Meanwhile, investigators later learned that after murdering Miglin, Cunanan not only ate some ham and left a sliced ham on Miglin's desk, but he also hung around at the Miglin home to shave and take a shower. Now Egan wants access to the garage and is trying to evict his in-laws from the property. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The series, which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, is based on the 1999 book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth, who covered the Cunanan manhunt for Vanity Fair. On May 3, Cunanan drove to Chicago, Illinois, and killed 72-year-old Lee Miglin, a prominent real estate developer. Cunanan and Miglin are shown sharing a long embrace and kiss. "I lived the life of a fairy princess and I had a prince for 38 years, and then one day my prince went to war and didn't come back," she said. 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. Despite what the Miglin family says, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace gives a version of events where Miglin did know Cunanan. 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. CBS 2's Mike Parker reported Chicago Police had been aching to talk with Cunanan about the murder of Miglin. "It's very difficult," Miglin's son Duke told ABC7Chicago. Miglin was Cunanan's third victim (out of what would become five total), and the show bluntly depicts the way Cunanan bound him with tape and brutally tortured and murdered him in Miglin's garage while his wife, Marilyn, was out of town on business. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. But clearly the show is saying the two had a relationship. From Vulgar Favors: I guessed Lee Miglin would never have left a Coke can in his sink or a pint of ice cream on his countertop, let alone a ham on his desk, said Stephen Byer, who came upon the crime scene with his wife Barbara. 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. Miglin was found in his garage, partially hidden under a car, with several stab wounds, all his ribs broken, his throat slashed, his feet bound, his face wrapped in masking tape with just a small hole below his nose for him to breathe through, and his body partially covered in plastic and brown wrapping paper. "My father didn't get to see my children, he didn't get to meet my wifeThere's never really closure in a situation like this.". A socialite and philanthropist, Miglin was a resident of Chicago's wealthy Gold Coast Historic District. Brad Edwards is an investigative reporter and main anchor at CBS2 Chicago. Marilyn Miglin died just this past March at the age of 83, and maintained to her death that her husband and Cunanan never knew each other. Authorities believe Cunanans killing spree before Versace targeted ex-lovers, including some he may have believed may have given him HIV. On the show and in real life, the Jeep provides a break in the case as a Chicago police officer notices the windshield is covered in parking tickets. The initial Chicago Tribune article reported that the 72-year-old Miglin was found dead in his garage. In The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Cunanan is played by Glee star Darren Criss. Police also claimed that Miglin's leather jacket and wristwatch were missing, as well as $2,000 from Miglin's briefcase. The episode builds on the scene from the previous week where Cunanan sells his services to an older, successful man, whom he subjects to some BDSM that looks like its going to go too far and end tragically before Cunanan relents. Their two children, Marlena and Duke, an actor, were adults at the time of Miglin's murder. Designer Gianni Versace appearing at a fashion show. There have likewise been questions about whether Versace knew Cunanan. On May 4, 1997, Cunanan drove to Chicago, Illinois, and killed Lee Miglin, a prominent real estate developer. Robert Milan, who worked for the State's Attorney's office at the time, told ABC-7 that he believes Miglin was a crime of opportunity for Cunanan. Matt Rodriguez arrives at the Miglin home to oversee the crime scene. His watch had stopped at 9:55 pm, which investigators believed was the time of his killing on Sunday, April 27. The Assassination of Gianni Versace writer Tom Rob Smith and producer Ryan Murphy based the series on a book by veteran Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, who reported extensively on the case before writing Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in US History. He then smashes Miglins head with a block of concrete before inflicting worse injuries, including throwing a concrete block on his chest. But American Crime Story is still giving a very controversial account of the murder, especially since authorities never found solid evidence of a connection between the two men. What is known about Cunanan and Versace is that the fashion mogul was not Cunanans first victim. It was actually DNA evidence from the beard trimmings that definitively tied Cunanan to Miglin's murder. The source also said Miglin had been covered with a plastic bag, and masking tape wrapped around his throat. Magazines, Digital As played by the ever-genial Mike Farrell, Miglin is portrayed as the opposite of a bumptious, hard-charging Trumpian developer, happy to cede the spotlight to his more vivacious wife.This self-effacement is apparently entirely in character. I am an advocate of Edgar from way back, Lee Miglin told Crains Chicago Business in 1994. Miglin family members did not return a Tribune request for comment. What American Crime Story Makes Up About Lee Miglin's Horrific Murder, American Crime Story The Assassination Of Gianni Versace. Tying Miglin up and wrapping his head, Donoghue said, was strictly practical, to keep him quiet and to keep him from moving around. Then Cunanan is shown laying Miglin down in his garage, wrapping his legs together with orange extension cord, strangling him, punching him in the face, throwing a bag of concrete on his chest and stabbing him. But as to the Miglin case, Schlesinger said when it comes to whether Miglin and Cunanan knew each other, he is "not sure it really matters. 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. After the killing, Cunanan took Miglin's Lexus and drove to New Jersey. Duke Miglin was an aspiring actor in the 1990s, with a role in Air Force One. Cunanan's fourth victim, William Reese, was also reported as a crime of opportunity: Cunanan needed his truck, so he shot Reese in the head and stole it. The series also shows Marilyn using her influence with city officials to bury this information. The killer was. But on "American Crime Story," Lee Miglin is shown talking with Cunanan on the phone. Attention was now focused on a 27-year-old fugitive named Andrew Cunanan. Meanwhile, that red pickup that Cunanan had stolen from Reese was found in a parking garage near Versace's mansion. The Tribune explores what Wednesdays episode got right and wrong about the events that occurred in Chicago, based on reporting at the time. There are a few places [in the TV show] where things didnt happen at all, Orth told Vanity Fairs Still Watching podcast. Miglin's son, Duke, added, "There was no relationship whatsoever.". "We don't even think about it," said Marylin. Rodriguez, played by True Detective alum Alex Fernandez, gets a fair amount of screen time on the episode. So far, they have refused. The FX series doesn't touch this alleged connection, at least not in this episode. The California native, who could speak two languages, dropped out of college and funded his lifestyle thanks to relationships with older, wealthier gay men, federal investigations found. The Chicago Tribune reported on the murder after Miglin was killed in May 1997 and before Cunanan was named as a suspect. This echoes the scene in the drama where, after reminding him of her connections, Marilyn emphasizes to Rodriguez that, despite there being no sign of forced entry, the murder was nothing more than an opportunistic attack, repeating that the killer took money, two suits, some insignificant jewelry, two leather coats, some gold coins (one of which turned up in a South Beach pawn shop), and the Lexusplus a dozen silk Sulka socks. But the plan fell through. Today, she still works as a beauty authority, author, and speaker, appearing monthly on the Home Shopping Network to promote products such as her signature fragrance Pheromone, according to her website. Did Cunanan somehow meet Miglin through Gamma Mu, a secretive gay men's fraternity? Iconic Chicago columnist and longtime CBS 2 contributor Irv Kupcinet had once described Lee and Marilyn Miglin as two of Chicago's finest citizens. The show appears to be exploring Cunanan's resentment about his life, as he also struck out at Versace in part because the designer had things Cunanan did not. "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. Miglin family members have long denied Lee Miglin and Cunanan knew each other before the attack. 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. Miglin was also known for philanthropic activities, including fundraising for the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Museum of Science and Industry. The perpetrator stole $2,000 and some of Miglin's personal items. Who is Lee Miglin, Andrew Cunanan's Third Victim? 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 website also states she is a recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg International Humanitarian Award, and it is at this ceremony that the episode shows her paying tribute to her supportive husband of 38 years, Lee, saluting him as the embodiment of the American dream, the son of an Illinois coal miner who started as a salesman and rose to become a leader in his field, developing prestigious projects such as the Chicago Bar Association building and Madison Plaza. Police also later found a duffel bag in Madson's apartment with Cunanan's name and a La Jolla, California address on it. 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. Despite Miglin's wife and their son Duke vehemently denying any previous connection between Cunanan and Miglin, reports from several people indicate Miglin and Cunanan may have been involved on a romantic or even sexual level, according to ABC7Chicago. By the next night, authorities had positively identified Cunanan, and said he had committed suicide. Authorities believe Cunanan targeted Reese so that he could steal his truck. Lee Miglin was born and raised in Westville, Illinois in 1925. And in its 2017 article on Duke Miglin, ABC7 also noted, "The FBI looked into a few claims that Cunanan knew Miglin or his family, but no link was ever nailed down.". All rights reserved. The pair engage in an intimate conversation onstage after the show. The FBI believes that in addition to working odd jobs, Cunanan was a prostitute. According to Orth's report, a friend of Cunanan's had told the FBI that Cunanan had said he was going to start a movie set business with a friend. The episode's version of events depicts that Lee Miglin knew Andrew Cunanan before Cunanan allegedly killed him. Days later, Cunanan shot and killed his former lover David Madson, 33, and dumped his body near a lake in Minnesota. 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. Her website describes her as a beauty authority, author and speaker who is among the nations top-500 women business owners.. The murder comes when Cunanan leads Miglin to the garage under the guise that they are going out together somewhere and then Cunanan proceeds to kill Miglin in the garage. 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 . As The Assassination Of Gianni Versace (editor: Emily Greene) accurately shows, Miglin and his wife Marilyn were prominent figures in the city. Shortly after Trail, 28, had moved to Minnesota for a new job, his body was found in a Minneapolis loft apartment belonging to his friend, David Madsonan ex-lover of Cunanans. The claims that the younger Miglin and Cunanan knew each other gained circulation, Orth said, after a Chicago bookseller repeated them to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, but the source then called a press conference to say he had been misquoted. As for the murder, the details are particularly disturbing. 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