Cunanan had tucked Miglin's body under a car in the garage and attempted to obscure it with trash cans, according to the Chicago Tribune. 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.". 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. A Chicago murder mystery becomes a mushroom cloud. 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. In fact, the series depicts Miglin as being a closeted homosexual who hires Cunanan as a sex worker. ", "In the Miglin case, this was such a horrible crime. 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. 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. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. Cunanan wanted to disgrace Miglin. Miglin was known for being meticulous, which is why his wife Marilyn found it strange that the front gate was unlocked when she returned home from a business trip Sunday morning. That is pure speculation, however, as is the scenario presented in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. 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. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cunanan bound Miglin with duct tape, stabbed him 20 times with a screwdriver, then cut his throat with a hacksaw (Dibdin, 2018). By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Marilyn Miglin said on Tuesday, May 6. "I don't think you healyou never close up that gaping woundbut you adjust," Marilyn told the Chicago Tribune. 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. According to Orth's book, the two met in mid-1994, three years before the murders. Earlier the same day, he'd gotten a haircut at Cote d'Or Coiffures, 40 E. Oak St. "He was in a very good mood," said Cote d'Or owner Delores Kimmel. Is Prince Andrew Moving to Frogmore Cottage? Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. 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. CHICAGO (CBS) -- On May 4, 1997 25 years ago Wednesday Chicago real estate magnate Lee Miglin was found brutally murdered under a car in the garage of his Gold Coast mansion. On July 15, 1997, Cunanan shot and killed Italian designer Gianni Versace outside his Miami Beach home. Miglin's son, Duke, added, "There was no relationship whatsoever.". But the plan fell through. Then in May, Cunanan repeatedly stabbed Lee Miglin, a 72-year-old Chicago real estate developer and wealthy businessman, according to authorities. The family of one of Andrew Cunanan's victims disputes the version of events presented in FX series. Former U.S. naval officer Jeffrey Trail had become friends with Cunanan in San Diego in 1991, while Trail was stationed there. Cunanan had a. Ultimately, police ruled Miglin's murder a crime of opportunity, according to the Chicago Tribune. And I still don't.". The FBI believed Cunanan may have been seeking revenge on former lovers or clients who may have given him HIV, records show. 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. It appeared that Cunanan went into Miglin's kitchen following the murder, made himself a ham sandwich, and shaved before taking off in his new getaway vehicle. The Chicago Tribune reported on the murder after Miglin was killed in May 1997 and before Cunanan was named as a suspect. 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. Cunanan had reportedly been living in Miami Beach for two months prior to killing Versace. From a Tribune report at the time: As detectives swarmed the neighborhood for clues, no one paid much attention to the Jeep. By Brad Edwards, Richard Schlesinger, Adam Harrington, Dan Kraemer, May 4, 2022 / 4:53 PM Andrew was thrilled and Eli couldn't believe it. This Is How Andrew Cunanan Died. From there, Cunanan drove off in Reese's truck. From Vulgar Favors: Lee, born Albert Lee Miglin, one of eight children of a central Illinois coal miner, began his career selling stainless steel flatware door to door and premixed pancake batter out of the trunk of his car.. Speaking to The Chicago Tribune a year after Lee's murder, Marilyn denied these rumors about her husband and Cunanan. 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. The Sky Needle is grounded in fact (the project was on track until 1990, when financing collapsed), though the portrayal of Miglin showing the drawings to Cunanan is probably entirely invented. Either [Cunanan] knew of the guy or knew his son. In 2018, the anthology television series "American Crime Story" issued a nine-part true-crime dramatization of the story of the Cunanan murders titled "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" in which Miglin, played by Mike Farrell, and Cunanan, played by Darren Criss, were presented as having had a furtive personal relationship. "It's very difficult," Miglin's son Duke told ABC7Chicago. It premieres Wednesday. 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. Cunanan's crimes are now two decades old, but on ongoing divorce case has led to a dispute over the ownership of the garage where Lee Miglin was murdered. 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." Wednesday's new episode of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" didn't feature the famed designer at all, instead focusing . Time Life PicturesThe LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, Diners at the Edgewater Hotel on Miami Beach sit under a large wanted poster of Andrew Cunanan in July 1997. Rodriguez, played by True Detective alum Alex Fernandez, gets a fair amount of screen time on the episode. 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. The perpetrator stole $2,000 and some of Miglin's personal items. In fact, it seems likely that Miglins murder was equally random, if more elaborate, with Cunanan deciding he needed a new getaway car and somehow catching sight of the Lexus. He also appeared to have been tortured with a screwdriver. 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. 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. 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.. Despite what the Miglin family says, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace gives a version of events where Miglin did know Cunanan. 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. 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. 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. Attorneys call the situation an "unfortunate coincidence" which played out Monday in a Cook County courtroom. Cunanan and Versace did not know each other, according to People, although they may have briefly met prior to the killing. Maureen Orth wrote the book that The Assassination Of Gianni Versace is based on. On May 3, Cunanan drove to Chicago, Illinois, and killed 72-year-old Lee Miglin, a prominent real estate developer. Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. The 27-year-old Cunanan committed four other murders in a nationwide spree before killing Versace in Miami in July 1997. "That's right," Andrew answered. In episode three, Cunanan shows up at Miglin's house and is invited in. Madsons body is found on the shore of Rush Lake in Minnesota. One of the most ambiguousand contentiouselements of the series is the relationship between Cunanan and Versace, and whether they even knew each other. 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. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything. 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." But where the television series begins to diverge from some reports is in what relationship Cunanan had to the Miglin family, if any. All this actually happened. But some bizarre details about the crime scene began to emerge. He was an early developer of business parks.His firm, at one point, proposed the construction of the Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle, which was planned to be the tallest building in . As youve already seen, FXs The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is less a show about Versace than it is about his killer, Andrew Cunanan, a social-climbing narcissist whose desperation to be admired and important ultimately propelled him into a murderous rampage. 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. Madson was so driven, he applied to law school and architecture school. CBS 2's Edwards talked with CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger, who has researched and reported extensively on the Cunanan murders. Indeed, according to the 1997 Chicago Tribune report of the murder, "There was no forced entry to the home, suggesting that Miglin knew his assailant or was accosted outside and forced into the home.". We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. According to ABC-7 Chicago's recent look back at Miglin's death on the 20th anniversary of the murder, Cunanan covered Miglin's head and face with tape, tortured him with a screwdriver and. The episode builds on the scene from the previous week where Cunanan sells his services to an older, successful man, whom he subjects to some BDSM that looks like its going to go too far and end tragically before Cunanan relents. Versaces longtime partner and family have said portions of the series are inaccurate. 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. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. That certainly could have been used by Cunanan to force his way into the Miglins' townhouse, if that is what happened. However, an autopsy showed Cunanan to be HIV-negative. The FBI believes that in addition to working odd jobs, Cunanan was a prostitute. However, there were no signs of forced entry into the Miglins home, and Orth noted in her coverage that as an older, wealthy, and socially influential man, Miglin was a type Cunanan was known to research carefully.. 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. A knife is stuck in a ham on a desk. When he didn't show up, she became suspicious about her husband's whereabouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. The murder comes when Cunanan leads Miglin to the garage under the guise that they are going out together somewhere and then Cunanan proceeds to kill Miglin in the garage. "It's a painful, painful thing that's happening," said Duke Miglin, Lee Miglin's son. Marilyn Miglin, who was married to Lee for 38 years, has remained relatively silent on the death of her husband. "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. The mentions of Cunanan's connection to the Miglin family are more along the lines of his actually knowing Duke, the Miglins' son. He ultimately killed himself a week after Versace's death, as Miami police closed in on him. 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. As for the murder, the details are particularly disturbing. 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. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. At 10 p.m. Monday on ABC7, Chuck Goudie's "Evil Memories" will look at Lee Miglin's murder by psychopath Andrew Cunanan. Her website describes her as a beauty authority, author and speaker who is among the nations top-500 women business owners.. Witnesses quickly identified someone matchingCunanan's description at the scene, and a manhunt for Cunanan was under way in Miami that night. The killer was Andrew Cunanan a spree killer who murdered a total of five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace, before he took his own life. / CBS Chicago. The source also said Miglin had been covered with a plastic bag, and masking tape wrapped around his throat. 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. All Rights Reserved. Marilyn Miglin, the Chicago beauty mogul who rose to fame as a host of the Home Shopping Network and was thrust into the national limelight again in 1997 when her husband Lee Miglin was. The 72-year-old real estate agent was found bludgeoned and stabbed by the man who later killed Versace. Cunanan then took off. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. People who knew Cunanan also told Orth that he often sought out wealthy, older, gay men to date in his personal life. 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. Sample Page; ; Their two children, Marlena and Duke, an actor, were adults at the time of Miglin's murder. That friend was allegedly Duke Miglin. Who is Lee Miglin, Andrew Cunanan's Third Victim? Vulgar Favors noted that there was pornography found near his body and Miglin was wearing bikini-style underwear. Initially, their interactions played out like the sex work viewers saw Cunanan engage in in the second episode of the series. Investigators said that Madsons body showed no sign of restraints, and his only defensive wounds were in his fingers, suggesting that he had raised his hands to try and deflect one of the shots. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. 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