Sample Page; ; I am rather leaning towards Miglin being a closeted gay older man that Andrew connected with by chance rather than it being a "random killing." On Wednesday, July 23, authorities surrounded a houseboat along Miami Beach, in which Cunanan had apparently holed up. The 72-year-old real estate agent was found bludgeoned and stabbed by the man who later killed Versace. By the next night, authorities had positively identified Cunanan, and said he had committed suicide. The red Jeep he drove to Chicago was found parked two blocks from the developers house. Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. 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. 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. On July 15, 1997, Cunanan approached the famed Italian designer as he returned to his Miami Beach mansion after a morning trip to a nearby caf. As The Assassination Of Gianni Versace (editor: Emily Greene) accurately shows, Miglin and his wife Marilyn were prominent figures in the city. From Vulgar Favors: Lee Miglin's ankles were bound with an orange extension cord wrapped tightly around eight times and tied with a double knot. The website also states she is a recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg International Humanitarian Award, and it is at this ceremony that the episode shows her paying tribute to her supportive husband of 38 years, Lee, saluting him as the embodiment of the American dream, the son of an Illinois coal miner who started as a salesman and rose to become a leader in his field, developing prestigious projects such as the Chicago Bar Association building and Madison Plaza. Simpson told the paper that producers also studied FBI records and witness accounts. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. After the standoff, police went in and found the body speculated to be Cunanan's inside though police were not yet identifying Cunanan at that point. 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. Another connection that Orth investigated was one between Cunanan and Lee and Marilyn's son Duke. There Cunanan shoots Reese point blank and steals the truck. Another man, Jeffrey Trail, 28, had been found beaten to death with a hammer and rolled in a carpet in Madson's apartment on April 29, 1997. 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. The 27-year-old Cunanan committed four other murders in a nationwide spree before killing Versace in Miami in July 1997. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Ms. Miglin called 911 and reported her husband missing, and also reported the couple's 1994 green Lexus missing from the garage. Cunanan used whatever was at hand in the garage, stabbing Miglin with either pruning shears (says Time) or a screwdriver (as several other reports suggest) and inflicting the throat wound with a gardening saw. 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. He left no suicide note or explanation for his crimes. The Chicago Tribune also reported in 2018 that the couple was married for 38 years in 1997 and had two children. The show appears to be exploring Cunanan's resentment about his life, as he also struck out at Versace in part because the designer had things Cunanan did not. The killer was. Attention was now focused on a 27-year-old fugitive named Andrew Cunanan. Miglin-Cunanan relationship: This is probably the most contentious part of the story. Marilyn Miglin said on Tuesday, May 6. All Rights Reserved. Miglin was also known for philanthropic activities, including fundraising for the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Museum of Science and Industry. He killed William Reese, a 45-year-old cemetery worker in New Jersey, less than a week later. The source also said Miglin had been covered with a plastic bag, and masking tape wrapped around his throat. As ACS executive producer Simpson said, no one will ever know what happened in the moments leading up to Miglin's murder. Versaces longtime partner and family have said portions of the series are inaccurate. Cunanan's third murder in a spree that spanned Minneapolis to Miami was not immediately linked to him by authorities. On the night of May 4, 1997, Andrew Cunanan murdered Miglin and stole his Lexus to flee the scene of the crime. Miglin and Beitler initially revealed plans for the Skyneedle, which would have soared more than 1,900 feet at the corner of Madison and Wells streets, in the late 80s. Magazines, Digital Detectives had said Cunanan murdered Miglin in a crime of opportunity because he needed Miglin's car. It premieres Wednesday. That friend was allegedly Duke Miglin. Cunanan would then travel to Miami before shooting Gianni Versace on the front steps of his mansion on July 15, 1997. The answer is no. The service is attended by some 2,000 people and scores of celebrities, including Princess Diana, Elton John, Naomi Campbell, and fashion power players like Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld. Brad Edwards is an investigative reporter and main anchor at CBS2 Chicago. 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. She also continues to give back to her community by raising more than $1 million to the preservation of Oak Street in Chicago and by founding the Women of Destiny program. Miglin was not so lucky. The details of the robbery are accurate, but there is no hard evidence for the shows assertion that Miglin knew Cunanan, much less engaged his sexual services. He ultimately killed himself a week after Versace's death, as Miami police closed in on him. There had been no forced entry into his home, which implied that Miglin could have known his assailant. Despite Miglin's wife and their son Duke vehemently denying any previous connection between Cunanan and Miglin, reports from several people indicate Miglin and Cunanan may have been involved on a . What truly happened remains a mystery to this day, but Gregg McCrary, former supervisory special agent of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit, told Vanity Fair that he thinks the possibility of Miglin's murder being random is unlikely. 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. Miglin, 72, invites him into his Gold Coast home while his wife is away on a business trip. Miglin proudly shows Cunanan the plans for his dream project, the Sky Needle, that at 125 stories was to be the tallest building in the world. On July 10, Versace arrived in Miami to stay at his opulent mansion in the South Beach area. What is known about Cunanan and Versace is that the fashion mogul was not Cunanans first victim. But some bizarre details about the crime scene began to emerge. "It's a painful, painful thing that's happening," said Duke Miglin, Lee Miglin's son. Versace had a longtime boyfriend, Antonio DAmico. But on "American Crime Story," Lee Miglin is shown talking with Cunanan on the phone. 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. Ive never seen any credible evidence to show that there was a relationship, Robert Milan, a former assistant states attorney for Cook County, told ABC News. Some reportsincluding one in the New York Timesclaimed that Cunanan had told friends he was HIV-positive, and that he was murdering former lovers out of a desire for vengeance on whoever had infected him. Witnesses quickly identified someone matchingCunanan's description at the scene, and a manhunt for Cunanan was under way in Miami that night. Initially, their interactions played out like the sex work viewers saw Cunanan engage in in the second episode of the series. CHICAGO (WLS) -- Twenty years after the murder of Chicago real estate mogul Lee Miglin, the garage where he was killed is still causing pain for his family. 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. Then in May, Cunanan repeatedly stabbed Lee Miglin, a 72-year-old Chicago real estate developer and wealthy businessman, according to authorities. Miglins green Lexus was also missing from the garage. Police spotted a car with a Minnesota license plate near Miglin's home after the murder, another report from The Chicago Tribune noted. The Tribune explores what Wednesdays episode got right and wrong about the events that occurred in Chicago, based on reporting at the time. Cunanan then took off. Marilyn Miglin was and indeed is a beauty entrepreneur who appears monthly on HSN and whose signature perfume is called Pheromone. The series, which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, is based on the 1999 book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth, who covered the Cunanan manhunt for Vanity Fair. 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. 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. As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reported from Miami, police quickly dismissed the idea that Versace's murder was a random act. His neck was partially severed and all of his ribs had been broken. 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. 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. Police also claimed that Miglin's leather jacket and wristwatch were missing, as well as $2,000 from Miglin's briefcase. Yet, this version of events goes against what Miglin's family has maintained for 21 years. Miglin family members did not return a Tribune request for comment. The series, which premiered Jan. 17, is slated for a nine-episode run. Wednesday's new episode of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" didn't feature the famed designer at all, instead focusing . Notably, Miglin and his business partner, J. Paul Beitler, unveiled plans in 1988 for the Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle, a skyscraper that would have risen 15 stories taller than the Sears Tower to become the new tallest building in the world. As a police assault team closed in on a houseboat which Cunanan had broken into, Cunanan shot himself in the mouth using the same gun he had used to kill Madson, Reese, and Versace. Police also later found a duffel bag in Madson's apartment with Cunanan's name and a La Jolla, California address on it. Wednesday evening, police sources said the proximity of the Jeep to Miglin's Gold Coast townhouse remained the only concrete clue to link Cunanan to the Chicago slaying.. 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. From a Tribune report at the time: As detectives swarmed the neighborhood for clues, no one paid much attention to the Jeep. A frenzied manhunt for Cunanan, who was immediately labeled a serial killer by the media, led investigators to a luxury houseboat on July 23, where they found him dead of a gunshot wound to the . Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. Per Orth, Cunanan considered Trail to be his best friend, and referred to him as my brother." 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. CBS 2's Geoff Morrell reported that detectives initially believed Miglin did not know his killer or killers but rather believed it was a crime of opportunity, and Miglin was targeted because he was rich and vulnerable. Andrew Cunanan and David Madson met in November 1995. 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