About three years ago, Marlena Miglin added Egan to the title when she was trying to get a business loan. 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 . 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. William Reese, a 45-year-old caretaker at the Finns Point National Cemetery in Pennsville, New Jersey, was found dead in the cemeterys office on May 10. That Sunday night, CBS 2's Jodine Costanzo reported police found Miglin, 72, with his throat slashed ear-to-ear and his feet bound with masking tape. Police also later found a duffel bag in Madson's apartment with Cunanan's name and a La Jolla, California address on it. Cunanan would later try to pawn one of Miglin's coins in Miami prior to his murder of Versace. However, holes had been cut in the bag so Miglin could breathe. Cunanan then took off. He had been bound with duct tape, stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver and had his throat cut open with a hacksaw. Meanwhile, investigators later learned that after murdering Miglin, Cunanan not only ate some ham and left a sliced ham on Miglin's desk, but he also hung around at the Miglin home to shave and take a shower. The 27-year-old was on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, suspected in the killings of four other people in Minnesota, Illinois and New Jersey. His neck was partially severed and all of his ribs had been broken. Yet, this version of events goes against what Miglin's family has maintained for 21 years. Police had gone to Madson's apartment after he hadn't shown up for work, and found Trail's body there, CBS News reported. What American Crime Story Makes Up About Lee Miglin's Horrific Murder, American Crime Story The Assassination Of Gianni Versace. Heres what to know about suspected serial killer Andrew Cunanan: Hours after Versaces shooting death, authorities identified Andrew Cunanan as the prime suspect. Attention was now focused on a 27-year-old fugitive named Andrew Cunanan. The Washington Post noted the link was found in a sport-utility vehicle that had been parked illegally near the Miglin home for several days. Blachford was 58 when they met and grieving the loss of his partner of 26 years, who had recently died of AIDS . The series, which premiered Jan. 17, is slated for a nine-episode run. 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. 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. Police also noticed the suspect or suspects had helped themselves to a ham in the refrigerator, and left a half-eaten apple behind, before fleeing in Miglin's Lexus. An initial theory told to Morrell by sources was that Miglin had parked his Lexus in a garage and walked across the alleyway, and was in the process of opening his back gate when someone stuck what Miglin believed to be a loaded gun in his back and ordered him into his other garage. 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. In the aftermath of the murder, reporters and authorities tried to find a link between Miglin, who appeared to have been happily married for nearly 40 years, and Cunanan. He was on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, the subject of a national manhunt, and was hiding out in Miami Beachs gay scene at the time he killed Versace. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. He also appeared to have been tortured with a screwdriver. Cunanans ride: Cunanan is shown parking a red Jeep with Minnesota plates near the Miglin home before the attack. The FBI also reported there had been sightings of Cunanan in the Palm Beach and Miami areas in the weeks prior. Tying Miglin up and wrapping his head, Donoghue said, was strictly practical, to keep him quiet and to keep him from moving around. Authorities believe Cunanan targeted Reese so that he could steal his truck. Instead, he was targeted by a lone gunman who wasn't out to rob his victim, but rather fired at point-blank range before running off. 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. Ultimately, police ruled Miglin's murder a crime of opportunity, according to the Chicago Tribune. A Chicago murder mystery becomes a mushroom cloud. Cunanan had reportedly been living in Miami Beach for two months prior to killing Versace. 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. Versace had a longtime boyfriend, Antonio DAmico. As The Assassination Of Gianni Versace (editor: Emily Greene) accurately shows, Miglin and his wife Marilyn were prominent figures in the city. The show sticks closely to this gruesome version of events. The investigation into Versaces murder ended July 23, 1997 eight days after the designers death when Cunanan apparently shot himself to death on a boat house, about two miles away from Versaces house in Miami Beach. He also talked about wanting to reveal Miglin's orientation to the world through the manner of his death, leaving his body surrounded by gay pornography and wearing more traditionally feminine underwear. On the show and in real life, the Jeep provides a break in the case as a Chicago police officer notices the windshield is covered in parking tickets. Detectives had said Cunanan murdered Miglin in a crime of opportunity because he needed Miglin's car. Cunanan had a. That friend was allegedly Duke Miglin. There are a few places [in the TV show] where things didnt happen at all, Orth told Vanity Fairs Still Watching podcast. Sample Page; ; It was later determined that Cunanan likely killed Reese solely for his truck, and not for any of the more complex and personal reasons that seemed to define his other four murders. Then in May, Cunanan repeatedly stabbed Lee Miglin, a 72-year-old Chicago real estate developer and wealthy businessman, according to authorities. The motive behind Cunanan's third murder remains a mystery, according to an article by ABC7Chicago 20 years after Miglin's death. The skyscraper was to be constructed at 201 W. Madison St. downtown. "I made an effort to be all right, so everyone else could be all right," she told the Chicago Tribune. Speaking to The Chicago Tribune a year after Lee's murder, Marilyn denied these rumors about her husband and Cunanan. Miglin made his money as a real estate developer. Cunanan didnt leave a note when he killed himself in July 1997, and Wednesdays episode relies heavily on alleged dialogue between Cunanan and Lee Miglin. 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. Attorneys call the situation an "unfortunate coincidence" which played out Monday in a Cook County courtroom. Miglins killing: Cunanan is shown putting a white glove in Miglins mouth as a gag and wrapping his head in masking tape in what appears to be foreplay. What is known about Cunanan and Versace is that the fashion mogul was not Cunanans first victim. From there, Cunanan drove off in Reese's truck. The episode opens with Miglins wife, Marilyn (the always excellent Judith Light), promoting her fragrance Pheromone on the Home Shopping Network. In its original report on the murder, The Chicago Tribune noted, "The police department was extraordinarily tightlipped about the case a testimony to Miglin's position of influence in political circles here." Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. The initial Chicago Tribune article reported that the 72-year-old Miglin was found dead in his garage. "It's very difficult," Miglin's son Duke told ABC7Chicago. In fact, the series depicts Miglin as being a closeted homosexual who hires Cunanan as a sex worker. When he didn't show up, she became suspicious about her husband's whereabouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. Fact Checking 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace': Did Andrew Cunanan Know Victim Lee Miglin? Tuesday night, however, an officer started writing a third parking ticket for the vehicle and decided to call in the license plate. Like William Reese, the 45-year-old cemetery caretaker Cunanan murdered for his truck, it's believed Miglin was murdered for his car, which Cunanan stole, along with some valuable belongings.. Matt Rodriguez. Miglin was Cunanan's third victim (out of what would become five total), and the show bluntly depicts the way Cunanan bound him with tape and brutally tortured and murdered him in Miglin's garage while his wife, Marilyn, was out of town on business. Madsons family members suspected that he had accidentally walked in on the killing of Trail, and subsequently been taken hostage by Cunanan, and this is the version of events that plays out in American Crime Story. Miglin family members have long denied Lee Miglin and Cunanan knew each other before the attack. 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. On Wednesday, July 23, authorities surrounded a houseboat along Miami Beach, in which Cunanan had apparently holed up. It happened that Schlesinger had interviewed Trail years before he was murdered for a story on gays in the military. "Lee Miglin built that garage for his . Cunanan's fourth victim, William Reese, was also reported as a crime of opportunity: Cunanan needed his truck, so he shot Reese in the head and stole it. Marilyn Miglin was and indeed is a beauty entrepreneur who appears monthly on HSN and whose signature perfume is called Pheromone. He had been bound with duct tape, stabbed more than 20 times with a. Again, the only source for the magazines on the scene is Orth, who says they had been left not far away, and even her account maintains Miglin was wearing regular mens Calvin Klein underwear. The program recruited 200 of Chicagos most successful women and had them serve as mentors for young women across a variety of professions. While her husband's murder was a tragedy, Marilyn did not let it define her. Yet, this version of events goes against what Miglin's family has. The Assassination of Gianni Versace writer Tom Rob Smith and producer Ryan Murphy based the series on a book by veteran Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, who reported extensively on the case before writing Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in US History. But the high-profile killing of Versace forced Cunanan to keep a lower profile for the final week of his life. The reason Andrew Cunanan murdered real estate developer Lee Miglin is uncertain, and it's not any more clear after the third episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace. "We don't know what happened over that weekend with Lee Miglin, and there are conflicting statements, so it was a real challenge for us to decide: what do we feel is authentically true, what do we believe to be true, and how can we do justice to these characters?" So I understand it is their choice. Their two children, Marlena and Duke, an actor, were adults at the time of Miglin's murder. Iconic Chicago columnist and longtime CBS 2 contributor Irv Kupcinet had once described Lee and Marilyn Miglin as two of Chicago's finest citizens. Police responding to the attack found Reeses stolen truck in a nearby parking garage, along with Cunanans clothes, a fake passport, and newspaper clippings detailing his murders. 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). 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. 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. The 72-year-old real estate agent was found bludgeoned and stabbed by the man who later killed Versace. Marilyn Miglin died just this past March at the age of 83, and maintained to her death that her husband and Cunanan never knew each other. Lee Albert Miglin (July 12, 1924 - May 4, 1997) was an American business tycoon and philanthropist. As played by the ever-genial Mike Farrell, Miglin is portrayed as the opposite of a bumptious, hard-charging Trumpian developer, happy to cede the spotlight to his more vivacious wife.This self-effacement is apparently entirely in character. Miglin, however, strongly disputed this, telling ABC there was no relationship whatsoever. "I can tell you unequivocally that we have not found a link between Andrew Cunanan and anyone in the Miglin family," former Chicago police superintendent Matt Rodriguez told ABC in July 1997. Versaces murder prompted a much more vigorous pursuit of Cunanan, with some 1,000 agents across the country taking part in what became one of the biggest manhunts in history. 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. Andrew Cunanan was entirely dependent on the property of others, who really did have power in social environments. 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.". Cunanan did not torture Reese like he did Miglin, and that makes it seem like perhaps there was something more personal about Miglin's murder. Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. Cunanan's motivations are similarly mysterious, try to pawn one of Miglin's coins in Miami, of friend Jeff Trail and ex-boyfriend David Madson. 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." The fashion designer was returning home from his morning walk to the News Caf, where he went to purchase magazines, when a man approached and fired two shots into his head. Maureen Orth, in her book Vulgar Favors on which the series is based, supports the first two details but is more vague about the concrete block to the head, reporting only that there were two dozen blows to the head, face, and chin. That Cunanan threw a concrete block on Miglins chest is less in doubt, as it would account for the multiple broken ribs. Cunanan and Miglin are shown sharing a long embrace and kiss. Authorities believe Cunanans killing spree before Versace targeted ex-lovers, including some he may have believed may have given him HIV. Daisy Jones & The Six Is A Nostalgic Series Based On A Best-Selling Book, The 'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Trailer Is Finally Here & Fellas, It'll Give You Goosebumps, '1923' Will Deliver More Dutton Family Drama In Season 2 Of The 'Yellowstone' Prequel, 'Yellowjackets' Season 3 Is Officially Happening, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Before the attack Cunanan was entirely dependent on the morning of May 4, 1997 was. Murdered Miglin in a sport-utility vehicle that had been sightings of Cunanan in the prior! Sightings of Cunanan in the weeks prior Madson 's apartment with Cunanan 's name and a Jolla. Named Andrew Cunanan recruited 200 of Chicagos most successful women and had them serve as mentors for women! The link was found dead in the military a business loan concrete block on Miglins chest is in! Miami prior to killing Versace his Gold Coast home on the morning of May 4 Beach, which! 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