now we're talking about somebody who is very dangerous, could be very dangerous in any given situation.

I think Tim recognized that. And he started to distance himself from Andrew. Andrew moved on. Over Easter weekend, 1997, Andrew Kuhnan, booked two rooms at the. the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, one for himself and David Madsen, and the other for two of Madsen's friends who were engaged. The hotel rooms were $395 a night each. During the stay, Andrew tried to initiate a sexual encounter, and Madsen rejected him. That made Andrew angry. A few days later, Kunan stayed with Madsen's engaged friends in San Francisco. He told the soon-to-be bride that he

needed to spend $15,000 before April 15th tax day and wanted to use it to pay for their reception. He also gifted a leather jacket to both her and David Manson. It seemed as if Kunano was in a very generous mood. But his mood changed and Andrew Kunanin started making plans to leave California. Shortly before Andrew left San Diego, Eric Greenman saw him injecting drugs early in the morning. This was during a time where he would normally just be getting. to sleep. It was the side of Andrew that Eric had never witnessed before. On April 23rd, Kunan had a farewell dinner in San Diego at California cuisine. He gave a speech. It was a little bit

somber, but he was also somewhat excited about business prospects and claimed that he would miss Barclay, the dog most of all. He also said he had unfinished business with a man named Jeff Trail in Minnesota. Andrew, then purchased a one-way ticket to Minneapolis to visit David Madsen and Jeffrey Trail. And I guess more, neither of these two men were happy to see Andrew since they both suspected he was involved in drug dealing. But according to Van Deer, Madsen was a softy. He told friends that Andrew was trying to make a change in his life and that Andrew just needed help. Apparently,

Trail wasn't so anxious to trust Andrew Koonan. But he was, wasn't overly concerned since he was going to be gone most of the weekend with his boyfriend. On Friday, April 25th, Madsen went to the Minneapolis airport to pick Andrew Cananan up. They went to dinner with Madsen's friends, where Andrew told Madsen to show them the Cartier watch that he had gifted him. Madsen seemed uncomfortable that night at dinner. They went back to his apartment that night and went out to dinner again on Saturday. Apparently, Jeffrey Trell and Andrew seemed to make peace because Cananan went to.

went to Bloomington to stay with Trail, where he used a key that had been left out under the welcome Matt to let himself in. The next morning, Madsen and his best friend, Monique Salvetti, who had also been at dinner on Friday, made plans for later that day. Andrew took messages for trail around the same time that Monique and Madsen were talking. He left out a note about Trell's friend Jerry's 3 p.m. softball game, which Trail did wind up going to. Trail had to leave the game early to make a cake before some friends came over to his place to celebrate his boyfriend's birthday. According to Harper's bizarre article, at around 8 p.m. from Madsen's apartment, Kunan called Trail and left them a message that he would like to see him.

On Sunday, April 27, 1997, just before 10 p.m., Jeffrey Trail made it over to Madsen's apartment. An argument broke out. As reported in Vanity Fair, a neighbor heard of voice Yale, get the fuck out, as well as sounds of a scuffle and things bumping against the wall. After that, they could hear the sound of running water. On Monday, Madsen and Andrew walked Madsen's dog named Prince. They were also seen in the elevator together that day. So things appeared to be pretty normal.

The next day on the 29th, around 145 p.m. Two of Madsen's coworkers went to his loft to check on him. His dog was whining and scratching at the door, but the women thought that they heard whispering. The women left and gave the superintendent a message asking them to check on Mattson. Around 4 p.m. The super did go into Mattson's apartment as requested. That's when the super made a grisly discovery. A body was wrapped in a carpet and two different sets of footprints were in the blood that was spattered throughout the apartment.

on a table close to the door, someone had left a bloody hammer. Police were called in to investigate the crime scene. The next morning, the body was identified as 28-year-old Jeffrey Trail. His watch had stopped at 9.55 p.m., probably during the brutal beating that he suffered, which seemed to begin with an ambush from behind. He had been hit 27 times with the hammer. It was a brutal attack. Immediately, authorities suspected David Madsen of the murder.

According to Vanity Fair, the police thinking, according to the Minneapolis Police, was that it's his apartment. There's a body in there. And after all, Madsen had been witnessed the day after the murder and people had heard whispering in his apartment. So police had a suspect in Madsen, but the issue was, they had no idea where he was. It wasn't until Friday, a couple days later, when Madsen's Jeep Cherokee was reported driving erratically, northbound on Interstate 35, but police were unable to find the vehicle. That afternoon, Madsen and Kunan had lunch at a diner in Rush Lake. They may have traveled to Chicago, as later evidenced by a parking lot receipt from Chicago in early May,

and then driven back to Rush Lake. The hunt was on for David Manson. Early on Saturday, May 3rd, the body of 33-year-old David Mattson was found on the edge of Rush Lake. He had been shot three times with a 40-count. handgun. His Jeep was missing, but his keys were on the ground next to him. His fingers were damaged, possibly when he tried to shield his face from one of the shots. A 40 caliber golden saber bullet was still lodged in his chest. Friends of Jeff Trail and his boyfriend John Hackett tried to tell the Minneapolis police that they needed to find Andrew Coonanna, that he was somehow

connected to the two murders. A box of 40 caliber ammunition was found in Trails Clause, finally linking the two cases together. In Madsen's apartment, there was another box of the same ammunition, minus 10 bullets, and a small gym bag. The label on the gym bag indicated that it belonged to Andrew Koonan. And so police put out an APB on him. While on the run after the Minnesota murder, Andrew Kuhnan had stopped using his master card. Before this point, his credit card records showed he had specific and expensive taste, preferring Asian food, eating at restaurants like Taste of Thai, sushi bar Kuzumi, and San Raku. He also likes Starbucks.

He regularly spent hundreds of dollars at a time on the card, racking up a $2,000 bounds, and only paying the minimum due. Kunan's killing spree was far from over. On Saturday, May 3rd, Andrew Kuhnan killed 72-year-old Lee Migglin in Chicago, Illinois. Miglin, a real estate developer, and husband of entrepreneur and home shopping network, regular Maryland Miglin, was cleaning out a garage in his property when Andrew Kuhnan struck in what's been deemed the crime of opportunity. While Miglin seems to have been a random victim of the desperate Andrew Kuhnan,

the details of the murder are odd. Andrew bound Miglin's hands together, wrapped masking tape completely around his head, except for a hole for each nostril. Harper's Bazaar described it as though Miglin was left appearing like a mummy. He had suffered broken ribs and was stabbed with a screwdriver. His throat had been cut with a garden saw. His body was also covered with plastic and brown wrapping paper. Robert Milan, the former cook.

County Assistant State's attorney would later say to ABC 7 Chicago. It was a savage murder by an absolutely evil guy and he was out of control. And after Andrew killed Lee Miglin, he made himself at home. He shaved. He ate a sandwich and he took a rest, sleeping in Miglin's bed. And then after all that, he stole Migland's green Lexus and drove it to New York. Marilyn Miglin came home on Sunday morning. Confused after her husband failed to pick her up from the airport,

she saw a gun on the bathroom counter. It turned out to be a toy that Andrew had left on the sink. She immediately called the police who arrived and discovered Lee Miglin dead. And Morph, I think you have to put yourself in the shoes of Marilyn Miglin. You have a plan with your husband. He's supposed to pick you up from the airport. Okay, very strange that he doesn't show. I think, you know, any spouse would at that point think, okay, what is going on?

You're not in panic mode, but you're questioning things at that point. You get home, you see a gun on the bathroom counter. That's out of the ordinary. And now your level of concern goes up greatly. Now it turns out to be a toy. My assumption is she probably didn't know that. So she immediately called the police. Then they get there and find out that her husband is dead.

That's got to be a pretty shocking scene for her in her own home to realize that her husband's else were in the house. She's walking around and not aware he's there. And she's scared out by this gun, which she, again, she probably didn't realize was just a toy at the time. But it's just a real frightening situation to come home to that. and you have to feel really terrible for her to experience that. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency? We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer.

For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved, until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. As police scoured the neighborhood looking for Miglin's killer, they found Madsen's Jeep covered with parking tickets. It had Minnesota plates, which made it stand out.

When police called it in, they got the news that it was connected to murder suspect Andrew Cunanin. When friends of Andrew Andrews heard the news that the Jeep he reportedly had fled in was a stick shift, it was odd to them, because according to them, Andrew Cunanin couldn't drive. the simplistic shift. Police worked to see how, if at all, Kunanin and Meglin knew each other, but no one could figure out how they might be connected. It was speculated that Meglin and Canaanan met for a secret romantic encounter that went wrong. After all, Miglin was the type that Canaan would have gone for, an older wealthy man.

Meglin's son, Duke, who was 25 years old at the time, had never met Canaan. And he was younger than Canaan's typical type. But Duke was an actor. He had a small part in a number of 1997's Air Force One with Harrison Ford. Canaanan clearly wanted attention, maybe had dreams of the red carpet. Andrew had apparently told some people about a guy named Duke that he was going to start a business with, as well as a rich family in Chicago that he knew. In the end, the authorities couldn't make a connection and seemed to be satisfied that Meglin was a random victim.

But before police could figure out how to stop Andrew Canaan, he struck again. in Pensville, located in southern New Jersey, Kunanan shot and killed 45-year-old William Reese, the caretaker of Fins Point National Cemetery, shot him in cold blood. It looks like stealing his red 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck was his only motive for this murder. Andrew left the radio on in the caretaker's office

and didn't bother to close the door behind him. Migglin's Lexus was also parked at the cemetery. When Reese didn't come home from work, his wife drove to the cemetery to check on him. When she didn't see his truck, and noticed that the caretaker's office was open, she called the police. They found Reese dead in the basement.

He had been shot in the head with a 40 caliber bullet. When they found Miglin's Lexus, they knew who they were looking for, Andrew Koonan. When the alert came, came out that police were searching for Andrew Canaan, and, you know, I had been seeing this on TV the way a lot of people were not paying a lot of attention to it. But then when it came out that he had killed someone in South Jersey, it sort of, you know, the area was sort of not on edge like he might be out there anywhere, but a lot of people were really, you know, keeping their eyes open. And it just so happened, there was a big diner, not too far from me, called Olga's diner, which was a well-known. a pretty historic diner in South Jersey on a main highway. And Andrew Kinnanan had been spotted there.

And someone I knew at the diner called me and said, you're never going to believe it. The police were just here. They swarmed the whole diner with a team, I guess, trying to catch Andrew Kinnan, but he had just left. So they apparently missed him by minutes. So as a South Jersey resident, that really put this case in a different perspective for me.

Well, I hear that from a lot of fans, more if you know, you and I do so many podcasts and have done so many over the last four, five, six years. I get emails and messages from fans who talk about specific cases that happen, you know, or happened around where they live. And it is just different for them because they know the places. They know the land.

marks. And, you know, to think that some type of heinous killer was roaming the area where, you know, you live, it does kind of make it different for people. I think especially in a case like this, because it's sort of a national story and you're not really necessarily paying attention to it. So this is happening in someone else's city. It's not happening in your city. And then all of a sudden, they show up where you live. It's a real wake-up call, I think, for a lot of people. Andrew Kuhnananin was added to the FBI's most wanted fugitives list, number 449 on the list. According to San Diego Reader.com, people in La Jolla and San Diego who knew Kuananin actually fled the city in fear. They were afraid for their lives. They had been afraid for months that Andrew Kinnanin might be dangerous.

And now there was no longer any doubt. In May 1997, an FBI agent interviewing on acquaintance of Canaanans noted that they were afraid that he would go to the gay pride parade held each year in Long Beach and try to kill them or do some kind of mass shooting. Those who knew Andrew well were concerned that he could be responsible for the murders. Even a friend who had known him since seventh grade reported to the FBI in unclassified documents that Andrew did appear to have a revenge streak. People were looking for Andrew Canaan nationwide, but they had no idea where he would show up next. It turned out that he traveled from New Jersey to Miami where he stayed at the Normandy Plaza Hotel for almost two months. The two months day cost him just about $700, but he didn't pay his last day's rent on

Saturday, July 12th. It was a pretty shoddy motel and a far cry from Kunan's fancy taste. While staying at the hotel, he changed his hairstyle so often. It seemed to Ramon Gomez, the night manager that Kunanan wore wigs. He also paid in cash to avoid detection. He never had any visitors. During this time, he pawned a $50 gold coin that he had stolen from Lee Miglin in Chicago. He used his real name when he signed the pawn shop papers. And as they were required to buy law, the pawn shop submitted Kunan's thumbprint and a copy of the ticket to the Miami Police Department. but it would take time to make its way through the proper channels before it would set off any alarm. Sightings of Andrew Cananan were coming in from all over the country, states like Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Just before 9 a.m. on July 15, 1997, in Miami Beach, Johnny Versace was shot to death while he was walking up the marble steps to his Mediterranean villa. He had just returned from a walk to a coffee shop. Many witnesses saw that. killer, including Versace's partner, Antonio D'Amico, who was certain he could identify the killer if he saw him again. News of Versace's assassination spread like wildfire through Miami, and then quickly to the rest of the world. People were shocked and saddened over the senseless murder, and they wondered who could do such a thing.

At the time, no one had any idea that Andrew Kinnan had pulled the trigger. Miami police turned up several witnesses who described Versace's killer as wearing shorts and a baseball cap. He was seen walking down Ocean Drive and along the route had briefly been chased by both the police officer and a civilian, but he cut through multiple alleys and got away. On 13th Street, a hotel surveillance camera caught Andrew as he fled. The hotel was across the street from a parking lot, where on June 10th, Cunanan had parked at a rate of $4 a day. The red pickup truck he had stolen from William Reese in New Jersey. Witnesses saw him changing his clothes next to the truck. Since that parking lot was not prepaid, drivers would pay whatever they owed

for the time. They had been parked only when they left the lot. On the same morning of Gianni Versace's murder, the truck that Kunan had stolen from William Reese was found. It had South Carolina license plates on it and not New Jersey plates. And these plates have been reported stolen. stolen. A change of clothes was found in a pile next to the stolen truck. There was a lot of stuff inside the truck, the pawn shop ticket from Lee Maitland's stolen coin, Andrew Canaan's passport, and a check with his name on it. Police now knew who they were dealing with, and they knew that they had to stop Andrew Cananin before he struck again. On July 23rd, a man went to check on an empty houseboat that he was responsible for keeping secure. He heard a noise inside, but

Before he could investigate any further, he heard a gun go off. The man immediately called the police, fearing that the gunshot he heard was intended for him. This houseboat was anchored less than three miles away from Gianni Versace's villa, just off of Collins Avenue. The police sent in a SWAT team who used tear gas to try and clear anyone out of the houseboat. But no one ever came out. The team cautiously made their way inside the boat. and after 12 hours, the Miami Police Department announced that they had found the body of Andrew

Coonanan. He had taken his own life by shooting himself in the mouth. He didn't leave a note to explain his murder spree or his decision to take his own life. Perhaps when he realized that someone was entering the boat, he just assumed it was the police and decided to end things. A lot of people had questions about why Andrew Kinanin did what he did. There had been many rumors in the media while he was on the run. The biggest was that the reason for his killing spree was that he had contracted HIV from one of his lovers and was killing those who could be responsible before he died.

People that knew Andrew Canaan felt this was an odd reason for him to want to kill people. They didn't think he was likely to have HIV because, as per FBI documents, he was known to be an advocate of condom use. One witness who feared for their life in May of 1997 recalled Andrew Cananan proclaiming that he would take his own life if he ever contracted AIDS. The man who had known Andrews since seventh grade recalled that he once said he would go on a five-state killing spree and take everyone with him he could if he ever had AIDS. Of course, he thought at the time that Andrew was joking.

In the end, Andrew Canan's autopsy revealed that he was perfectly healthy. I think more of the fact that Andrew Kuhnan was perfectly healthy was even more disturbing to some people. You know, being angry and seeking revenge might help explain his actions to some. But his clean bill of health only led to more questions. It's still unknown exactly why Andrew Kuhnanan killed Johnny Versace. Most people assume it was for fame, a last chance for him to get some real. attention. But it wasn't fame he got. It was infamy. One loose end in this case we need to discuss is what role, if any, David Madsen played in the murder of Jeffrey Trail. You know, if we go back

to that murder, it was Madsen's apartment where Trail was found dead. Madsen was seen with Koonan after the murder. Madsen's family believes he was taken hostage after he interrupted Andrew during the murder, perhaps he was afraid and wanted to help someone who he thought was in trouble. Chicago police captain Tom Cronin told Vandy Fair, it makes perfect sense to David Madsen. In that moment, this guy's got power over me, I can't leave. The killing itself shows how powerful he is. He added that people like Andrew Kunanan have that ability to control people,

not necessarily physical control. Many times it's just out of fear. And to me more, if that goes back to the ability to manipulate people, you know, manipulation can also be fear based. That could have been, you know, at play here. We often talk about in many situations, why doesn't someone just leave a particular situation, whether, you know,

it's someone who's experiencing domestic violence or who is being threatened by another person. And oftentimes it comes out that, you know, the person is just too afraid of what the repercussions would be if they tried to leave. In 1999, Bulger favors Andrew Cananan, Gianni Versace, and the largest failed manhunt in U.S. history was published. It was written by Van E. Fair correspondent, Maureen Orth, who dove into Canaan's life and crimes, uncovering clues, and concluding that Kunan was a sociopath. Greg McCrary, senior consultant of the Threat Assessment Group and

former supervisory special agent of the FBI's behavioral sciences unit, told Vanity Fair that when you're dealing with a pathological, sexually sadistic offender, their interpersonal skills are so strong and their ability to target these victims to understand their needs, to meet these needs and fulfill them are so developed that in return these victims always feel obligated. And for this kind of offender, when he realized that in spite of his best efforts, he is not getting what he wants, he feels out of control, and homicide is an attempt to regain control over the situation. According to McCrary, offenders like Canaan begin with sex partners who were complying with their fantasies. They get someone to go along with bondage and torture

until the victim won't go long anymore. So the sadistic offender is not satisfied. Chicago Police Captain Tom Cronin, who had also graduated from the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit, agreed with this line of thinking, telling the magazine that people like Canaan don't get dumped. They go to great pains to win someone back, just so they can dump back in the future.

They're control freaks. A fictionalized version of Andrew Kunan's killing spree was featured in the FX series American Crime Story, the assassination of Gianni Versace just a few years ago. You know, morph as we wrap up this episode, no doubt. Andrew Kunanan was a con artist, a master manipulator. I think that much is clear. It seems to me as though he was out to get something from everyone he encountered.

But it also seems to me as though this was a guy who was never satisfied with what he had. He was always looking for something more, something bigger, something better. You know, and you listen to someone like Greg McCrary, a guy who a lot of true crime officiados know well, I think some of the stuff that he said really resonate. Number one, he talked about how strong the interpersonal skills are of these types of individuals, their ability to target people, to understand what their target needs, to fulfill those needs and create that kind of bond to the point where their victims feel obligated to them. I mean, we're really talking about individuals here like Andrew who go to great links to kind

of sink their hooks into people. They study, they plan, they figure out the best way to do it. And it's why they're so successful in manipulating people, getting what they want. But then, you know, I think the second part is at some point this person and especially specifically Andrew feels as though they've lost control. You know, they crave control. They're good at it. They're controlling people, but it starts to spiral out of control.

Things do for them. And they turn to homicide in Greg's words in an attempt to regain control over the situation. And I think what's frightening is a lot of us may know people. with those traits, with those things that Andrew Kuhnan had, the ability to manipulate people. Now, obviously not on the scale of what Andrew Kinnan did and become a serial killer, but it just, we know that they can somehow manipulate conversations with certain people, sort of take charge and spin things in their direction. Again, not the same degree, but I think a lot of us have seen people like that.

So I wonder what sets someone apart, like the typical person we, a lot of us know, and Andrew Kanan, who takes it to a whole other level and does this on a grand scale. You know, I wonder what the difference is and what sets them apart. Well, you know, if you think about it, that ability to read people, manipulate them, get them to do what you want. It serves a lot of people very well. You think about people in the business world. Think about a car salesman or for any type of salesperson. They have to be able to read you and understand what you want and figure out how to talk you in to what they want you to do. Not in an evil way.

They don't have an evil intention. They're just trying to get you to buy whatever it is they're trying to sell you. And think about, you know, high level business individuals, you know, throughout the years, they've gotten people to do what they wanted them to do. And that can be done in different ways through fear, through intimidation, or through various types of manipulation. But I think your question is a valid one. What separates a master manipulator that is doing it, let's say, to be good at their job and someone who is trying to fleece people out of their money or eventually, you know, graduating to much more serious crime. I don't know the answer, but it's kind of what we're

all striving to figure out, right? As we go through these true crime stories, trying to delve into the mind of these individuals and figure out, you know, why did they do what they do? What kind of sets them apart from what we think of as the rest of us, you know, average individuals. You know, one thing for me that really jumps out in this case is just exactly why did Andrew Kunanan target Johnny Versace. I mean, obviously, Johnny Versace is a very big name. And so his murder received a great deal of attention. You have to ask the question. Was that Andrew's goal all along in targeting Gianni to become infamous?

Because if not, why? Yeah, and I wonder if it was that one chance meeting that they had back in San Francisco, you know, that somehow stuck out to Andrew Kanan in his mind that had, hey, this person is someone that I aspire to be like or this person in some way I don't like, and maybe he came away from that meeting. It sounded like that he was excited that Gianni Versace thought he knew him or recognized him. And maybe somehow that shifted over the time. And eventually he wound up being someone that Andrew Kinnon despised.

And then I think that's the frustrating thing with a case. like this, we don't know all the answers. We didn't get all the answers. He didn't leave a letter explaining things. He's not alive to tell his story and add details. So we're left sort of searching for answers. Yeah, I think anytime the perpetrator decides that they're going to end their life, they're not going to be captured, there are always going to be a number of unanswered questions because, you know, you're not going to have that trial. Like you mentioned, there was no note explaining anything. So we have some facts.

We have some assumptions, but we don't really have much in the way from Andrew Cunanin himself sitting down with psychologists or sitting down in a documentary interview type session trying to explain why he did what he did. We're never going to get that. In the end, the sad takeaways is that there were a number of victims all across the country, pretty much, and a lot of families that were left asking that same question, why did this happen to our loved ones? Thanks to Sunny Landon for help with research and writing in this episode.

As always, if you love the show, but you haven't done so yet. Take a minute, go out and give us a five, star rating. Keep telling your friends. Word of mouth about the criminology podcast really goes a long way. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast or by joining our Facebook discussion group, Criminology Podcast Discussion and Fans. So more if that's it for our episode on Andrew Koonanan. But we'll be back with everyone next Saturday night with a brand new episode of criminology.

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