Mystery of Two Bodies Found in Gianni Versace’s Miami Mansion on the Eve of the 24th Anniversary of His Murder
Two men died under mysterious circumstances in an upper bedroom suite of the Italian mansion on Miami Beach where Gianni Versace was murdered on July 15, 1997. The deaths were discovered by housekeeping staff on the eve of the 24th anniversary of Versace’s murder.
Versace, then 50, was shot twice in the back of the head as he opened the iron gates of his mansion after having breakfast at the News Cafe a few blocks away. The assailant was identified as Andrew Cunanan, a serial killer who preyed on gay men as he traveled from California to Florida, and who took his own life eight days later inside a houseboat after a lengthy standoff. It is still not known if Cunanan and Versace knew each other intimately, but photos of the men at the same event months before the murder imply they may have met. The Versace family has fought allegations that the two might have been lovers.
The mansion, called the Villa Casa Casuarina, which was kitted out with marble, gilded mirrors and plenty of mosaic tiles imported from Italy, has undergone a series of transitions since Vercace’s murder. It is currently a boutique hotel with 10 rooms running upwards of $1,800 a night. The hotel has a swanky restaurant where Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather met before their epic boxing match at Hard Rock Stadium.