Celebrities Get FBI Warnings on Cunanan
Andrew Phillip Cunanan, according to one account, was a name-dropper who bragged of knowing Gianni Versace--one of five men he is suspected of slaying--as well as other celebrities. On Monday, the FBI said it is alerting some of those other figures that their lives might also be in danger.
“We are trying to alert people that their name has come up,” said FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley. She wouldn’t identify any prominent people the FBI has contacted and downplayed reports that investigators believe the 27-year-old reputed gigolo has a hit list of people who have crossed him.
Two New York firms that provide guards and security advice to celebrities have warned their high-profile clients to take precautions until Cunanan is caught. Unitel and J.T. Mullen Co. issued a joint advisory to 47 clients soon after the Versace slaying.
Unitel’s clients include designer Tommy Hilfiger and actor Harvey Keitel. Mullen refused to disclose any of its clients, but it previously has acknowledged working for Donald Trump and television journalist Diane Sawyer.
“The fashion business is panicked right now,” said Mullen president Joe Mullen.
“We’re warning all our celebrity clients,” said Unitel president William Callahan. “We wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up in New York. . . . New York is a very anonymous place. He could hide here very easily.”
In an upcoming article in Vanity Fair, journalist Maureen Orth said Cunanan often tried to portray himself as a rich jet-setter, bragging that he knew Versace well, that his father was an Israeli millionaire and that his mother once spent time at a spa with Blondie singer Deborah Harry.
Investigators said they have no reason to believe Cunanan, suspected of gunning down the fashion designer outside his mansion in Miami Beach on July 15, will strike at anyone in particular. But they want to be cautious because no one knows his whereabouts.
Cunanan has been charged with killing men in Illinois, New Jersey and Minnesota and is a prime suspect in the killing of a second Minnesota man.
Authorities have said they believe that Cunanan is still in southern Florida. The manhunt, however, is nationwide.
