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When 19 year-old
Adam
Ezerski allegedly bludgeoned an elderly South Florida man to death
on July 25, 2001, and strangled a 39 year-old gay man the next day before
hitting the road, authorities and the media thought they had another Andrew
Cunanan on their hands. Cunanan murdered renowned fashion designer Gianni
Versace and others during a cross-country manhunt that ended with Cunanan's
suicide in 1997. There was no Versace in the Ezerski case nor the glamorous
trappings of Cunanan's expensive, "A-gay" lifestyle, but the media had
high hopes when it was learned that Ezerski was headed for the City by
the Bay. San Franciscan Kevin Begoon escaped with his life when Ezerski
clobbered Begoon with a 20-lb. plaster figurine at Begoon's 1144 Larkin
Street apartment on August 14. Though Ezerski rambled around Polk Gulch
undetected for days, police claimed it was improved communication between
authorities and members of the gay
community - the lack of
which helped Cunanan evade police and the FBI for months in the '97 case
-
that helped them bust Ezerski at a Reno, Nevada casino less than
two weeks after the attack on Begoon. Begoon, 43, took the youth in after
meeting him in a Polk Street cafe on August 11. Tips generated from a story
on Ezerski and the Florida murders during a broadcast of America's Most
Wanted are more likely responsible for the tip that lead to Ezerski's arrest
than was police/gay community relations. |
