Post by Admin on Jul 29, 2013 21:57:13 GMT
Strolling in the Miami sunshine with the latest fashion magazines tucked under his arm, Gianni Versace appeared unusually relaxed.
But Versace, then 50, was never to enjoy another day. On his return home, as he fiddled with the lock on the front gates of his palatial, art deco mansion, a stranger in a white shirt and grey shorts approached — and gunned him down with two close-range shots to the head and neck.
That murder, in July 1997, made headlines around the world. Was Versace the victim of a professional hit — or a crazed madman? And what on earth was the motive?
Certainly, the belief of those who witnessed the awful events outside Versace’s home was that he had been slain by a hitman, such was the clinical nature of the killing.
Martin Weinstein, who was at the scene, said: ‘I saw him lying in a pool of blood, with his face blown off. It was execution style.’
Bizarrely, a dead turtle dove was found beside Versace’s blood-spattered body, which some speculated could be a professional killer’s calling card.
But very quickly, the police, and Versace’s family, dismissed these suspicions, with investigators pinning the blame on Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old ‘high-class’ gay prostitute, who was allegedly seen running from the scene.
After an international manhunt he was was found to have committed suicide in the upstairs bedroom of the Miami houseboat where he had been hiding out. The case, as far as the police and the Versace family were concerned, was closed.
As for the presence of the dead dove, it was written off as a freak coincidence: detectives claimed the bird was simply hit by a bullet fragment as it flew overhead at the exact moment Cunanan opened fire.
But now, 13 years later, the colourful life and death of Gianni Versace has taken a remarkable new twist amid sensational allegations that the designer to the stars was the victim of a mafia contract killing.
Two high-ranking mob hit men, Giuseppe Di Bella and Filippo Barecca, have independently claimed that Versace was killed by the mafia. They also confirmed that the dead turtle dove beside Versace’s body was indeed a calling card from his enemies.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337585/Was-Gianni-Versace-murdered-mob.html
But Versace, then 50, was never to enjoy another day. On his return home, as he fiddled with the lock on the front gates of his palatial, art deco mansion, a stranger in a white shirt and grey shorts approached — and gunned him down with two close-range shots to the head and neck.
That murder, in July 1997, made headlines around the world. Was Versace the victim of a professional hit — or a crazed madman? And what on earth was the motive?
Certainly, the belief of those who witnessed the awful events outside Versace’s home was that he had been slain by a hitman, such was the clinical nature of the killing.
Martin Weinstein, who was at the scene, said: ‘I saw him lying in a pool of blood, with his face blown off. It was execution style.’
Bizarrely, a dead turtle dove was found beside Versace’s blood-spattered body, which some speculated could be a professional killer’s calling card.
But very quickly, the police, and Versace’s family, dismissed these suspicions, with investigators pinning the blame on Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old ‘high-class’ gay prostitute, who was allegedly seen running from the scene.
After an international manhunt he was was found to have committed suicide in the upstairs bedroom of the Miami houseboat where he had been hiding out. The case, as far as the police and the Versace family were concerned, was closed.
As for the presence of the dead dove, it was written off as a freak coincidence: detectives claimed the bird was simply hit by a bullet fragment as it flew overhead at the exact moment Cunanan opened fire.
But now, 13 years later, the colourful life and death of Gianni Versace has taken a remarkable new twist amid sensational allegations that the designer to the stars was the victim of a mafia contract killing.
Two high-ranking mob hit men, Giuseppe Di Bella and Filippo Barecca, have independently claimed that Versace was killed by the mafia. They also confirmed that the dead turtle dove beside Versace’s body was indeed a calling card from his enemies.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337585/Was-Gianni-Versace-murdered-mob.html
