1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: All right. If you don't remember the nineteen nineties, in 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: the early days of everybody's obsession with Versace fashion, you 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: may remember the f X drama about John Ivversace's murder. 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: The show The Assassination of Jeanni VERSACEI American Crime Story, 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: debuted in twenty eighteen. It explored the nineteen ninety seven 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: murder of one of the hottest clothing designers in the 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,319 Speaker 1: entire world. I'm Patty Steele. What motivated Versace's murderer? Was 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: it envy, sex for hire or something else? That's next 9 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. Johnny VERSACEI 10 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: had a clear sense of direction from the time he 11 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: was a little kid. He was born in nineteen forty six. 12 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: He grew up in Reggio, Calabria, Italy. Right off the 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: bat he loved fashion and architecture. His mother had a 14 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: sewing business, so she took him on as an apprentice. 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: Pretty soon headed to Milan to work in fashion design, 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: and several years in he started to get noticed. In 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, he opened his own boutique in Milan, 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: and he was an international sensation in no time. His 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: designs were sexy, and colorful. His rivalry with Giorgio Armani, 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: who had simple designs in quiet, dark colors, led to 21 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: fashion insiders saying Armani dresses the wife, Versace dresses the mistress. 22 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: He started to design costumes for music artists as well 23 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: as ballet, opera, theater, and film, and that led to 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: friendships with folks like Eric Clapton, Princess Diana Whitney, Houston, 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: Naomi Campbell, cap Moss, Madonna Elton, John Tupac, Shakurt, Joan Collins, 26 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: and countless other hotshots. Eventually, his company, Versace began to 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: produce more than just clothing. They got into accessories, fragrances, makeup, 28 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: and home furnishings. Johnny VERSACEI was on top top of 29 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: the world, and it stayed that way through the eighties 30 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: and well into the nineties. Meantime, he had a very 31 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: stable personal life. He met his partner Antonio Demico, a model, 32 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two, and they were together until Johnny's 33 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: death fifteen years later. The pair lived in Versace's mansions 34 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: in Italy, in Milan and Lake Como in New York City, 35 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: and most notably, his spectacular villa in Miami. Beach Casa Cassuarina, 36 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: which brings us to a warm, sunny morning in Miami, 37 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: July fifteenth, nineteen ninety seven. Johnny liked to take a 38 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: morning walk in his silk pajamas and head to a 39 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: small cafe where he sat outside for coffee, reading in 40 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: people watching. Sounds like a perfect morning. He finishes his 41 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: coffee and he heads home down Ocean Drive. Now it's 42 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: eight forty five am and he's just started to enter 43 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: his gate. Beautiful fancy gates to walk up the step 44 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: to his front door. At that moment, Andrew Cunanan, a young, 45 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,839 Speaker 1: really troubled guy with a violent past, steps out from 46 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: the shadows. In the blink of an eye. Cunanan raises 47 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: a handgun and fires two shots. Johnny VERSACEI instantly collapses. 48 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: He's shot in the head. He's mortally wounded, his blood 49 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: pouring down the marble steps of his own South Beach palace. 50 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: Johnny Versace's murder sent shockwaves all over the world. How 51 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: could such a vibrant, beloved, iconic figure become the victim 52 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: of such a crazy act? And who is this guy? 53 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: This killer? And why did he do this? Andrew Cunanan 54 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: was born in California. He had a demanding father, who 55 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: then abandoned the family after getting involved in some business fraud. 56 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: It up ended Andrew's life. While he was a psychological mess, 57 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: he went to some prestigious private schools and managed to 58 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: create a false pri sona of wealth and status. There. 59 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: As he got a little older, he started mingling easily 60 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: with wealthy older men, getting money and social connections from them. 61 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: He was charming. He was a good looking guy, but 62 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: also horribly insecure with a volatile temper. By his mid twenties, 63 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: it all started to fall apart. He was in bad 64 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: shape socially and financially, and that's when his life spun 65 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: out of control. He launched a gruesome cross country murder spray. 66 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: Before he got to Miami, Andrew had committed four brutal 67 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: murders in Minnesota, Chicago, and New Jersey, leaving cops baffled 68 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: and the public scared. There didn't seem to be an 69 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: mo His victims included former lovers, acquaintances, and even strangers. 70 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: The FBI called him a spree killer, a person motivated 71 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: to kill a number of people in a short period 72 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: of time. Andrews stayed on the move and constantly changed 73 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: his appearance. FBI wanted posters described him as intelligent, dangerous, 74 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: and highly elusive, a killer whose motives were unpredictable. It's 75 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: been almost thirty years, and yet it's still not one 76 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: hundred percent clear what brought Andrew Cunanan to Johnny Versachi's doorstep. 77 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: Some think they might have met years earlier, though what 78 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: that would have entailed is unclear, while others think Andrew 79 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: was simply an outsider looking in at Versachi's impossibly glamorous, 80 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:38,160 Speaker 1: successful life and he became fixated. Whether he knew him 81 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: personally or not. Andrew was definitely obsessed with Johnny and 82 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: often bragged about him being a close friend of his. 83 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: Andrew definitely had delusions of grandeur. Acquaintances say he regularly 84 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: lied about meeting and knowing lots of celebrities. On the 85 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: other hand, FBI agents firmly believed that Versace and Cunanan 86 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: had met in San Francisco, but they don't know the 87 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: nature of that relationship. One story in Vanity Fair claimed 88 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: the two met at a San Francisco nightclub in nineteen 89 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: ninety and could have gotten together later because both were 90 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: apparently involved in sects for hire circles in both Miami 91 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: and San Francisco. The Versace family, of course denies that scenario, 92 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, even the Miami 93 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: Beach Chief of Police said, I don't know that we 94 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: are ever going to know the answers. Whatever the reason, 95 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: Versace became Cunanan's final victim. Following the murder, Miami police 96 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 1: launched one of the biggest manhunts in US history, but 97 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: Cunanan had vanished without a trace. The fashion world was distraught. 98 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: Versace's funeral at the Milan Cathedral had two thousand in attendance, 99 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: names like Elton john Naomi Campbell, JFK. Junior's wife, Caroline 100 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: Bessett Kennedy, and Princess Diana, who, of course was killed 101 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: in a Paris car accident just a little over a 102 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: month later. Still, the city of Miami was in a 103 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: panic as the police in FBI searched for Cunanan. Then, finally, 104 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: eight days after Versace's murder, a caretaker noticed that someone 105 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: had forced their way into an unoccupied houseboat at a 106 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: quiet marina near Miami Beach. Cops surrounded the area and 107 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: moved in. It was July twenty third, nineteen ninety seven, 108 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: they approached the houseboat Suddenly, a single gunshot echoed from inside. 109 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: Andrew Cunanan had committed suicide, leaving so many unanswered questions. 110 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: On the boat, cops found newspaper articles of Cunanan's killing 111 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: spree that he'd cut out, and fast food wrappers, but 112 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: there was not much else. Johnny was cremated and his 113 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: ashes buried in the Versace family crypt at Lake Como. 114 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: In the aftermath, Johnny's sister Donetella took over running the 115 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: Versace fashion empire. The Casa Kasuarina, the mansion and murder site, 116 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: was sold and turned into a super luxury hotel. While 117 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: Versace had left a generous bequest to his lover of 118 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: fifteen years, Donnatella, and the Versace family took him to 119 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: cord and cut it way back. The murder of John 120 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: A Versace made a lot of the glitterati take a 121 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: much closer look at their security measures, and it left 122 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: everyone else considering how envy can destroy so many lives. 123 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: Hope you're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave 124 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: a review and follow or subscribe for free to get 125 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: new episodes. Delivered automatically and feel free to dm me 126 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: if you have a story you'd like me to cover. 127 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. 128 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, 129 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. 130 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We 131 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to 132 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: reach out to me with comments and even story suggestions 133 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at 134 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. 135 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: The pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.