There are references made to this not being their first meeting and not their first meeting of a sexual nature. As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reported from Miami, police quickly dismissed the idea that Versace's murder was a random act. Schlesinger said there was some speculation that Versace and Cunanan had met briefly at an opera performance in San Francisco but it would have been in passing. He began his career selling premixed pancake batter out of the trunk of a beat-up old car, Marilyn Miglin says at the fundraiser on American Crime Story. She goes on to mention that Miglin built the Chicago Bar Association building (he developed it with business partner J. Paul Beitler in 1990). He built the garage specifically for he and my mom to use and for her to use for the rest of her life," Duke Miglin said. But the high-profile killing of Versace forced Cunanan to keep a lower profile for the final week of his life. Orth called Madson the great unrequited love of Cunanans life and noted that although the pair had broken up in the spring of 1996, Cunanan kept a picture of Madson on his refrigerator door. Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Miglin did in fact come from this background to develop the Bar Association and Madison Plaza buildings with his partner, J. Paul Beitler, as well as many other significant structures in the Chicago area. The show suggests that Miglin arranged an assignation with Cunanan, an escort whose services he had used before, while his dynamic wife was out of town on business, though there is no hard proof of this and, as in the series, the family denied that the two knew each other. Egan has offered to allow the Miglins to continue using the garage if they pay $1,400 a month. There has been speculation in the quarter century since. All Rights Reserved. "It's very difficult," Miglin's son Duke told ABC7Chicago. Kate Middleton Makes the Case for Houndstooth, Prince William & Kate Middleton Visit Wales, Courteney Cox Hasn't Read Prince Harry's Memoir, Historic Photos of King George VI's Coronation. Instead, she took care of Miglin's 98-year-old mother and brother-in-law, who was very close to Lee, the fourth of seven children. That. Darren Criss, left, plays con artist Andrew Cunanan and Mike Farrell plays Chicago real estate tycoon Lee Miglin on "American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. (Matt Dinerstein / FX). "We were discussing Marilyn's fundraising at the Drake, which was very successful, and that they were planning to go to Israel and name a wing in her honor, and he was looking forward to that.". Miglin family members have long denied Lee Miglin and Cunanan knew each other before the attack. The murder set off one of the biggest and most intense manhunts of the '90s. Season 2 of .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace delves into the slaying of world-renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace outside of his Miami Beach mansion on July 15, 1997. Today, she still works as a beauty authority, author, and speaker, appearing monthly on the Home Shopping Network to promote products such as her signature fragrance Pheromone, according to her website. Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969 - July 23, 1997) was an American serial killer known to have murdered five people, including Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, during a three-month period in mid-1997. After killing Miglin, Cunanan left with his car, several items of clothing, $2,000 in cash, and some gold coins from the safe. "My reaction, of course, is sad, because there are a lot of matters we want to clear up with respect to our case here in the city of Chicago," said then-police Supt. Cunanan, realizing he has to ditch the Lexus, spots a red pickup truck and trails the driver, William Reese, to the Finns Point National Cemetery, a Civil War memorial where he is the caretaker. "What do you say about a man you loved passionately for 38 years a man who exemplified courage, and honor, and dignity, and a code of ethics beyond any that I think anybody's ever had?" Cunanan would use that weapon throughout his murder spree. He was pursuing a career with the California Highway Patrol before suddenly and unexpectedly moving to Minneapolis. In the one scene in which the police speak with Duke about Cunanan, he doesn't give any indication that he recognizes Cunanan's name from anywhere. Before killing Miglin in the episode, Cunanan confessed to his two previous crimes (of friend Jeff Trail and ex-boyfriend David Madson) and remarked that murder wasn't what anyone would have expected from him, a young man known for being cultured and intellectual. Lee, portrayed by Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H, had his real estate company and Marilyn, played by Judith Light of Transparent, owns a cosmetics and fragrance company. The mentions of Cunanan's connection to the Miglin family are more along the lines of his actually knowing Duke, the Miglins' son. CBS 2's Mike Parker reported Chicago Police had been aching to talk with Cunanan about the murder of Miglin. 72-year-old real estate tycoon Lee Miglin was found dead in the garage of his Gold Coast home on the morning of May 4. He had been bound with duct tape, stabbed more than 20 times with a. Police had gone to Madson's apartment after he hadn't shown up for work, and found Trail's body there, CBS News reported. But American Crime Story is still giving a very controversial account of the murder, especially since authorities never found solid evidence of a connection between the two men. Then Cunanan is shown laying Miglin down in his garage, wrapping his legs together with orange extension cord, strangling him, punching him in the face, throwing a bag of concrete on his chest and stabbing him. On the morning of Saturday, May 3, Kyle Hilken and Scott Schmidt were out looking for a fishing spot at East Rush Lake when they stumbled upon Madson's body in some nearby brush. Ultimately, police ruled Miglin's murder a crime of opportunity, according to the Chicago Tribune. The motive behind Cunanan's third murder remains a mystery, according to an article by ABC7Chicago 20 years after Miglin's death. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. In The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Cunanan is played by Glee star Darren Criss. When he didn't show up, she became suspicious about her husband's whereabouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. Cunanan travels to New Jersey, where he kills a cemetery caretaker, and takes his red pickup truck while leaving behind Miglins Lexus. Madson was described an intelligent, handsome, young man with a promising future; he was the entire package. CBS News Correspondent Dave Fehling reported the house was about two and a half miles from the Versace villa, but only blocks from the Normandy Hotel, where Cunanan was known to have been staying. On the show, the handgun briefly makes an appearance when Cunanan and Miglin are in his home office, but Cunanan doesn't end up using it or even letting Miglin see it. The episode opens with Miglins wife, Marilyn (the always excellent Judith Light), promoting her fragrance Pheromone on the Home Shopping Network. 72-year-old real estate tycoon Lee Miglin was found dead in the garage of his Gold Coast home on the morning of May 4. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said his clothes were saturated in blood, but the area around him was clean suggesting that his body may have been moved. Miglin's body was found on the floor of the garage behind his home, but there were questions as to whether Miglin was actually killed in the garage. A Chicago murder mystery becomes a mushroom cloud. But the mystery of why he went on a killing spree remained baffling. Versace had a longtime boyfriend, Antonio DAmico. That certainly could have been used by Cunanan to force his way into the Miglins' townhouse, if that is what happened. The Chicago Tribune reported on the murder after Miglin was killed in May 1997 and before Cunanan was named as a suspect. The FBI also reported there had been sightings of Cunanan in the Palm Beach and Miami areas in the weeks prior. Blachford was 58 when they met and grieving the loss of his partner of 26 years, who had recently died of AIDS . As told by the FX series, Miglin was a closeted, 72-year-old real estate magnate who paid for Cunanan's services as a gigolo while his wife (played by Judith Light) was out of town. After taking the life of the one of the world's most famous fashion designers of the time, serial killer Andrew Cunanan was on the run. But clearly the show is saying the two had a relationship. From Vulgar Favors: Two leather coats were missing, one of them (Miglins son) Duke's, a couple of suits, along with some insignificant ladies jewelry and a dozen pairs of new Sulka black socks from the bedroom.. As Chicago Police Superintendent Matt Rodriguez (played on the show by Alex Fernandez) told reporters at the time, there was evidence that the person or persons did in fact avail themselves of food at the victims home and was walking around the apartment. Furthermore, while Rodriguez confirmed that Miglin was tortured before he was murdered, he, like the rest of the police department, remained extraordinarily tightlipped about the case, as the Chicago Tribune put it at the time, just as in the show. Vulgar Favors noted that there was pornography found near his body and Miglin was wearing bikini-style underwear. The SUV had Minnesota license plates that had been registered to Minneapolis interior designer David Madson, 33, whose body had been found near a lake in Chisago County, Minnesota the day before Miglin's body was found. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. Wednesday's new episode of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" didn't feature the famed designer at all, instead focusing . Cunanan's string of murders ended on July 23 of that year with his suicide by firearm. According to an article in Newsweek from May 1997, Miglin was found in his garage with stab wounds, and his throat slashed with a gardener's bow saw, his feet constrained, and his head covered in tape. However, holes had been cut in the bag so Miglin could breathe. Marilyn Miglin said on Tuesday, May 6. Madson, 33, failed to show up for work on Monday, April 28, but neighbors saw him walking his dog with Cunanan that day. By the next night, authorities had positively identified Cunanan, and said he had committed suicide. So I understand it is their choice. He made seemingly little attempt to stay under the radar, despite being on the FBIs Most Wanted list; at one point, he even used his own name to pawn a gold coin he stole from Miglin. Both companies still exist in some form today. In episode three, Cunanan shows up at Miglin's house and is invited in. Egan, CEO of Roseland Hospital, lost a 2011 campaign for 43rd ward alderman. "A Random Killing" moves through the events preceding the crime and its aftermath, but does not truly answer the most pressing question: why did Andrew Cunanan kill Lee Miglin? Miglin was stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver on May 3. Dirty dishes in the kitchen and beard stubble in the bathroom sink were Marilyn's next clues that something was amiss. His body was found five days later on the shore of East Rush Lake near Rush City, Minnesota (approximately one hour from Minneapolis by car), with gunshot wounds to his head and back. Cunanan became the most wanted and feared man in America, leaving the nation in a simultaneous state of terror and fascination as his grisly crimes played out over a period of more than two months. "He asked me if I would be willing to talk to my sister about helping him settle his divorce proceedings. Trails sister told the New York Times that Cunanan had a strange fascination with Trail, and often appeared to try and emulate him. I dont know that its reminiscent of any bondage video.. Jim Edgar event: A week before Lee Miglins death, Marilyn Miglin (played by Transparent star Judith Light) is shown praising her husband at a fundraiser for Jim Edgar, who served as Illinois governor from 1991-99. He currently lives in a townhouse that was gifted to his estranged wife, Marlena Miglin, by her mother Marilyn Miglin, who owns of a well-known beauty product company. Cunanans killing spree began in late April 1997 when he used a hammer to fatally beat Jeffrey Trail, a 28-year-old former naval officer he knew, in Minneapolis, for reasons that remain unclear, the FBI said. The idea that he just picked him up off the street and stalked him and tortured him and then killed him is bizarre not the most likely scenario.". Kate Recreated a Past Outfit for St. David's Day, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, shooting Gianni Versace on the front steps of his mansion, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. "Lee Miglin built that garage for his . He then smashes Miglins head with a block of concrete before inflicting worse injuries, including throwing a concrete block on his chest. According to Vanity Fair, Cunanan was dining with friends at a restaurant in San Francisco when he spotted Madson drinking alone at the. The source also said Miglin had been covered with a plastic bag, and masking tape wrapped around his throat. According to the Vanity Fair article, Cunanan told some friends that he was going to start a business making movie sets with his friend named Duke Miglin, a report The New York Times corroborates. He heads to Miami Beach and fatally shoots Versace before killing himself eight days later. Cunanan had a. The show sticks closely to this gruesome version of events. In reality, there isn't much out there about the possible Cunanan-Miglin relationship. Rodriguez, now in his 80s, told the Tribune Wednesday he didnt know he was going to be portrayed on the show and he didnt personally examine Miglins body as was shown on the series or talk with Marilyn Miglin in her home. Its unclear how much of this were meant to take at face value, and how much is Cunanans delusional, grandiose idea of the relationship he feels he deserves to have with Versace. Police still did not know why Cunanan had tortured and murdered Miglin and after Cunanan took his own life without leaving a suicide note, there was no way to find out from him. All Rights Reserved. At the time of his death, Versace was one of the most high-profile fashion designers in the world, dressing the likes of Princess Diana, Madonna and Elton John. But on American Crime Story, Lee Miglin is shown talking with Cunanan on the phone before the 27-year-old makes that fateful trip to Chicago. The American Crime Story episode scheduled to air next week will follow Cunanan as he kills two men in Minnesota before killing Miglin. After telling Miglin, Im in control now (a quote added for dramatic effect, since no one else was in the garage to verify), the fictional Cunanan gags the older mans mouth with a gardening glove, ties him up, and hits him repeatedly in the face. He wanted to destroy Miglin's legacy, an idea upheld by the fact that he later burned the plans Miglin had drawn up to build the tallest building in the world. Marilyn Miglin was and indeed is a beauty entrepreneur who appears monthly on HSN and whose signature perfume is called Pheromone. Both the FBI and the Cook County State's Attorney's office looked into possible links between the spree killer and the Miglins, but no unimpeachable link was ever established. From a Tribune report at the time: As detectives swarmed the neighborhood for clues, no one paid much attention to the Jeep. Attention was now focused on a 27-year-old fugitive named Andrew Cunanan. And if we didn't know, we really tried to allow for interpretation. He killed William Reese, a 45-year-old cemetery worker in New Jersey, less than a week later. People who knew Cunanan also told Orth that he often sought out wealthy, older, gay men to date in his personal life. In an emailed statement to The Chicago Sun-Times, American Crime Story executive producer Brad Simpson said: Bustle reached out to FX and the network declined to give additional comment. So it's important to remember that this episode is a dramatization of an incomplete set of facts. 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