Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - How did Gianni Versace die?

Gianni Versace, fashion icon and founder of the glamorous empire, Versace, was gunned down on Ocean Drive in Florida while climbing the steps of his Casa Casuarina mansion in the sunny morning hours of a July day in 1997. He had just returned home after completing his chores.

The 50-year-old was shot twice at point blank range in the head and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. His shooter, who was eventually identified as Andrew Cunanan, committed suicide on a house boat days later.

While other details about Versace's death and his relationship with the shooter remain a mystery, Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will make an attempt at exposing what lies beneath the surface in this high-profile murder case. An all-new episode, titled The Death of Gianni Versace, will air on the channel this Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 8.00 pm ET. The synopsis of the episode states:

"Gianni Versace's longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico, speaks about the murder of the fashion icon; Versace's murder came amid a monthslong manhunt for Andrew Cunanan, who was accused of committing four other murders throughout the U.S. in 1997."

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Italian designer Gianni Versace was shot in execution style outside his Casa Casuarina mansion in Florida

Gianni Versace went for a stroll down Ocean Drive in Florida during the morning hours of July 15, 1997, to get his Vogue and The New Yorker issues. The designer usually sent an assistant to collect his coffee and magazines from the neighboring News Café, but decided to do so himself that morning.

Versace had just returned home and was climbing the marble stairs of Casa Casuarina, his Miami Beach mansion, when a dark-haired man, sporting a gray T-shirt, black shorts, a white baseball cap, and a backpack, shot him twice in the head at close range with a .40 caliber Taurus PT100. The 50-year-old designer was pronounced dead at 9:21 that morning by medical staff at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The suspect, later identified as 27-year-old Andrew Cunanan, was allegedly hiding in Miami as a wanted fugitive suspected of four murders across three states. 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 head. His death was declared to be a suicide.

Versace was the final victim of alleged serial killer Cunanan, a homicidal maniac who had already killed four other men (including real estate developer Lee Miglin). Cunanan shot himself using the same weapon he used to kill the famed designer merely eight days after the incident.

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Andrew Cunanan was allegedly obsessed with Gianni Versace

Cunanan was allegedly obsessed with the designer and often boasted about his close "friendship" with him. Sources stated that he had a habit of frequently making up stories about meeting famous people. The FBI was, however, convinced that the two had previously met in San Francisco, although the nature of their relationship has continued to remain a mystery after all these decades.

American writer Maureen Orth reportedly released a 2008 piece in Vanity Fair alleging that Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace met briefly in a San Francisco nightclub in 1990 as per multiple eye witnesses. Orth also suggested that they may have connected on other occasions as well given that both were active in s*x-for-hire circles in Miami and San Francisco.

Versace's family, however, disputed that the two ever met or knew each other. Authorities have stated that they're not aware of the motive behind the decades-old murder.

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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will air an all-new episode this Wednesday, March 1, 2023, on Oxygen.