Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Andrew Cunanan

Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969– July 23, 1997) was an American spree killer and serial killerknown to have murdered five people during a three-month period inmid-1997 from April 27 to July 15. His victims include Italianfashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago real estate developer LeeMiglin. Cunanan committed suicide by gunshot on July 23, 1997, eightdays after murdering Versace.

Early life and education

The youngest of four children, AndrewPhillip Cunanan was born August 31, 1969, in National City,California, to Modesto "Pete" Cunanan, a Filipino-American,and Mary Anne Schillaci (died 2012), an Italian-American. Modesto wasserving in the United States Navy in the Vietnam War at the time ofhis son's birth. After leaving the Navy, where he had served as achief petty officer, Modesto worked as a stockbroker.

In his youth, Cunanan lived with hisfamily in National City and attended Bonita Vista Middle School. In1981, his father enrolled him in The Bishop's School, an independentday school located in the affluent La Jolla neighborhood of SanDiego. There Cunanan met his lifelong best friend Elizabeth "Liz" Cote. At school, he was remembered as being bright and verytalkative, and testing with an IQ of 147.

As a teenager, Cunanan developed areputation as a prolific liar, given to telling tall tales about hisfamily and personal life. He was adept at changing his appearanceaccording to what he felt was most attractive at a given moment. Cunanan identified as gay in high school, when he began havingliaisons with wealthy older men. He was voted "least likelyto be forgotten." After graduating from high school in1987, Cunanan enrolled at the University of California, San Diego (UCSan Diego), where he majored in American history.

In 1988, when Cunanan was 19, hisfather deserted his family and moved to the Philippines to evadearrest for embezzlement. That same year, Cunanan had begunfrequenting local gay clubs and restaurants, and his mother, who wasdeeply religious, learned about his sexual orientation. During anargument, Cunanan threw his mother against a wall, dislocating hershoulder. Later examination of his behavior indicates that he mayhave suffered from antisocial personality disorder, characterized bya lack of remorse and empathy. In 1989, Cunanan dropped out of UCSan Diego and settled in the Castro District of San Francisco, acenter of gay culture, moving in with friend Liz Cote and herboyfriend, Phil Merrill.

Adult life

In San Francisco, Cunanan continued hispractice of befriending wealthy older men, and also reportedly begancreating violent pornography. He also socialized in the Hillcrest andLa Jolla neighborhoods of San Diego, as well as in Scottsdale,Arizona, "apparently living off the largesse of one wealthypatron or another." Cunanan is also believed to have beendealing drugs, including prescription opioids, cocaine, andmarijuana. He used several aliases: Andrew DeSilva, Lt. Cmdr. AndyCummings, Drew Cunningham, and Curt Matthew Demaris.

Cunanan allegedly first met fashiondesigner Gianni Versace in San Francisco in October 1990, whenVersace was in town to be fitted for the costumes he had designed forthe San Francisco Opera production of Richard Strauss's operaCapriccio, although Versace's family has always denied that the twomen ever met. In December 1995, Cunanan met David Madson, aMinneapolis architect, in a San Francisco bar. They began along-distance relationship shortly after, but Madson ended therelationship in the spring of 1996, telling friends he sensedsomething "shady" about Cunanan. Cunanan toldfriends that Madson was the "love of my life".