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Andrew Cunanan biography

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  • PLACE OF DEATH: Miami, Florida
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Andrew Cunanan was a serial murder who killed fashion designer Gianni Versace, and at least four other people, before commiting suicide in a Miami houseboat.

Synopsis

Andrew Cunanan was born on August 31, 1969 in San Diego, California. He settled in San Francisco’s Castro district and socialized with older, wealthy gay men while indulging heavily in drugs. It's unclear what set him off but he began a cross-country killing spree of five known murders - the last of which was fashion designer Gianni Versace. Cunanan killed himself on a Miami houseboat in 1997.

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Profile

Serial killer. Born August 31, 1969 in San Diego, California. Cunanan was raised by a religious mother and prestige-conscious father. Though a disciplinarian, his father was not violent, and Cunanan did not experience the early childhood traumas that experts often tag as typical of violent criminals.

On the surface, the highly intelligent Cunanan reveled in his life as a young, attractive gay male. He typically socialized with much older, wealthier men, and eventually settled in San Francisco's gay Castro district. By the time he was 21 years old, he spoke seven languages and was becoming well acquainted with the finer things in life.

However, beneath this cheerful facade lurked a much darker side that became exacerbated by an insatiable need for drugs, kinky sex and material wealth. In his teens, Cunanan had prostituted himself, and he soon became obsessed with violent pornography, often taking part in the films himself.

By 1997, Cunanan had sunk into a depression after one after another of his wealthy lovers left him. Some wonder if he discovered he was HIV positive. This devastating news, combined with a brooding, obsessive jealousy, was what may have led him to his first victim, former lover Jeff Trail. The gruesome murder started a killing spree that left the FBI stumped. Rather than going into hiding, Cunanan flaunted authorities, killing three others before reentering the gay social scene, this time in Miami, Florida.

Unable to catch Cunanan, authorities had all but given up, and the media seemed to have cooled as well. That July, Cunanan took the life of his next and final victim, world-famous fashion designer Gianni Versace. Police were blamed for not having warned the Miami gay community about Cunanan, and their every step was scrutinized following Versace's murder. After the police had surrounded him on a houseboat in South Florida, Cunanan shot himself before he could be arrested.

 

© 2012 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.

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