"We Would Have Preferred That Mr. Cunanan Be Taken Alive": The FBI on the Manhunt, 1997

Name: "We Would Have Preferred That Mr. Cunanan Be Taken Alive": The FBI on the Manhunt, 1997
Uploaded: 2015-07-21T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 min 35 s
Description: The day after Andrew Cunanan's death, FBI Deputy Director Bill Esposito described the scale of the nationwide manhunt and said the bureau would have preferred to take him alive.

The day after Andrew Cunanan's death, FBI Deputy Director Bill Esposito described the scale of the nationwide manhunt and said the bureau would have preferred to take him alive.

Subject: Andrew Phillip Cunanan
Recorded: about July 24, 1997
Runtime: 1:35

Content warning: Concerns a suicide and a series of murders. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is a 1-minute-35-second Associated Press Television edit of a press conference given by William J. (Bill) Esposito, Deputy Director of the FBI, on July 24, 1997, the day after Andrew Cunanan was found dead on a houseboat in Miami Beach. AP dated the story July 25 and AP Archive posted it in 2015. There is no narration; the whole video is Esposito speaking. Cunanan is not heard.

Historical Context

Between late April and mid-July 1997 Andrew Cunanan was suspected of killing five men: Jeffrey Trail and David Madson in Minnesota, Lee Miglin in Chicago, William Reese in New Jersey and the designer Gianni Versace, shot outside his Miami Beach home on July 15. A federal unlawful flight warrant was issued in Minneapolis, and on June 12, 1997, the FBI placed Cunanan on its Ten Most Wanted list. On July 23 he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He died before any charge against him could be tried.

Circumstances

The clip opens with a quieter passage, probably Esposito, saying the FBI had called a short press conference because of the number of inquiries from reporters. It came the day after Cunanan's death, eight days after the Versace murder, as the manhunt that had covered much of the country ended without an arrest.

What the Interview Covers

Esposito says that from the time the unlawful flight warrant was issued in Minneapolis (he says "May 7th," then corrects himself to "June 12th"), FBI headquarters instructed all field offices to follow up every lead on Cunanan "in an hour or less," and that this was adhered to. He reads out the FBI's tip hotline number and says the Minneapolis office set out more than 1,100 leads around the country, and that the FBI received more than a thousand calls and tips, 500 of which were followed up by other field offices. He says the FBI would have preferred that Cunanan "be taken alive," because there was good evidence he would have been prosecuted and jailed, and over time he might have cooperated and told investigators "why he did the things he did." The clip ends as he introduces Bob Bryant, beside him; Bryant's title is cut off.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is the FBI's own on-camera account, from its second-ranking official, of the scale of the 1997 manhunt, and of the bureau's regret that Cunanan's death left his motives unexplained.

Important Caveats

Cunanan is not heard. The figures for leads, calls and tips are Esposito's, as he gave them on July 24, 1997. His "May 7th" is his own words before he corrects himself; it was not verified. The hotline number he reads was the FBI's 1997 tip line for this case; do not present it as a current number. The location of the press conference is not stated. AP's 1997 wording calls Cunanan "suspected"; he died before any charge was tried.

Bill Esposito: We thought what we would do was have a short press conference based on the number of inquiries we received from you all, to maybe...

Bill Esposito: Right from the outset, when the unlawful flight warrant was issued in Minneapolis, and on May 7th, uh, I mean on June 12th, all our offices were instructed by headquarters to follow up on any leads on Mr. Cunanan on an immediate basis. And by that we meant that all leads in this case should be covered in an hour or less. And that was adhered to. We set up the hotline, the 1-888-324-9800 hotline, to locate Mr. Cunanan. Our Minneapolis office set out over 1,100 leads around the country. We received over a thousand phone calls and tips, 500 of which were followed up on by other field offices around the country.

Unidentified Voice: [unclear: "Three questions." (Whisper and captions; not heard by the second machine pass)] [01:05 to 01:08: edit point; silence.]

Bill Esposito: We would have preferred that Mr. Cunanan be taken alive, because we feel that there is good evidence that he would have been prosecuted and gone to jail, and over a period of time maybe have cooperated, and maybe [unclear: "told" (Whisper and captions) / "tell" (second machine pass)] us why he did the things he did. [unclear: "Facts that, as we know" (captions only)]

Bill Esposito: I'm Bill Esposito. I'm the deputy director of the FBI. To my left is Bob Bryant, who's the head of the... [The video ends mid-sentence at 01:35.]