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With his death, the portraits of Cunanan only seem to multiply. His last roommate, Erik Greenman, has sold a story to the National Enquirer alleging that Cunanan had a sadistic obsession with the actor Tom Cruise, one that included fantasies of sexual torture and the murder of Cruise's wife Nicole Kidman. Other acquaintances tell tales of Cunanan's dealing in such prescription drugs as Demerol, Vicodin, Xanax and Percocet, earning thousands of dollars to supplement the gifts already bestowed upon him by older "benefactors" in the exclusive San Diego suburb of La Jolla. Cunanan allegedly courted others as well. Steven Zeeland, who writes books about the gay subculture in the military, says he and Cunanan, the son of a Navy man, were rivals for the attention of Marines and sailors in San Diego, including Jeffrey Trail, the former naval officer who would become the first of Cunanan's five victims.
Then there were friends who remembered Cunanan as charismatic, others who thought he was nuts and kinfolk who recalled the quiet boy who locked himself up with encyclopedias. It was a multifariousness he cultivated in life. Says Zeeland: "He had an amazing memory. He would absorb details from stories that people told him and recycle them as his own."
And the trigger for his spree? Again the stories are varied. The alleged dealer in prescription drugs is said to have become addicted first to crack, then to methamphetamines, which can produce extremely violent behavior in some users. Or was it AIDS rage that caused him to run amuck? The tabloid Star claims to have retrieved a backpack belonging to Cunanan that contains an empty envelope from the Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, a firm that provides HIV testing. As for Cunanan's actual HIV status, that remains for the coroner's office to disclose. Florida law imposes strict privacy rules even for the dead.
As for the victims, there is still a temptation to impute to them some original sin that attracted catastrophe, rather than the risks taken for friendship, helpfulness or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only thing certain is that Cunanan wanted them to die. Cunanan had parked the red Jeep Cherokee of his murdered ex-lover David Madson near the Chicago home of real estate developer Lee Miglin and could well have seen Miglin working in an open garage, his green Lexus clearly visible. Cunanan killed Miglin, stole the Lexus and abandoned it when he heard radio reports that the Philadelphia police were tracking Miglin's cell phone. Frantically, he ripped the ceiling lining of the car in an attempt to stifle the antenna. Then he killed William Reese, a cemetery caretaker in New Jersey, to take his Chevy pickup. Gianni Versace may have met Cunanan before the killing, but the murderer may also have been targeting other celebrities. Sylvester Stallone told TIME, "I was notified by the FBI that Cunanan had spoken to some bartender, inquiring about 'Stallone's' and Madonna's habits in Miami."