"It's a painful, painful thing that's happening," said Duke Miglin, Lee Miglin's son. Miglin had suffered multiple blows to the chest. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. 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. "That's right," Andrew answered. Although never tested, Cunanan thought he might have AIDS in the late spring and summer of 1997 because of his lifestyle and told friends he was going to kill those with whom he had unprotected. The only evidence there is points toward Cunanan killing Miglin for his car and his money, even if that means there is a lot left unexplained about the murder itself. After taking the life of the one of the world's most famous fashion designers of the time, serial killer Andrew Cunanan was on the run. All this actually happened. The series also shows Marilyn using her influence with city officials to bury this information. Miglin family members have long denied Lee Miglin and Cunanan knew each other before the attack. 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. Cunanan had a. His wife Marilyn Miglin was also known as the Queen of Makeovers for her work as a successful perfume and cosmetics entrepreneur and for her involvement with the Home Shopping Network. "I don't think you healyou never close up that gaping woundbut you adjust," Marilyn told the Chicago Tribune. The minute you start feeling sorry for yourself, everyone else falls.". "A Random Killing" moves through the events preceding the crime and its aftermath, but does not truly answer the most pressing question: why did Andrew Cunanan kill Lee Miglin? The series, which premiered Jan. 17, is slated for a nine-episode run. But on American Crime Story, Lee Miglin is shown talking with Cunanan on the phone before the 27-year-old makes that fateful trip to Chicago. Lee Albert Miglin (July 12, 1924 - May 4, 1997) was an American business tycoon and philanthropist. There had been no forced entry into his home, which implied that Miglin could have known his assailant. He killed William Reese, a 45-year-old. 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. Cunanan travels to New Jersey, where he kills a cemetery caretaker, and takes his red pickup truck while leaving behind Miglins Lexus. He ultimately killed himself a week after Versace's death, as Miami police closed in on him. 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. He heads to Miami Beach and fatally shoots Versace before killing himself eight days later. As noted in published reports, Miglin was born in 1924 in downstate Illinois the son of a Lithuanian immigrant coal miner. Cunanan and Miglin are shown sharing a long embrace and kiss. Miglin was killed in the garage on May 3, 1997 by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Scenes for American Crime Story were filmed in September outside 2104 N. Fremont St., in Lincoln Park. On the night of May 4, 1997, Andrew Cunanan murdered Miglin and stole his Lexus to flee the scene of the crime. The initial Chicago Tribune article reported that the 72-year-old Miglin was found dead in his garage. All rights reserved. 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.. 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. Miglin was meant to pick Marilyn up from Chicago O'Hare airport that morning. There is no indisputable evidence to suggest Lee Miglin was involved with men or knew Cunanan specifically. 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. ", "In the Miglin case, this was such a horrible crime. / CBS Chicago. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. 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. And I still dont.. Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. After a five-hour standoff, a SWAT team moved in and there were reports that police had pulled the body of a man who might have been Cunanan. Andrew Cunanan, left, and Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan, Lee Miglin, left, and Mike Farrell as Lee Miglin, John Reilly/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images and FX, Marilyn Miglin, left, and Judith Light as Marilyn Miglin, the family denied that the two knew each other, evidence that the person or persons did in fact avail themselves of food at the victims home and was walking around the apartment, Advocate writer Ted Gideonse disputes this, Robert Milan, a former assistant states attorney for Cook County, told ABC News, a Chicago bookseller repeated them to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 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. "No place and no one is immune from violence, yet tonight, we begin with a murder nearly as disturbing from where it happened as it is for who the victim was," Holt read at the top of the newscast. Police also claimed that Miglin's leather jacket and wristwatch were missing, as well as $2,000 from Miglin's briefcase. He currently lives in a townhouse that was gifted to his estranged wife, Marlena Miglin, by her mother Marilyn Miglin, who owns of a well-known beauty product company. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything. 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. By the next night, authorities had positively identified Cunanan, and said he had committed suicide. Cunanan was a serial killer, suspected in four other deaths. But some bizarre details about the crime scene began to emerge. But the mystery of why he went on a killing spree remained baffling. The Jan. 31 episode of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (executive producer: Nina Jacobson), "A Random Killing," focuses on the murder of Lee Miglin, a real estate mogul from Chicago. His neck was partially severed and all of his ribs had been broken. However, Advocate writer Ted Gideonse disputes this, saying it was not, and suggests that had Miglin lived, Orth could be sued for libel. [27] Miglin's family said the same, releasing the following statement after Cunanan's suicide: "(The car) was taken by a complete stranger in a random act of violence who had no connection whatsoever to any member of the Miglin family.". said EP Nina Jacobson. The Chicago Tribune also reported in 2018 that the couple was married for 38 years in 1997 and had two children. Trail wasa graduate of the U.S. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. It was actually DNA evidence from the beard trimmings that definitively tied Cunanan to Miglin's murder. Madson was described an intelligent, handsome, young man with a promising future; he was the entire package. Andrew was thrilled and Eli couldn't believe it. Both the FBI and the Cook County State's Attorney's office looked into possible links between the spree killer and the Miglins, but no unimpeachable link was ever established. She also said that, according to a Minneapolis homicide sergeant, the FBI had been told by a witness that Cunanan had told her he was going into business with Duke Miglin but that the Chicago police were ignoring this. 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. Judith Light portrays Chicago socialite Marilyn Miglin in the series. He said if you don't help me I'm going to proceed to file a lawsuit against you, your mother and your wife for the garage," Duke said. Another murder, the violent shooting of Lee Miglin, a self-made real-estate magnate, was making national headlines two months before Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace. 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. The drama introduces a note of ritual humiliation, with Cunanan telling Miglin that when his body is found he will be wearing ladies underwear and surrounded by gay porn magazines. 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. Separate fact from fiction with this timeline of Cunanans real-life murders. He also appeared to have been tortured with a screwdriver. Cunanan wanted to disgrace Miglin. According to the Vanity Fair article written by Maureen Orth, the author of the book about Cunanan on which this season of American Crime Story is based, Cunanan slept in Miglin's bed, used the bathtub, and shaved at the vanity. Miglin, 72, invites him into his Gold Coast home while his wife is away on a business trip. 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. Marilyn Miglin is shown telling Rodriguez two leather coats, two suits, $2,000, some inconsequential pieces of jewelry, gold coins, a dozen pairs of Sulka black socks and Miglins Lexus are missing. There has been speculation in the quarter century since. Fact Checking 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace': Did Andrew Cunanan Know Victim Lee Miglin? "What do you say about a man you loved passionately for 38 years a man who exemplified courage, and honor, and dignity, and a code of ethics beyond any that I think anybody's ever had?" Heres what to know about suspected serial killer Andrew Cunanan: Hours after Versaces shooting death, authorities identified Andrew Cunanan as the prime suspect. 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 problem in this case is the only person who knows or the only people who know are dead," Schlesinger said. The car belonged to one of the men that Cunanan was suspected of murdering in Minneapolis. Their two children, Marlena and Duke, an actor, were adults at the time of Miglin's murder. "I've never seen any credible evidence to show that there was a relationship," said Milan. On Wednesday, July 23, authorities surrounded a houseboat along Miami Beach, in which Cunanan had apparently holed up. 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. The source also said Miglin had been covered with a plastic bag, and masking tape wrapped around his throat. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. His mouth was gagged with a white garden glove with numerous black rubber dots. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said his clothes were saturated in blood, but the area around him was clean suggesting that his body may have been moved. Cunanan then came to Chicago and brutally murdered Miglin. Though his mother would later bitterly describe him as a "high-class male prostitute," Cunanan was actually more of a male mistress or giggolo - the kept companion of a succession of older gay men who would lavish clothes . A Chicago murder mystery becomes a mushroom cloud. Naval Academy in Annapolis and a Gulf War veteran. All Rights Reserved. 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 . 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. Police press conference: We consider Andrew Cunanan to be armed and to be extremely dangerous. Simpson told the newspaper that producers for the true crime series studied Maureen Orth's book, "Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History" and also bringing her on as a consultant. Because of these details, there were rumors that Miglin had known the young man who allegedly killed him and perhaps even had a sexual relationship with him. Twenty years after the murder, Cunanans motive is still unclear. In an emailed statement to The Chicago Sun-Times, American Crime Story executive producer Brad Simpson said: Bustle reached out to FX and the network declined to give additional comment. That is pure speculation, however, as is the scenario presented in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Trails sister told the New York Times that Cunanan had a strange fascination with Trail, and often appeared to try and emulate him. 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 garden saw, and broke his ribs with multiple blows to the chest and torso, all of which is re-created in the FX drama. After murdering Miglin in his garage, Cunanan went into the family's home, ate a ham sandwich, shaved and rested. Four mug shots of Andrew Cunanan, who shot and killed fashion designer Gianni Versace. 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