The morning of July 15, 1997, still hauntsAntonio D’Amicoall these years later.
D’Amico, the longtime partner of fashion iconGianni Versace, was inside the couple’s villa in Miami Beach, Florida, when he heard gunshots ring out.
“I heard ‘bam! bam!’ ”D’Amico, a 59-year-old model and fashion designer, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview this week’s issue. “My blood chilled right away.”
The shooting is the subject of Monday’s episode ofPeople Magazine Investigates: Crimes of Fashion, airing at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery. (An exclusive clip of the episode is shown above.)
Courtesy Antonio Damico
Up until the morning of the shooting, says D’Amico, “We had lived a very safe live without any problems.”
• WatchPeople Magazine Investigates: Crimes of Fashion — The Murder of Gianni Versace, airing Monday at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery.
But the shooting shattered that peace. D’Amico found his partner’s body in a pool of blood.
“When I saw the blood I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth,” he recalls.
RELATED VIDEO: People Magazine Investigates: Crimes of Fashion — Gianni Versace — Antonio D’Amico
D’Amico caught a glimpse of Cunanan as he fled and was dumbfounded as to why anyone would want to kill Versace. He says he and Versace had no idea who Cunanan was before the fatal shooting.
“The FBI and the police couldn’t find a single person that didn’t like Gianni,” says D’Amico. “They couldn’t find a single reason why someone would want to kill him, because he was such a normal guy. He was a very normal, shy person.”
Andrew Cunanan.AFP/Getty Images
• For more on the shocking murder of Gianni Versace and the devastation of partner Antonio D’Amico,subscribe now to PEOPLEor pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
To this day,Cunanan’s motive remains unknown.
Days after he killed Versace, Cunanan took his own life on a local houseboat as authorities closed in. But key questions lingered about his crimes, as there did not appear to be any consistent method to his murders or connection among his victims.
“I would often ask myself in the aftermath whether things would have been different had I been there with him that morning,” he says. “Would something have changed? Could I have protected him? Could I have saved him?”
People Magazine Investigates: Crimes of Fashion — The Murder of Gianni Versaceairs Monday (9 p.m. ET) on Investigation Discovery.
Greg Hanlon
source: people.com
