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Tracy Mumford

'American Crime Story' to tackle the tale of a serial killer with Minnesota connections

Law enforcement holds Andrew Cunanan fliers
Miami Police Chief Richard Barreto, left, and FBI special agent Paul Philips show the media fliers picturing Andrew Phillip Cunanan, the main suspect in the murder of Italian designer Gianni Versace in Miami Beach.
Roberto Schmidt | AFP/Getty Images file1997

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The third season of the "American Crime Story" television show will focus on a real-life killing spree that began in Minnesota.

'Vulgar Favors' by Maureen Orth
'Vulgar Favors' by Maureen Orth
Courtesy of publisher

Deadline Hollywood reported that the show plans to take on the story of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who killed five men in three months in 1997. His first two victims were found in Minneapolis and Rush City, Minn. His final victim was fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was shot on the front steps of his Miami Beach mansion.

According to Deadline Hollywood, the season will be based on Maureen Orth's book about Versace's murder, "Vulgar Favors."

The show, which dramatizes real events, tackled the trial of O.J. Simpson in its first season. It won nine Emmys, including one for Outstanding Limited Series. It will explore the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in its second.

Cunanan, who was born and raised in California, made national headlines while on the run in 1997. After killing his friend Jeffrey Trail and architect David Madson in Minnesota, he drove to Chicago and killed Lee Miglin, a real estate developer. He continued his cross-country spree, killing cemetery caretaker William Reese in New Jersey. The rapid succession of murders and the high-profile nature of the crimes landed Cunanan on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

In this interview from MPR News archives, John Rabe interviews Nick O'Hara, the then-superintendent of Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, about the manhunt for Cunanan:

https://soundcloud.com/mprnews/from-the-archives-the-andrew-cunanan-manhunt-may-12-1997

Cunanan stayed off the radar for two months after the murder in New Jersey, until he shot Versace in front of the designer's lavish home in Florida.

Eight days later, Cunanan killed himself in a Miami houseboat.

"He was a desperate person with very little room to move about," the Miami Beach Police Chief, Richard Barreto, said at a news conference at the time, according to The New York Times. "I'm happy that this has been brought to closure without another victim."

The third season of "American Crime Story" does not yet have an airdate; the second season, on Hurricane Katrina, will air in early 2017.