MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Twenty-five years in the past Wednesday, a serial killer started his cross-country homicide spree within the coronary heart of Minneapolis. In the long run, the string of killings claimed 5 lives, together with famend designer Gianni Versace.
The primary two of Andrew Cunanan’s victims had been killed in Minnesota. WCCO’s Esme Murphy traveled the nation to cowl the case 25 years in the past, and has continued to comply with it ever since. Now, for the primary time, she shares newly uncovered questions surrounding the deaths of Jeffrey Path and David Madson.
READ MORE: 20 Years In the past, Andrew Cunanan’s Killing Spree Started In Minneapolis
Chisago County Sheriff Chris Henricks remembers the decision to an unlikely murder scene. The physique would transform Madson’s. He was a profitable 30-year-old architect from Minneapolis.
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David Madson’s physique was discovered on personal property in a wooded space by East Rush Lake. It’s an obscure spot that’s troublesome to seek out, a location that has baffled investigators for 25 years.
“[Madson] had a defensive wound the place, you possibly can see the place he really most likely put his hand up and a bullet had went by it, as a result of he was really struck like within the eye space,” Henricks stated. “There was some connection to Rush Lake. I imply, it’s not a deal the place you simply, I’m going to drive an hour from the cities and I’m going to homicide this particular person.”
Madson turned out to be the second of Cunanan’s victims. The primary, Naval Academy graduate Jeffrey Path, was crushed to dying with a claw hammer and rolled right into a carpet in Madson’s loft within the Minneapolis Warehouse District.
In a interval of 12 weeks, 5 males had been murdered. The final, Gianni Versace, was gunned down on the steps of his Miami Seaside mansion. By then, investigators knew they had been on the lookout for Cunanan, a 27-year-old man from San Diego.
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READ MORE: BCA Particular Agent Recollects 1997 Hunt For Andrew Cunanan
Investigators went again to the start and decided each Madson and Path had dated Cunanan. Posters went up in homosexual nightclubs across the nation.
However WCCO has discovered that investigators by no means went to a hub of the Minneapolis homosexual nightclub scene, the Homosexual 90s. Witnesses would later say that they had seen Cunanan on the membership. Mike Bloom, then the membership’s proprietor, says he’s satisfied he talked to Cunanan, who was having espresso within the bar’s early morning hours.
“It was like about 8:45 within the morning, and we weren’t that busy on the time. And he was siting like in a again sales space, so we went to begin speaking to him, me and the bartender,” Bloom stated. “It’s bizarre that I can image who he was then. He stated, ‘I’ve obtained some stuff I obtained to go do, , down within the loft.’”
Bloom’s account is per quite a few sightings of Cunanan within the downtown space, all earlier than Cunanan was named because the killer.
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“I talked to him for about quarter-hour,” Bloom stated. “Very good man.”
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However may a extra aggressive investigation of the primary two murders in Minneapolis have prevented the subsequent three killings? Eight days after Versace’s homicide, Cunanan died by suicide in a Miami houseboat, additionally virtually definitely killing any possibilities for solutions to so many of those questions.
MINNEAPOLIS — The menu offers plenty of options, but fans of the Red Dragon say they’ll miss how the restaurant really nourished their souls.
“It feels like family,” patron Kathleen Spitzer told WCCO. “Everybody — the servers and bartenders — are so nice. It feels like a home away from home.”
Red Dragon’s current owner, Phil Wong, said the restaurant and bar will shut down on Sunday after nearly 50 years in business; it first opened on Dec. 29, 1976.
“People love this place. They like to come here and drink and hang out,” Wong lamented. “I love them all. They show a lot of love to us and they enjoy our establishment.”
According to Wong, 73, finances and his longevity were contributing factors. The former engineer took over the business from his brother in 2007.
“It costs a little bit more — the food, the meat, the vegetables,” he added. “Minneapolis, too, the minimum wage went up.”
Still, Wong said he leaves with no regrets.
“I feel good about it. I think it’s time to move on,” he said. “We’re ending on a good note.”
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Red Dragon is the latest of several Twin Cities eateries to shutter in 2024, including the St. Paul staple Tavern on Grand. Even newer restaurants, like Kim’s from award-winning chef Ann Kim, also in Uptown, could not survive.
Jonah Kaplan
Jonah Kaplan is WCCO and CBS News Minnesota’s investigative reporter and has built a strong reputation for his balanced and in-depth coverage of high-impact issues including the economy, immigration, education, public safety, and the military, among others.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Dozens of flights were delayed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Friday morning.
Dozens of flights delayed
By the numbers: According to MSP Airport’s website, as of 11:51 a.m., two departures were canceled and 36 were delayed. Meanwhile, 11 arrivals were canceled and 16 were delayed.
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FlightAware says there have been more than 19,000 delays and 525 cancelations globally, while there have been more than 3,400 delays and 525 cancelations within, into or out of the United States as of 11:57 a.m. on Thursday.
The weather forecast: This comes as a dense fog advisory is in effect until noon on Friday across Minnesota, and rain is expected for much of Friday and Friday night. There are also storms on the east and west coasts that could cause some travel problems.
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Several airports across the United States have ground delays due to weather, according to the FAA’s website.
Increased travel at MSP Airport
What they’re saying: The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) expected a 6% year-over-year increase in screened passengers between Dec. 20, 2024, and Jan. 6, 2025. Thursday, Dec. 26, was expected to be the busiest day during the stretch, with nearly 50,000 people expected to pass through security at MSP.
This week’s Fab Five photo display includes highlights from Minneapolis South’s 88-84 boys basketball victory over Minneapolis North on Wednesday, December 11.
The photos include two South players who led them with 22 points each (DeAmontre Scott and Eugene Brown), the player who scored 22 points to lead North (JMarion Sanders), North’s point guard who scored 14 points (Allen Hill), and a former Marshall University High School and Augsburg University great officiating the game (Ronnie Henderson).
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments to mcdeezy05@gmail.com.