The manhunt of the year

"He's not your run-of-the-mill ... serial killer. ... He's very intelligent, very cunning, a con man."
Minneapolis police Lt. Dale Barsness

Call this drama Ten Days in July.

The nationwide manhunt for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of world-famous fashion designer Gianni Versace, was a noir-style thriller for the '90s.

On July 15, Versace, 50, was returning home from the News Cafe on Ocean Drive in Miami's South Beach when he was gunned down outside the gates of his Mediterranean-style mansion.

It didn't take long for police to determine that suspected serial killer Andrew Cunanan, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, was the only suspect.

Cunanan, 27, was also the suspect in the slayings of four men from Minneapolis to New Jersey.

The news frightened the gay community in America and particularly Florida. Cunanan was said to be a gay prostitute. Versace himself was gay.

The hunt commenced, but not only in Florida. The search also was on in California, where Cunanan grew up; in the Philippines, his parents' native land; and across gay America.

Callers flooded tip lines. Cunanan's face became ever-prominent on posters, television and the Internet. The reward money invitingly flapped in the Florida breeze. Cunanan sightings popped up everywhere.

The search ended July 23 after the caretaker of a Miami Beach houseboat told police that he had seen a stranger aboard and thought he heard a shot fired.

The dead body of the suspect was found by police, who converged on the scene. The next day police confirmed that the body was that of Cunanan, who apparently had killed himself.

The aftermath brought relief to the gay community, gratitude from the Versace family and the families of other victims of the crime spree, and thousands of dollars of reward money to the houseboat caretaker.