Cunanan Manhunt Ends in Suicide and Mysteiy
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JEWSPAPER LOUISVILLE. KENTUCKY FRIDAY, JULY 25. 1997 • 50 CENTS Cunanan manhunt ends in suicide and mysteiy rampage, Miami Beach police said Paul Philip, FBI agent in charge of 1 who is wanted open by Cunanan's suicide was un Suspect in slaying the Miami field office, credited a on fraud and tax derscored by the lack of a suicide yesterday. "To date there is no suicide Cunanan's body was pulled from a massive police dragnet for keeping evasion charges note. of Versace died the fugitive in the area. "He managed note or other correspondence that houseboat early yesterday morning would reflect on why he committed after a police siege that began to get 40 blocks —that's the best he .jq^The FBI said after escape cut off could do in all this time," Philip said. these crimes he is accused of," said Wednesday afternoon, ending a man Richard Barreto, the police chief of hunt but leaving open a mystery "I think that's pretty good." t' l i f vfewed Reineck w . c I in Las Vegas yes- Miami Beach. ByMIKE CLARY about the motives of a suspect who Police said they are keeping the homicide investigation open because tcrday, and then Butthere is an inescapable bottom Los Angeles Times became America's most wanted man. line. "All across the nation, our citi Authorities noted that the 27-year- so many questions remain, including zens can stand down and breathe a old Cunanan, wanted in the murders where Cunanan stayed in the days MIAMI BEACH, Fla. —Trapped on Cunanan owns a gay club, sigh of relief," Barreto said. "The a moored houseboat by his own tioto- of five men, including fashion design after the Versace killing, and what relationship, if any, Cunanan had the Apollo Spa rlety. Andrew Cunanan committed er Gianni Versace, died within a tew See ESCAPE with the owner of the houseboat, and Health Club in Las Vegas. suicide with the same hand^n heal miles of where Versace was gunned Page 8, col. 1,this section legedly used in a nationwidemurder down last week. German club owner Torsten Reineck, The magnitude of questions left Continued from PageOne weapon was stolen from Trail's Min neapolis apartment, and was later reign of terror brought upon us by used in at least two other slayings, Andrew Cunanan Is over." includingthat of Versace. Cunanan was on the run from four Reports from San Diego suggested killings in three states before he al that Cunanan may have learned he legedly shot Versace July 15 as the was infected with the AIDS virus be fashion designer walked up the steps fore setting off on a series of mur © ders. Authorities were awaiting addi 0 of his South Miami Beach mansion. In Minnesota, Cunanan was tional autopsy results to determine if charged in the death of a former lov Cunanan carried the virus. er, David Madson, and was suspected Although both Versace and Cun of killing Jeffrey Trail, a friend. He anan were homosexuals, there is no also was charged in the deaths of Lee firm evidence they knew each other Miglin, a wealthy Chicago developer, or ever met. and William Reese, a New Jersey "The Versace family is relieved cemetery caretaker. Those four kill and grateful to those who helped re ings occurred in Apriland May. solve the terrible murder of Gianni Versace and the other victims," the CUNANAN MADE the FBI's family said in a statement. most-wanted list on June 12, but it And although U.S. Attorney Gener was the murder of Versace that al Janet Reno yesterday lauded the prompted a massive nationwide man work of law enforcement agents, and m hunt. The search involved "almost thanked the thousands of citizens 1,000 agents" in the FBIalone, which who had called with possible sight William Esposito, deputy director of ings of Cunanan, the manhunt the FBI, equated with the intensity of seemed to end because of blind luck. the hunt for the Unabomber. A caretaker checking Reineck's At a Washington press conference, shuttered houseboat about 4 p.m. Esposito said that Cunanan, appar Wednesday found a door ajar and ently nervous and agitated, contacted noticed something inside had been "an associate^' within 48 hours of the moved. As the caretaker retreated, he Versace slaying. The^ discussed who told police, he heard a gunshot. on the East Coast might have pass WITHIN MINUTES, dozens of OJ ports. O) flak-jacketed SWAT team officers "He was trying to reach out to swarmed around the boat. Traffic m these individuals for the purpose of was blocked for hours, as news heli CJ obtaining false identification, espe copters circled overhead. cially ... a passport, so that he could After lobbing several canisters of Z) flee thecountry,^' Esposito said. tear gas into the houseboat, officers -3 Cunanan was an average-looking rushed into the residence about 8 < man known for his ability to blend in p.m. They found a body on a bed on Q with his surroundings, but in recent the second floor. It would be early OC days "I think he was a desperate per yesterday before they could confirm son, in a situation where it would be that it was Cunanan. very, very difficult for him to move Barreto said there was no sign of U about," Barreto said. forced entry into the houseboat s where Cunanan died. o Ironically, the man whose image was seen arouiid the world left a Cunanan's last known residence III iS corpse that could not be identified by was the Normandy Plaza Hotel, a C9 itsface. An autopsy performed bythe 1930s-era hotel in a somewhat seedy Dade County Medical Examiner said section of Collins Avenue near 71st OL Cunanan committed suicide by shoot Street. He registered there in May s ing himself through the mouth. under an alias. Cunanan skipped out of the Nor o a THE GUN WAS FOUND with K mandy quietly early July 12 before Ik the body, which was identified by manager Miriam Hernandez came in CQ matching a thumb print taken from to work. Cunanan put the key on the Cunanan's California driver's license. dresser, left the door open and ap Investigators said Cunanan shot parently walked out the rear of the DC himself with a 10mm semiautomatic hotel toward the beach. Z) produced by Smith & Wesson. Cun He owed one day's rent — $35.73, 0 —D anan's weapon had earlier been iden including tax. 1 DC tifiedas a .40-caliber handgun. Information for this story also was UJ Law enforcement officials con gathered by The Washington Post and DC firmed yesterday that the 10mm The Associated Press. Z) o o u LU X FIVE SLAYINGS LINKED TO CUNANAN MINNEAPOLIS, April 29: Police discover the bludgeoned body of Jeffrey Trailrolled Ina carpet in the apartment of m architect David Madson. Trail, 28, and Cunanan knew each other in San Diego, where Trailwas stationed in the Navy.Trail moved to Minneapolis and worked for a gas company. © RUSH CITY, Minn., May3: Madson's body is found by fishermen at a lake north of Minneapolis. Madson, 33, had been shot three times. Police said Madson and Cunanan were once lovers but Madson ended the relationship because he considered Cunanan "shady." p CHICAGO, May4: The body of, millionairereal-estate developer Lee Miglin, 72, is found stabbed inthe garage of his townhouse. Police find Madson's red Jeep Cherokee near Miglin's home. Miglin's green 1994 Lexus is missing. PENNSVILLE, N.J., May 9: Cemetery caretaker William Reese, 45, is found shot to death in an office at Finn's Point National Cemetery. Miglin's Lexus is found; Reese's 1995 red pickup truck is missing. SU MIAMI BEACH, July 15: Fashion designer Gianni Versace, 50, is shot twice in the back of the head outside his oceanfront villa. Reese's pickup truck is found in a city garage. 00 < Iji^.