Versace killer found dead

WASHINGTON, July 24: Another bizarre real life drama which kept American television audiences on the edge of their drawing room seats for a...

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WASHINGTON, July 24: Another bizarre real life drama which kept American television audiences on the edge of their drawing room seats for a week drew to a close when Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of fashion designer Gianni Versace, reportedly shot himself Wednesday night after being identified.

Cunanan was holed up in a houseboat in Miami Beach, a couple of miles from where he allegedly shot Versace on July 15. The houseboat belonged to Torsten Reineck, a German citizen who reportedly runs a gay health spa in Las Vegas and who was away at that time.

A caretaker of the houseboat returned from his holiday and stumbled upon Cunanan. As he ran out to call the police, Cunanan is said to have shot himself with a .40 caliber gun, the same weapon with which he killed Versace and several others.

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Law enforcement authorities were cagey for several hours in identifying the body they found as Cunanan’s. Initially, after receiving a 411 call from the caretaker, police laid a four hour siege on the houseboat hoping to catch the fugitive alive. They popped stun grenades and urged him to come out.

But Cunanan was said to have killed himself as soon as he was spotted because the unnamed caretaker said he heard a shot even as he stumbled out to call the police. Police later identified him from his thumb prints.

Cunanan’s death, while ending one of the most intense manhunts in American crime history, leaves behind scores of unanswered questions including his motive for Versace’s killing.

Since he went on the lam following the July 15 Versace murder, the Cunanan drama has spun off forest of twisted stories and tangled plots to whet the appetite of a crime-fascinated society fed by intrusive, non-stop television. The saga also added a new term to criminology, spree killer different from a serial killer.

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One theory goes that Cunanan, a homosexual, went on his killing spree after finding out he was infected with the AIDS virus. At least two of his five male victims were his former lovers. Versace was also gay although it is not known if he ever had a relationship with Cunanan.

Cunanan’s friends and many in the gay community contest this theory because AIDS is not such a dreaded disease in the US anymore. AIDS treatment is improving by the day and death by the disease has declined by more than 30 per cent, particularly among white males, thanks to new drugs.