>> Last night the first episode of the series the assassination of Gianni Versace debuted on FX networks. The series will revive interest in one of San Diego's most curious and tragic chapters. The 1997 cross-country murder spree of Andrew Cunanan. There is a lot of material in this tale. His sketchy status in the 1990s gay scene and his focus on Jennifer Saatchi. The story could -- focus on Gianni Versace. >> It is not a story that anyone in San Diego 20 years ago would forget. The fact that Andrew Cunanan was wanted for murder and on the run with something we knew weeks before Gianni Versace was shot , wasn't it? >> He had done his evil deeds elsewhere in the country already. He already had the manhunt five in San Diego. No one really knew where he was. There was fear that he would come back here. There was fear that he could kill again. No one knew what was motivating him and knew where he was. There was a lot of panic, particularly in the gay community. He was very active there. There was a lot of fear that he would come back and track down people he had lived with, former roommates, and former colleagues. No one knew what made him turn and what he would do next. >> Remind us of the San Diego ties please >> He was born here and went to the Bishop school in La Jolla. He then went to UCSD briefly. He worked at a thrifty drugstore in Hillcrest. He hung out at Flix bar in Hillcrest. He had wealthy boyfriends in San Diego whom he lived with and was given allowances by. A lot of the men in the social scene knew him and had socialized with him. >> How many people did he kill? >> Five people altogether. Gianni Versace was his last victim. He killed Lee McGlynn, he also killed two of his own friends. Jeff tell and a man named David. Also he killed a caretaker just because he needed his truck. Then Gianni Versace was the last of the victims. >> One of the biggest features is the number of unanswered questions about his crimes. You mentioned why he began killing in the first place. Does the series answer any of the questions? >> Yes and snow. Morneau then yes -- yes and no. More no than yes. He killed himself a few days after killing Gianni Versace. Therefore there is a lot that we do not know about motivation. The show makes assumptions that he was furious over his lack of fame, his lack of wealth and his lack of status. He fixated on Gianni Versace as someone who had the things that he wanted . That is the assumption the show makes. As far as the deaths of the other men, he went to Chicago hoping to get money from Lee McGlynn. Perhaps he did not want to give him money. The two other men were probably emotional killings. They were not giving him when he wanted. We do not really know. The show assumes that Andrew Cunanan was furious because he was not becoming the wealthy and famous man that he thought he deserved to be. That is ultimately what led him to killing Gianni Versace. >> You screened the series and are not a big fan of it. Tell us why? >> I saw 8 of 9 episodes. The problem I had was the backward structure. It opens with the per Saatchi killing and then works backward -- it opens with the Gianni Versace killing and then works backward. It is really about Andrew Cunanan and his downward slide into the killer he became. You do not really find out anything about why he is the way he is until the eighth episode when you finally meet his father. He is a piece of work. He is an embezzler, a liar and a fabricator. You can look at the father and realize it is all making sense now. You get a lot of Andrew Cunanan making up these fabulous stories and lying to people and ripping people off. Basically being a sociopath. You do not really get why he went on the spree that he did. It never really answers those questions. The answers that it does give you are a long time coming. There is a lot of great acting but there is no depth. You leave thinking I stuck around for all of this? >> I read that the series tries to emphasize the difference in attitudes toward the LGBT community then and now and -- in an effort to explain some actions. >> There is a little bit of that. The law enforcement in Miami are really clueless. They do not understand the community at all. You get a sense that a lot of things were minimized. You get the sense that law enforcement thought it was a hustle gone wrong. You get the distinct feeling that they were minimizing it. If these had been straightman they would have been more proactive. There is a lot about the military and don't ask don't tell in one episode. That is definitely an undercurrent. It is there but it is not explored in depth. >> The assassination of Gianni Versace is a miniseries. It has nine episodes. The first one was aired last night. I have been speaking with Carla Peterson from the San Diego Union Tribune. Carla thank you. >> Thank you.
The first episode of the mini-series "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" debuted on FX network Wednesday night. The series will no doubt revive interest in one of San Diego's most curious and tragic chapters — the 1997 cross-country murder spree of Andrew Cunanan.
There's a lot of material to mine in the story — Cunanan's rich-boy persona at La Jolla's Bishop's school, his status in San Diego's '90s gay scene and ultimately his deadly focus on fashion designer Gianni Versace.
San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Karla Peterson wrote about the series in her most recent column.
Peterson joins Midday Edition Thursday to discuss Cunanan's San Diego roots and what she thought of the series.
