0:11

This episode may

0:13

contain content of

0:16

a graphic nature,

0:18

including descriptions

0:22

of physical and

0:25

sexual violence

0:27

against adults,

0:30

children, and

0:32

animals. Listener

0:35

discretion is advised.

0:37

And we are Crimes

0:39

and Consequences, a hardcore

0:42

true crime podcast. Hey Shannon!

0:44

Hey gorgeous, how are you?

0:46

I'm doing good, you know, it's Friday,

0:48

the whole weekend, it has

0:50

such possibilities. It does. And

0:52

there was, oh and you're

0:54

right, this is the weekend

0:56

that we get to pop

0:58

ahead. I'm so looking forward

1:00

to it. Very much looking

1:02

forward. I like to have my

1:05

coffee out on the deck, even

1:07

if it's cold. I don't care.

1:09

I love this one on my

1:11

face starting the day off like

1:13

that. I think in a

1:15

previous life there wasn't much

1:18

sunlight for me because I

1:20

love it. Probably get stuck

1:22

in a dungeon somewhere right?

1:24

Times bull crap. But what

1:26

you got for us this

1:28

week girl? Well I have

1:31

a pretty famous case. It

1:33

is the life and death

1:35

of Johnny Versaci. and what

1:37

was that movie strip teeth

1:39

it was show girls show

1:42

girls yes with Elizabeth Berkeley

1:44

yes versus that movie it

1:46

just makes me want to

1:48

read watch it so I

1:51

can reenact her dance like

1:53

everything about okay look at

1:55

my face everything about that

1:57

movie I was watching it

1:59

this. How can you be so

2:02

over acting on every scene? It

2:04

was almost a Saturday Night Life

2:06

parody movie. Is this a joke?

2:08

Is this an hour and a

2:10

half long joke? After every scene

2:12

did you say nailed it? Yeah.

2:14

Nailed it. I know if the

2:17

director was like, nah, shous, yes,

2:19

yes, yes, next scene. I know,

2:21

right? That poor girl, it ruined

2:23

her career. I know. Her parents

2:25

put everything into, this is just

2:27

hearsay, obviously, from Plow, when did

2:29

that movie come out? But I

2:32

do remember a little background story.

2:34

I want to say she was

2:36

even from Michigan. And her parents

2:38

put everything and she was on

2:40

Save by the Bell. It was

2:43

just, she needed better guidance. She

2:45

did great, she's got a great

2:47

body, she's a great dancer, great

2:49

moves. Wow, they really, really exploited

2:52

everything to where we were like,

2:54

did I pay for this movie?

2:56

But God bless her, I hope

2:58

she's doing well because. I do

3:01

too. I hope she. I do

3:03

love Save by the Bell. Oh,

3:05

me too. I was a huge

3:08

Save by the Bell fan. For

3:10

sure. But we're talking about Giani

3:12

Versace. Yeah, we're talking about Johnny

3:14

Versace. So if you grew up

3:17

in the 80s and 90s, which

3:19

girl, we were there. Yes. Idea

3:21

of super models starting on the

3:23

runway and a sleek, sophisticated, of

3:26

just our lives, right? That's was

3:28

the era of the birth of

3:30

a supermodel. Yes. However, it wasn't

3:33

always that way. High profile design

3:35

icon Johnny Versace gets a lot

3:37

of credit for that runway revolution.

3:39

So I'll tell you a little

3:42

bit about Johnny. His name was

3:44

Giovanni Versace. He went by Johnny.

3:46

He was born in regio de

3:48

Calabria, Italy. I was going to

3:51

say, girl, use that Italian. I

3:53

know. Regional de Calabria. There you

3:55

go. Italy. Yeah. Love it. On

3:57

December 2nd, 1946, making him a

4:00

Sagittarius to his parents, Antonio Versace

4:02

and Francesca Versace. His father was

4:04

a salesman and his mother owned

4:07

a dress shop, creating beautiful clothes

4:09

for clients. His entire family held

4:11

the arts and by extension fashion

4:13

very close, like they just were

4:16

lovers of the arts. Johnny often

4:18

went with his mom to her

4:20

dress shop and he was captivated

4:22

by all of the fabrics and

4:25

the designs that she drew. So

4:27

this no doubt sparked his lifelong

4:29

passion for both of these things,

4:32

which was fully encouraged by his

4:34

mother who saw that his talent

4:36

was evident even early on. His

4:38

birthplace is in southern Italy, just

4:41

across the Strait of Messina from

4:43

the island of Sicily, in an

4:45

area known for gorgeous clear waters

4:47

and architectural remnants of long ago

4:50

occupations by the Romans and the

4:52

Greeks. One of the biggest attractions

4:54

in Rijio de Calabria is the

4:57

Riyachi Warriors, or their Riyachi bronzes.

4:59

which are two perfect Greek bronze

5:01

statues that were discovered off the

5:03

coast of Rijio in 1972. They're

5:06

thought to have been cast around

5:08

450 BC. Johnny was one of

5:10

four Versace children. Older sister Tina

5:12

was born in 1940, but she

5:15

passed away sadly in 1952 at

5:17

the age of 12. After she

5:19

cut herself on a carnival ride

5:22

and got a tetanus infection, that

5:24

wasn't treated properly. I mean, damn.

5:26

I know that's terrible. Right, that's

5:28

terrible. People died a tetanus. Right,

5:31

so yeah. The vaccine is just

5:33

so common. It's just crazy to

5:35

me, that poor little girl, his

5:37

poor parents, right? The poor family.

5:40

Then came older brother Santo, born

5:42

in 1944. Younger sister Donatello was

5:44

born in 1955. Both Santo, who

5:47

later dabbled in Italian politics. and

5:49

Donatella would be a big part

5:51

of Giani's fashion empire, which was

5:53

always based on family. Giani and

5:56

his siblings, like other children in

5:58

the city, spent a lot of

6:00

time playing among the ruins all

6:02

around them. The Versace home was

6:05

actually next to a crumbling Greek

6:07

temple. The ruins of once majestic

6:09

architectural wonder stood in a stark

6:12

contrast to the poverty that pervaded

6:14

in the city after World War

6:16

II, when Giani was growing up.

6:18

Jenny attended the Lycio Classical Tamaso

6:21

Campanella, which is a high school

6:23

in Rijio Calabria. The campus was

6:25

known in the area for a

6:27

strong curriculum around subjects such as

6:30

literature and history. He continued to

6:32

visit his mother's shop, though now

6:34

he had advanced to helping her

6:37

with her work while creating his

6:39

own sketches. It is said that

6:41

he created his first dress when

6:43

he was 10. After graduation, he

6:46

moved on to the Academy of

6:48

Fine Arts enables the Academy of

6:50

Bell Artie de Nepali, where he

6:52

focused on architecture and design. Giani

6:55

did not complete his full degree,

6:57

opting instead for a diploma de

6:59

geometra, which is a draftsman degree,

7:02

which is more like a two-year

7:04

degree, vocational kind of thing, more

7:06

than a bachelor's degree. These types

7:08

of degrees in Italy generally focus

7:11

on things such as construction design

7:13

or technical drawing. So he became

7:15

a trained architect with this degree,

7:17

but his real loves were fashion

7:20

and art and the intersection of

7:22

the two. When Giani worked in

7:24

his mother's shop, he watched her

7:27

bring her creations to life and

7:29

then sketching his own ideas while

7:31

she worked. In 1968, he decided

7:33

to strike out on his own

7:36

as a freelance designer. A few

7:38

years later in 1972, he took

7:40

a design job with Callahan and

7:42

the emerging Jenny clothing brand and

7:45

Jenny is with a... G-G-E-N-N-Y. Jenny

7:47

became quite popular and much of

7:49

that is credited to Johnny. His

7:51

skills and materials continued to blossom.

7:54

In 1975, he brought a leather

7:56

collection, his first, to the United

7:58

States for the accomplice company. Three

8:01

years later in 1978, he created

8:03

his own business with sister Donatella

8:05

becoming an integral part of his

8:07

work and business and his brother

8:10

Santo. kept an eye on the

8:12

fludging company's financial side. The trio

8:14

worked hard to make an impact

8:16

on the world of fashion. A

8:19

year after creating the company, Johnny

8:21

staged his first ready-to-wear show and

8:23

opened his first store for his

8:26

designs in Milan. His bold style

8:28

grew instant notice. It was unlike

8:30

anything that had been showcased before.

8:32

His attitude toward fashion is summed

8:35

up by this quote from him.

8:37

Quote, I don't believe in good

8:39

taste. I don't believe in bad

8:41

taste. I believe in quality and

8:44

in fun and things that make

8:46

our lives better or happier." The

8:48

1980s were good to Johnny. It

8:51

was during this decade that he

8:53

became an international fashion sensation. His

8:55

wares were instantly recognizable with the

8:57

inclusion of an image of Medusa.

9:00

I don't know if you remember

9:02

seeing any of his designs with

9:04

Medusa. Oh, Medusa is a character

9:06

from Greek mythology that had snakes

9:09

for hair. And it was said

9:11

that she would turn people into

9:13

stone when they dared to glance

9:16

at her face. I believe it

9:18

was men that got turned to

9:20

stone. Although it could be anybody,

9:22

I think. Yes, I think. Well,

9:25

I think it's men. I do.

9:27

The symbol was said to come

9:29

from the ruins where he played

9:31

as a child and it eventually

9:34

became the logo for his entire

9:36

company. The designer said he wanted

9:38

that image for a logo because

9:41

Medusa made others fall deeply in

9:43

love with her with no way

9:45

back from her spell. Jenny not

9:47

only created clothing for the men

9:50

and women of the elite class,

9:52

he also designed costumes for the

9:54

arts bringing his interests together. His

9:56

creations grace the stages of top-level

9:59

performances in ballet, opera, and the

10:01

theater. In 1985, he was allowed

10:03

to show his work at London's

10:06

Victoria and Albert Museum, the first

10:08

designer, to do so. As the

10:10

decade came to a close, Versace

10:12

built a second line he called

10:15

verses. It was shown to the

10:17

world in 1995 at New York

10:19

Fashion Week. His sister Donatella took

10:21

over these designs and the Versace

10:24

brand expanded into other lines such

10:26

as Versace jeans and the lines

10:28

called signature and in stante. Okay.

10:31

Johnny didn't just reinvent the world

10:33

of clothing though. He eventually got

10:35

into home goods. He's largely credited

10:37

with the rise of what we

10:40

now call supermodels. In his fall

10:42

1991 show, Johnny staged his creations

10:44

on top models such as Naomi

10:46

Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Linda

10:49

Evangelista. and Christy Turlington who walked

10:51

the runway lip-syncing the George Michael

10:53

hit song, Freedom. And I don't

10:56

know if you know that one,

10:58

but those models had just appeared

11:00

in George Michael's video for the

11:02

song and having them showing off

11:05

for Suchi's line merged popular culture

11:07

and high fashion in a way

11:09

that was unprecedented at the time.

11:11

It really was. Do you remember

11:14

that everyone wanted to be? I

11:16

wanted to be Linda Evangelista. She

11:18

was my favorite. Supermodel and Christy

11:20

Churlington. She's cute as a button.

11:23

Yeah, I love Chris. I love

11:25

Cindy Crawford too. They were all

11:27

beautiful Naomi Campbell all of them

11:30

gorgeous women, but they are burned

11:32

into my mind, right? Yeah, we

11:34

were 25, 24, 25 when we

11:36

were all, I mean, I don't

11:39

know how all these women are

11:41

now, but I feel like we

11:43

grew up with them. Right. And

11:45

the kind of like, I was

11:48

there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. For Sachi, Giuliani

11:50

really. The whole culture, the rock

11:52

and roll, George Michael. I love

11:55

him. And he reminds me of

11:57

a super mile. I know and

11:59

I remember that video he did

12:01

not appear in it like he

12:04

appeared I think briefly as the

12:06

director on camera and all of

12:08

these women lip-synched the song and

12:10

they just looked gorgeous black and

12:13

white it was done so well

12:15

yeah it was a masterpiece so

12:17

yeah he was very much orchestrating

12:20

that time period for sure That

12:22

link with superstars continued as

12:24

Johnny's friends and clients with

12:26

star power were often seated

12:28

in the front rows of

12:30

his fashion shows. At any

12:32

given Versace event you might

12:34

find Eric Clapton, Tupac Shakur,

12:36

Michael Jackson, or Elton John

12:39

in attendance. Madonna, Demi Moore,

12:41

and John Bon Jovi even

12:43

modeled his clothing. Versace's calling

12:45

card became siren. dresses

12:47

that oozed glamour and innovation with

12:50

the use of his bold materials.

12:52

He created a sort of mesh

12:54

fabric made of aluminum and employed

12:56

a laser technique that blended leather

12:58

and rubber. I know you remember this. One

13:01

member dress was worn at a 1994

13:03

movie premiere by actress Elizabeth Hurley. She

13:05

showed off a black Versace design that

13:08

was held together on the sides by

13:10

only a set of gold safety pins.

13:12

Do you remember that dress? I do.

13:14

She's that's another model that is just

13:17

gorgeous. I swear in time has not

13:19

touched that woman. I know still all

13:21

the same way. She looks gorgeous. But

13:24

yes, yes, I remember that for us,

13:26

like that's burned in my memory too.

13:28

His works didn't just win

13:31

the adoration of the Hollywood

13:33

elite and taught musicians. Versace

13:35

won a boatload of awards

13:37

over his career, including the

13:40

1987 macheira dargental award for

13:42

his work in theaters. four

13:44

prestigious La Ochio Doris prices

13:46

and in 1993 the American

13:49

Fashion Oscar. His creations also

13:51

found homes and museums such

13:53

as the Kobe City Museum

13:55

in Japan, the National Field

13:57

Museum in Chicago, and London's

14:00

Royal College of Arts. He was

14:02

one of the first designers in

14:04

the fashion universe to live his

14:06

life as an out gay man,

14:08

though he did so in an

14:10

unassuming fashion. Everyone seemed to know

14:12

about his sexual orientation and romantic

14:14

relationships, including one of the longest

14:16

lasting pairings in the fashion orbit.

14:18

He and partner Antonio Damico were

14:21

together for 13 years up until

14:23

his death in 1997 and were

14:25

highly visible on the fashion scene.

14:27

Damico was a model. and a

14:29

designer in his own right, and

14:31

he credited Versace for his growth

14:33

in the art of fashion. Diamico

14:35

spent 24 hours a day with

14:37

him, as the couple spent time

14:39

among the designer's jaw dropping homes

14:42

around the globe, as well as

14:44

office hours. He said, for me,

14:46

it was like going to school

14:48

and learning from the best teacher

14:50

you can have. I bought, yeah.

14:52

He eventually left the Versace business

14:54

to start his own design company.

14:56

Jani didn't have children of his

14:58

own, but he did have nieces

15:00

and nephews. He was especially close

15:03

to his two nephews, one the

15:05

son of his brother Santo and

15:07

the other the son of sister

15:09

Donatella. He was also very fond

15:11

of Donatella's daughter Allegra, who was

15:13

aligned with the icons business for

15:15

many years. When Versace chose to

15:17

make a home for himself and

15:19

Damico in Miami Beach, Florida, the

15:22

city wasn't the flashy bold locale

15:24

it is today. He bought a

15:26

hotel and an apartment building that

15:28

was uninhabited and created a breathtaking

15:30

mansion with lush opulent grounds. His

15:32

presence in Miami Beach helped boost

15:34

the city and changes dynamics, bringing

15:36

loads of the rich and famous

15:38

to visit and live, breathing new

15:40

life into the city itself. It

15:43

was just another example of Giani's

15:45

understanding the lure and importance of

15:47

the time he lived in. He

15:49

once said, quote, I hate designers

15:51

who live in an ivory tower.

15:53

I think you have to be

15:55

part of this culture of this

15:57

music of our time. If you

15:59

understand your time you are designer.

16:01

Miami Beach, however, was his last

16:04

stop, and that was all because

16:06

of an unhinged man from the

16:08

West Coast. So tell you a

16:10

little bit about his killer. Andrew

16:12

Patrick Koonannon was born on August

16:14

31st, 1969, making him a Virgo

16:16

in San Diego, California, the youngest

16:18

of four children raised by father

16:20

Modesto and mother Mary Ann. Modesto

16:22

was born in the Philippines. He

16:25

was a retired serviceman of the

16:27

U.S. Navy who moved into the

16:29

stock market when he retired from

16:31

service. His mother was an Italian

16:33

American who had been born Mary

16:35

Ann Shalachi. The couple's relationship was

16:37

volatile and tense. Andrew would often

16:39

seek refuge from the charged environment

16:41

by staying in his room as

16:44

an escape. Kunanin attended public schools

16:46

all the way through part of

16:48

his high school years when he

16:50

moved into the top-tier bishop's school.

16:52

Based on his grades and high

16:54

level of intelligence, his peers at

16:56

the time said that Kunanin was

16:58

fluent in seven languages and had

17:00

a style of his own. In

17:02

an interview with CBS News, one

17:05

former classmate said that he had

17:07

a quote-unquote star quality and a

17:09

keen sense of fashion. He said,

17:11

quote, I remember that Andrew would

17:13

put dimes in his penny loafers.

17:15

Remember, penny loafers were huge. I

17:17

remember that. That's my favorite shoe

17:19

of the 80s and 90s. Yes.

17:21

And the quote continues, it was

17:23

always that little extra something that

17:26

made him stand out in the

17:28

crowd and get noticed. Andrew sort

17:30

of had this air about him

17:32

that I thought this was kind

17:34

of beyond his years at the

17:36

time, end quote. His fellow students

17:38

weren't the only ones taking notice

17:40

of Kunanin's good looks and fashion

17:42

sense. At school he was popular

17:44

and generally well liked. He was

17:47

openly gay and when he was

17:49

just 15, he began frequenting the

17:51

San Diego area gay bars. His

17:53

skills at disguising his true self

17:55

came in handy and he passed

17:57

for someone much older and of

17:59

a different ethnicity. Even people he

18:01

parted with wouldn't be able to

18:04

recognize his disguised self the next

18:06

night. He kept burning the candle

18:08

at both ends, school by day and

18:10

parties by night. Conan graduated from

18:12

the Bishop's School in 1987 and

18:14

earned the title of Most Likely

18:16

to be Remembered for his senior

18:19

class. It was after his graduation

18:21

that his father was facing

18:23

charges of embezzlement for allegedly

18:25

making off with more than a

18:27

hundred thousand dollars. His dad fled

18:29

the country and left Andrew, his

18:31

siblings, and his mother to fend

18:34

for themselves. What a stand-up guy.

18:36

No kidding. Yeah. Nice role model. Mm-hmm.

18:38

So the family had to move to

18:40

a cedar part of the area, which

18:43

left a deep impression on Andrew. Around

18:45

this time, his mother found out that he

18:47

was gay, and in following an

18:49

argument they had, he pushed his

18:51

mom and dislocated her shoulder. Things

18:54

continue to go downhill for

18:56

him when it came to family.

18:58

He continued his education at the

19:00

University of San Diego studying history.

19:02

It turned out that he liked partying

19:04

more than studying, so he quit attending

19:07

college. Andrew went to visit his father

19:09

in the Philippines and was shocked and

19:11

embarrassed to see him living in poverty.

19:13

This was not the life Andrew

19:15

wanted for himself. So when he came back

19:17

to San Diego, he went back to the

19:20

gay bars and charmed men who were older

19:22

and had a lot of money. In his

19:24

career as an escort. he would attend

19:26

ritzy social events where he

19:28

was introduced by his benefactors

19:30

as a secretary or an associate.

19:32

They would lavish the young handsome

19:34

Kunanin with money and gifts. One

19:36

of his employers gave him a $30,000 car

19:39

so that he could get around. Wow. He

19:41

was making a good living off his

19:43

looks and a innate charm. Kunanin continued

19:46

to be a chameleon using different

19:48

names and stories. It is said

19:50

that at one event he was introduced

19:52

to Giuliani Versaci. who thought he was

19:55

someone else. Kunannon went along

19:57

with that story. I don't know if that

19:59

was true though. So he thought Andrew

20:01

Cunningham was somebody else that he

20:03

knew? Yeah. Oh, so, okay, so

20:05

Andrew is like this chameleon, like,

20:07

got a look where familiarity about

20:09

him that makes you think of

20:12

other people, maybe? Yeah, maybe. I

20:14

mean, he does have like a

20:16

face, so he's half Filipino, you

20:18

know, you're not sure, is the

20:20

Asian, is he had a really

20:22

good chameleon look? and or he

20:25

could be anything almost. It's funny

20:27

because my ex-husband had that saying

20:29

because of his half Hawaiian, he

20:31

said whatever the minority was in

20:33

the area he lived in was

20:35

who people thought he was. So

20:37

when he lived in Oklahoma, they

20:40

thought he was Mexican. When he

20:42

lived in Michigan, they thought that

20:44

he was... Arabic or Caledean. Whatever,

20:46

not that they're a minority, but

20:48

in Dearborn because we lived in

20:50

Dearborn. So I remember that, yeah.

20:53

Yeah, and it was funny, you

20:55

know, and he just kind of

20:57

accepted it. They'll never guess correctly.

20:59

Yeah, they're not going to say,

21:01

oh, he's half. Oh, here's the

21:03

Hawaiian, pick the Hawaiian out of

21:05

a dark hare culture. Yeah, Pacific

21:08

Islander luck, right. That's funny. But

21:10

I can understand that kind of.

21:12

care about him or quality of

21:14

Andrew and playing on it because

21:16

it sounds like he's looking to

21:18

be a sugar baby. Oh for

21:21

sure right he's like I don't

21:23

want to be poor and I

21:25

don't want to work. I don't

21:27

want to work. I don't want

21:29

to work. I'm going to use

21:31

my good looks. Yes. My charm

21:33

and he's very intelligent you know

21:36

he's just going to use that

21:38

and he's got a five-year window.

21:40

Yeah 20 and 25 now you're

21:42

old. Yeah. So in addition to

21:44

his duties when he was working

21:46

as a sex worker, Kunanin started

21:49

to take bits in violent pornography

21:51

films. He started to like the

21:53

pain he received. and inflicted in

21:55

those roles. The partying continued, but

21:57

his demeanor shifted when he started

21:59

to change physically as well. He

22:01

was getting older and aging out

22:04

of his target benefactors preferred demographic.

22:06

In 1997, when he was 27,

22:08

he started to gain weight and

22:10

really stopped taking care of himself.

22:12

He was convinced that he had

22:14

contracted HIV when he started to

22:17

notice symptoms of that disease. This

22:19

thought was yet another turn in

22:21

the murderous road he would soon

22:23

travel. He did see a doctor

22:25

to get an HIV test, but

22:27

he never bothered to learn the

22:29

results. After the events to come,

22:32

it was revealed that in actuality,

22:34

he did not have the virus.

22:36

When he wasn't able to charm

22:38

the rich patrons of the gay

22:40

bars, Koonannon turned to small-time theft

22:42

and sex work to stay alive.

22:45

He even became a drug dealer,

22:47

selling painkillers that he would mix

22:49

with alcohol and take himself. Cunannon

22:51

had a litany of psychological issues.

22:53

He was a narcissist and looks

22:55

and adoration meant everything to him.

22:57

He demanded attention and wanted to

23:00

be seen as a success in

23:02

life. The abandonment that he felt

23:04

when he was younger manifested in

23:06

extreme anger, when he thought people

23:08

were ignoring or underestimating him, he

23:10

was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder

23:13

eventually. At the height of his

23:15

popularity with men, with means, he

23:17

would take groups. out for dinner,

23:19

or drinks and insists on paying

23:21

the bill, even if it topped

23:23

over a thousand dollars. He was

23:25

good at lying and did so

23:28

without batting an eye. San Diego

23:30

friends knew him by other names

23:32

and personas, such as Andrew De

23:34

Silva, a man who owned a

23:36

factory in Mexico. Other names he

23:38

used were Drew Cummings, David Morales,

23:41

and Kurt Damars, among others. He

23:43

told other people that his parents

23:45

were rich and lived in the

23:47

Philippines. He would show off a

23:49

quote, wife and daughter end quote

23:51

in a photo he got from

23:53

somewhere as he goes. George Castanza.

23:56

Not out of a magazine, exactly.

23:58

My girlfriend. Yes. So he's got

24:00

this total, like, house of car.

24:02

Oh, he is. Yeah, for sure.

24:04

Conan struck up a relationship with

24:06

a semi-out gay Navy officer named

24:09

Jeff Trail, a graduate of the

24:11

Naval Academy who served in the

24:13

Gulf War. The two became friends,

24:15

though the exact nature of their

24:17

past isn't known. Around this time

24:19

Kunanin had been dating businessman David

24:21

Madsen who was 33 and he

24:24

lived in Minneapolis. Madsen was a

24:26

successful man who had applied to

24:28

both law school and medical school

24:30

and was accepted to both before

24:32

going into business. The pair's view

24:34

of the relationship was starkly different

24:37

though. Madsen sought as a casual

24:39

fleeing whereas Kunanin called Madsen the

24:41

love of his life. Once Madsen

24:43

made it clear. that it was

24:45

done, Kunanin began to suspect that

24:47

his former flame was sleeping with

24:49

his friend Jeff Trail. Both men

24:52

denied that accusation, but the more

24:54

Kunan and thought about it, the

24:56

more angry he became. Trail and

24:58

Madsen were both more successful in

25:00

life than he was, and Kunanin

25:02

didn't like that at all. He

25:05

decided to take a one-way plane

25:07

ride to Minneapolis and confront them

25:09

both. Madsen picked up Kunanen. at

25:11

the airport and drove him back

25:13

to his home where trail was

25:15

waiting. The men wanted to try

25:17

and talk some sense into Poonannon,

25:20

but he wouldn't have it. He

25:22

grabbed a hammer and hit trail

25:24

repeatedly in the head, killing him.

25:26

He forced Madsen to help him

25:28

roll the body up in a

25:30

carpet and then kidnapped Madsen in

25:33

the businessman's red jeep. This was

25:35

the beginning of a murder spree

25:37

that would horrify and frighten the

25:39

gay community across the country in

25:41

coming months. Meanwhile, Matt since co-workers

25:43

were concerned when he didn't show

25:45

up for work and they called

25:48

the police. Officers did welfare check

25:50

and found Jeff Trail's body wrapped

25:52

in the carpet on the road.

25:54

Cunannon found that he liked being

25:56

on the run. It made him

25:58

feel like he was outsmarting police

26:01

and gave him a sense of

26:03

power when he had felt so

26:05

powerless. Infused with renewed purpose, he

26:07

pulled Manson's Jeep over on the

26:09

side of a quiet road near

26:11

Des Moines, Iowa, and shot him

26:13

in the head. Oh my gosh.

26:16

Yeah. I had no idea. I

26:18

thought he just killed Giuliani for

26:20

his action. Oh, no. He killed

26:22

a bunch. Wow. Wow. He was

26:24

found days later near. East Rush

26:26

Lake, the Jeep was gone. Once

26:29

Quinnana realized that the authorities knew

26:31

he was in the Jeep, he

26:33

knew he needed to get a

26:35

new vehicle. Police aren't exactly sure

26:37

how he met up with his

26:39

next victim, but they know how

26:42

he got away. The killer made

26:44

his way to Chicago, where he

26:46

found real estate developer Lee Migglin,

26:48

who was 72. Migglin was well

26:50

known in the Chicago area. and

26:52

beyond for not only his visionary

26:54

plans to revitalize old warehouse space

26:57

but also his philanthropic efforts. Midland

26:59

is believed to have been attacked

27:01

after returning from a haircut on

27:03

May 3rd. He had parked his

27:05

green 1990 for Lexus and one

27:07

of the garages on his luxury

27:10

property and likely walked through an

27:12

alleyway to the back gate that

27:14

led to the home. It is

27:16

here that police believed he was

27:18

attacked, then brutally tortured and murdered.

27:20

Midland had a wife. Marilyn Maglin,

27:22

I don't know if you remember

27:25

her, but she was a star

27:27

host at that time on the

27:29

home shopping network with her own

27:31

show that featured her cosmetic line.

27:33

She was known as the Queen

27:35

of Makeovers. Marilyn returned from a

27:38

business trip to Canada on May

27:40

4th and was surprised to see

27:42

that her husband wasn't home and

27:44

their Lexus was gone. When she

27:46

found a handgun in her home,

27:48

she called the police. The gun

27:50

was later found to be a

27:53

nonworking replica. Neighbor Stephen and Barbara

27:55

Bayer found Lee's body in another

27:57

of the property's garages tied up

27:59

with either masking tape or duct

28:01

tape. He had been nearly decapitated

28:03

with pruning shears that were

28:06

later recovered and had a plastic

28:08

bag pulled over his head with holes

28:10

cut out so he could breathe. He

28:12

was run over with his own now missing

28:14

car after he had been killed. Andrew

28:16

had stayed around the home a bit

28:18

before taking off. He had eaten

28:20

some ham from the refrigerator and

28:22

part of an apple. It also looked

28:24

as if he had showered and shaved before

28:27

going on the run. Lee Midland's

28:29

killer remained a mystery to

28:31

authorities, but not for long. They

28:33

found a vehicle with Minnesota

28:35

plates that hadn't parked illegally

28:37

near the Midland home for days.

28:40

It was the Jeep registered to David

28:42

Madsen, one of Andrew's

28:44

Minneapolis victims. Following that

28:46

trail, police learned of the death

28:48

of Madsen and Jeff Trail, and

28:51

the bag found at the scene

28:53

that had Kunannon's name in California

28:55

address on it. Authorities didn't know

28:57

how Kunanin was linked to Migglin, but

28:59

they knew the spree killer was on

29:01

the run again, and they knew what

29:03

he was driving, with the rapid

29:05

string of killings and the brutality

29:07

that Andrew showed in these killings.

29:09

The gay community in Kunanin's

29:11

native San Diego and elsewhere

29:13

was feeling uneasy. The killer's face,

29:16

name, and aliases were showing up

29:18

on TV and in newspapers across

29:20

the country. After fleeing Chicago, Kunan

29:22

and at some point realized Lexus'

29:24

car phone was being tracked by

29:26

the FBI. So now it's time

29:29

to find a new ride. McLen's stolen

29:31

car was found at the scene

29:33

of another murder. This one on

29:35

May 9th, 1997, at a cemetery.

29:37

Police found William Reese,

29:39

the caretaker of Fins

29:41

Point National Cemetery, and

29:43

Penzville, New Jersey, shot dead in

29:45

his office. His red truck was

29:48

missing and Midland's green Lexus

29:50

was found nearby. Reese was

29:52

apparently killed solely for his

29:55

vehicle. Reese was 45 and he

29:57

was Andrew's fourth victim. They didn't

29:59

know it yet, but one of

30:01

the country's most wanted criminals was

30:04

now heading south to Florida. Kunanin

30:06

made it to Miami Beach and

30:08

took up residence for the next

30:10

two months in a less than

30:12

desirable hotel. Wally took his time

30:14

researching and plotting his final act.

30:16

Giani Versace was hard at work

30:19

in Europe, preparing his next and

30:21

final collection. Somehow, Kunanin, who had

30:23

been featured on America's Most Wanted

30:25

and was on the FBI's top

30:27

10 Most Wanted list, managed to

30:29

fly under the radar for two

30:32

months as he waited for the

30:34

perfect opportunity to strike. He had

30:36

killed four men over less than

30:38

two weeks and the law was

30:40

closing in. Johnny Versace had a

30:42

target on his back. Whether or

30:44

not they had met in San

30:47

Francisco years earlier, when their paths

30:49

crossed this time, the scene was

30:51

deadly. Back home at his beloved

30:53

Miami Beach mansion, Johnny and partner

30:55

Damico were settling in at what

30:57

the internationally famous designer called Casa

30:59

Rina. Beautiful. I probably mispronounced it.

31:02

It was Versace's daily routine to

31:04

walk to South Beach's news cafe,

31:06

a favorite morning spot to pick

31:08

up newspapers and magazines just like

31:10

any other local. July 15th 1997

31:12

was his last visit there. Cunannon

31:14

had been trailing the 50 year

31:17

old-fashioned mogul and as Johnny made

31:19

his way back to the front

31:21

of his home Andrew ambushed him

31:23

shooting him twice in the head.

31:25

Johnny fell dead on the steps

31:27

to his front door. Yeah, he

31:30

was officially pronounced dead at 9

31:32

21 a.m. that day after being

31:34

rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in

31:36

Miami. Damico heard the shots and

31:38

rushed to the window to see

31:40

what had happened to see what

31:42

had happened. He saw his beloved

31:45

Johnny lying in a spreading pool

31:47

of blood, and he screamed, No,

31:49

no! A friend who was visiting

31:51

the couple ran out, followed by

31:53

Domingo, who was absolutely devastated. A

31:55

woman who had been in the

31:57

area at the time of the

32:00

shooting, pointed in the direction of

32:02

where the shooter had gone, and

32:04

Versace friend Lozaro Quintana went after

32:06

him. During the while chase, Kunanin

32:08

pointed the gun at Quintana without

32:10

even looking back. Another witness saw

32:12

the shooter run into a nearby

32:15

parking garage. Police were swarming the

32:17

area and they raced into the

32:19

13th street garage hoping to nab

32:21

the suspect. Instead, they found a

32:23

pile of clothes and a truck.

32:25

William Reese's red truck that had

32:28

been reported stolen back in New

32:30

Jersey. And in that truck, police

32:32

found a passport, ID, and other

32:34

documents that pointed directly at Andrew

32:36

Kunanin. The murderer shocked the world,

32:38

obviously. Sister Donatella was in Rome

32:40

preparing her own fashion line when

32:43

her brother was murdered. She later

32:45

said that her two children, Allegra

32:47

and Daniel, were watching cartoons in

32:49

the hotel when their show was

32:51

interrupted with the news of the

32:53

slang of their uncle. Oh my

32:55

gosh. I know. Donna told your

32:58

uncle. Yeah, I know. That's why

33:00

later said that her children had

33:02

gone from seeing animated characters meant

33:04

to entertain to a scene no

33:06

child should witness. Their uncle laying

33:08

dead in front of his home

33:10

covered in blood. Oh, a week

33:13

after his brutal murder, more than

33:15

2,000 friends and family gathered to

33:17

say goodbye to Jani Fersaci at

33:19

Milan Cathedral in Italy. Elton, Johnin

33:21

Sting, saying the Lord is my

33:23

shepherd. during the somber ceremony fit

33:25

for royalty. In real-life royalty was

33:28

also there to pay the respects,

33:30

Princess Diana, who often wore Versace

33:32

creations, attended the funeral, and was

33:34

seated next to Elton John, comforting

33:36

him as he tried to hold

33:38

back tears. Johnny was cremated, and

33:41

his remains are interred at the

33:43

family vault near Lake Como and

33:45

Italy. While his loved ones grieved,

33:47

it was all hands on deck

33:49

as authorities worked quickly to put

33:51

an end to Kananin's spree. They

33:53

later learned that the killer had

33:56

been close to capture several times

33:58

in the past few weeks. In

34:00

one instance, he had pawned a

34:02

gold coin of Meglins and used

34:04

his real name on the required

34:06

documents that were sent to the

34:08

police department. In 1997, there wasn't

34:11

an automated system, so he wasn't

34:13

flagged. Right. Police searched for Kunan

34:15

and for the next nine days

34:17

before a caretaker for a houseboat

34:19

about 40 blocks from Janie's mansion

34:21

reported a suspected break-in. When he

34:23

went inside the boat to see

34:26

what was going on, someone fired

34:28

a shot. That's when he went

34:30

and called the police. He's like,

34:32

I'm out. Authorities had their suspicions.

34:34

They surrounded the boat and a

34:36

standoff began. Four hours later, the

34:39

SWAT team made their move and

34:41

fired tear gas into the boat

34:43

and boarded the vessel. They had

34:45

heard a gunshot and rushed to

34:47

search the boat and rushed to

34:49

search the boat. In an upstairs

34:51

bedroom lay a man's body with

34:54

a bullet wound to the head.

34:56

A forensic expert was brought in

34:58

to help confirm the identity of

35:00

the victim. The fingerprints were a

35:02

match. They had finally caught up

35:04

with Andrew Kinannon, but justice wouldn't

35:06

come. he had killed himself in

35:09

his final brutal act. So the

35:11

aftermath of Johnny's death. Johnny's father

35:13

had died in 1978 and his

35:15

mother passed away years later after

35:17

a bout with liver disease. His

35:19

will revealed he had left 20%

35:21

of his company to Donatella and

35:24

30% to Santo. Nephew Daniel received

35:26

his rare art collection. The other

35:28

50% of his company went to

35:30

11-year-old niece Allegra, with her mother

35:32

in charge of her daughter's shares

35:34

until Allegra turned 18. Jenny had

35:37

always called her his little princess,

35:39

according to Donatella. The girl was

35:41

so young when her uncle was

35:43

killed that she didn't understand why

35:45

he left her, such a gift.

35:47

Her inheritance was worth about $500

35:49

million. Oh my gosh. That's crazy.

35:52

And that's the 90s money. That's

35:54

not, that's 90s, 500K. Right. Exactly.

35:56

Exactly. That's a lot of. fucking

35:58

money. Allegra has a lot of

36:00

money. Allegra felt a great deal

36:02

of survivors guilt and despite counseling

36:04

she began to have issues of

36:07

her own. Fashion was in her

36:09

DNA but when she came of

36:11

age she wanted to be more

36:13

hands-off with the Versace brand which

36:15

now had a new face and

36:17

Donatella. Allegra pursued other possibilities outside

36:19

the fashion world. She also developed

36:22

concerning health issues and while studying

36:24

at Brown University she underwent treatment

36:26

for anorexia. Observers say that she

36:28

was never the same after her

36:30

uncle's murder. The young woman struggled

36:32

with substances as well as her

36:34

eating disorder. Her mother Donatella also

36:37

battled addiction, eventually agreeing to enter

36:39

rehab to kick her cocaine habit.

36:41

Allegra said that she lived in

36:43

such a cloud after the killing

36:45

that she had no recollection of

36:47

her memories of her uncle and

36:50

wasn't even able to recall what

36:52

he looked like at times. Oh,

36:54

wow. I know. Despite wanting to

36:56

stay away from the family business,

36:58

Allegra took her place on the

37:00

board of the company in 2011

37:02

when she was just 24 years

37:05

old. I know. What a responsibility.

37:07

Okay, 24 in 2011? My goodness.

37:09

I know. As for Versace's beloved

37:11

Antonio, Johnny had left him a

37:13

monthly pension for the rest of

37:15

his life and he was given

37:17

permission to live in any of

37:20

the homes the designer owned in

37:22

the U.S. and abroad. He became

37:24

embroiled in a legal dispute with

37:26

the Versace clan over the provisions

37:28

of the will, but the matter

37:30

was settled in 1998. Antonio understandably

37:32

struggled mightily when he lost his

37:35

longtime love. In an interview with

37:37

People magazine, he said, quote, when

37:39

Johnny died, I was cut in

37:41

two. And he was 59 at

37:43

the time. He was in a

37:45

black pit for eight years, he

37:48

said. But he did find love

37:50

again and lived with partner Alberto

37:52

Centinelli in Milan for 13 years.

37:54

Antonio died in 2022 at the

37:56

age of 60. Wow. So young.

37:58

I know. Oh, so young. Oh,

38:00

young. Oh, young. The Versace family

38:03

maintained control of the company until

38:05

2018, when Michael Coors acquired it

38:07

for more than $2 billion. Wow.

38:09

I know. You will still... Michael

38:11

Coors. I'm sorry, Michael Coors, the

38:13

handbag Coors? Yes. Really? Yes. I

38:15

mean, no Coors had that kind

38:18

of cash. Yes. He also had

38:20

a whole fashion line, I think

38:22

by Go Coors. Yeah, I just

38:24

know if we're having the handbags.

38:26

Yeah, shouldn't come as a surprise.

38:28

I'm, I'm not very well versed

38:30

in fashion. Yeah, I'm not like

38:33

attending the runways in Milan or

38:35

anything. Oh, it makes more than

38:37

handbags. Interesting. Yes. You will still

38:39

find Jani Versace's legacy brand in

38:41

boutiques and beyond with the label

38:43

on everything from ready to wear

38:45

clothing to accessories, fragrance, and home

38:48

items. The name is still big,

38:50

bringing in more than $800 million

38:52

each year. The Life and Death

38:54

of Jani Versace had been the

38:56

focus of several books as well

38:58

as the acclaimed FX series American

39:01

Crime Story, the assassination of Jani

39:03

Versace. Do the show starred Edgar

39:05

Ramirez as Johnny and Glee actor

39:07

Darren Chris as Andrew Canaan? Singer

39:09

and actor Ricky Martin starred as

39:11

Antonio Damico. Donatella says she gave

39:13

her blessing for Penelope Cruz to

39:16

portray her in the series even

39:18

though the Rissachi family as a

39:20

whole was against even the idea

39:22

for the show's second season. Though

39:24

it has been almost 30 years

39:26

since the world lost an icon,

39:28

Rissachi's sleek, sexy, sophisticated, sophisticated style.

39:31

and approach to both fashion and

39:33

life lives on. In his own

39:35

words, quote, sexy is honesty. I

39:37

think directness is sexy, saying what

39:39

you think, being who you are,

39:41

not being hypocritical, end quote. And

39:43

that's my very sad tale of

39:46

the death. Mr. Giovanni, he's missed.

39:48

He really was very much a

39:50

part of the change in pop

39:52

culture and the, how the whole

39:54

world changed there in the 80s.

39:56

I mean, we got our credit

39:59

scores suddenly. Women can hope open

40:01

bank accounts. And now this guy's

40:03

making all of these beautiful fashions

40:05

out of Milan. You know, the

40:07

world is just changing. And he

40:09

was right, his thumb was right

40:11

on the pulse of it. Sad.

40:14

I know. I can remember just

40:16

seeing like. the videos of his

40:18

runways, like he seemed like he

40:20

was very, he had a light,

40:22

I felt, like he was just

40:24

so happy. He loved his creations

40:26

and being in that world, you

40:29

could tell he really loved being

40:31

a designer and loved art and

40:33

loved, you know, the models and

40:35

all of that. Like he was

40:37

never, I don't think I ever

40:39

saw him like looking sour or

40:41

upset or, you know, or mysterious,

40:44

he was very like joyous. Yeah,

40:46

he was, I remember, yeah. So

40:48

I really feel bad. It was

40:50

just stupid, like, I guess. So

40:52

stupid. You could get away with

40:54

a lot. Like I said, pre-turn

40:57

of the century, and I mean

40:59

2000s, not the 1900s. He just

41:01

walked up to him and shot

41:03

him in his front yard. And

41:05

then he's able, no one, there's

41:07

no cameras on the street. There's

41:09

no, there's nothing to help until

41:12

the police arrive. And then it's

41:14

almost like going back to the

41:16

old time of finding the bad

41:18

guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they don't

41:20

have the technology like today. Not

41:22

that it's so much better, but

41:24

it's better. Mm-hmm. Yeah, this definitely

41:27

would have been caught on camera.

41:29

There probably would have been cameras

41:31

at the house and God only

41:33

knows what else and people would

41:35

have had their cell phones out

41:37

and yeah, someone just tried to

41:39

pawn this and he used Andrew

41:42

Conan. Yeah, that's a hot name

41:44

that would, but we're here now

41:46

and with the loss of him

41:48

and others, but that was a

41:50

great story. It's been so long

41:52

truly. I forgot that Andrew was

41:54

a serial killer. Yeah. I knew

41:57

his name when you said his

41:59

name. I was like, oh, he's

42:01

after. right yeah but my imprint

42:03

in my brain it didn't remember

42:05

the other details so thank you

42:07

and the other victims yeah he

42:10

just one day I guess he

42:12

just snapped and decided to start

42:14

killing people I don't even understand

42:16

you know there and you're you've

42:18

already done it and you're like

42:20

all right I guess I'm gonna

42:22

take shower I'm keep going yeah

42:25

I guess you've got no plans

42:27

right exactly so long game so

42:29

yeah no long game so You're

42:31

welcome and thank you everyone for

42:33

listening this week and if you

42:35

haven't done so already, please hit

42:37

the subscribe or follow button on

42:40

whatever app you're listening to. You

42:42

can go to our website crimes

42:44

and consequences.com. You can listen to

42:46

us there. There's also information about

42:48

March if you are so inclined.

42:50

You can visit patron.com/T&T crimes if

42:52

you are interested in becoming one

42:55

of our patron members. And you

42:57

can also sign up on the

42:59

Apple podcast app. And what that

43:01

means is once a week in

43:03

addition to this episode that is

43:05

free to everybody. Shannon and I

43:08

release an episode that is pay

43:10

only. So if you just can't

43:12

get enough of us, please check

43:14

that out. That up. So until

43:16

we meet again. Yes, girl, I

43:18

can't wait. I look forward to

43:20

our new stories. I love you.

43:23

I'll see you later. Bye.