19 years ago today, Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace

Role of San Diego older gays, friends remember victim (Coronado's Jeffrey Trail), interviews at Gay Pride parade and at Bishop's School, Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair report

Author

By Various Authors

Publish Date

July 15, 2016

Andrew Cunanan (Jay Allen Sanford)

The Caliph in Hillcrest is "a gay bar where older men can meet younger men."

La Jolla Gentlemen and the Party Boy

One of Cunanan's patrons has been identified as Lincoln Aston, who once owned the Pepita Way house that Blachford now has title to. Records show that in 1995, Aston sold the house to a third man, who sold it a year later to Blachford. As reported by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Aston was regularly seen with Cunanan, who “was apparently supporting himself by dating and living with rich men.”

By Matt Potter, May 22, 1997 | Read full article

Jeffrey Trail (left) and Michael Williams. And then Trail said something strange. "He told me, 'You know, I've got to get out of here. They're going to kill me.' " (Joe Klein)

Friends Remember Cunanan Victim

"I've known Jeff two years. He was almost like a brother to me," says Williams, a restaurateur who owns and runs the Grill 2201 on Adams Avenue with Mark. "Jeff had it together. He had a good background, he had good standing in the navy. When we first met, he was a lieutenant stationed at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado." He had courage too, Williams says. "Jeff did an interview with abc's 20/20 on gays in the military.”

Anyone but Cunanan

"It's funny. The most infamous homosexual in history now. Maybe we'll finally - and this would be so funny - maybe now we'll get some kind of macho personification." Nelson's cracking himself up. He notices I'm not yucking it up with him and adds, "Seriously, anyone who comments on this is going to be seen as homosexual. I think that's the number one concern. People in the closet are very afraid of being identified nationwide."

By John Brizzolara, July 31, 1997 | Read full article

Andrew Cunanan: "Most likely to be remembered" in Bishop's '87 yearbook

Schoolboy charm

A 1988 graduate thought she recalled Cunanan going up to one of her male friends, grabbing one of his pectorals, and saying something like, "Oooh, very nice. You've been working out. Give me a call if you ever decide to become gay."

She added that nobody was offended and that Cunanan was just joking but cited the story to show "how open, and apparently comfortable, Andrew was with his orientation, even in high school."

By Matthew Lickona, July 31, 1997 | Read full article

Cunanan’s Curse

I think, with Cunanan, money and unbridled materialism runs throughout his whole world. I mean Versace was one of the most grand materialists of all. He lived this incredibly opulent lifestyle. How can you spend $70 million dollars in one year, which is what he declared was his personal expenses the year before he died. I think the whole idea of this kind of ease... Andrew never wanted to work. He wanted the big house in La Jolla.

By Matt Potter, April 22, 1999 | Read full article

Vanity Fair. Maureen Orth, the Vanity Fair contributor who wrote 1999's best-selling Vulgar Favors, reported that Cunanan, a Bishop's School graduate, was seen at lavish parties thrown by David Copley.

Insatiable

This year's July 15 anniversary inspired a big story in the New York Times but just a small note in the Union-Tribune. The U-T, of course, never liked the story, taking months to fully report it, even after the national media jumped aboard as the body count grew. Maureen Orth, the Vanity Fair contributor who wrote 1999's best-selling Vulgar Favors, reported that Cunanan, a Bishop's School graduate, was seen at lavish parties thrown by David Copley.

By Matt Potter, Aug. 2, 2007 | Read full article