But then the FBI called in 1997. They wanted to talk about the murder of the fashion designer Gianni Versace on the front steps of his Miami home. “By this point, we were pretty accustomed to getting bizarre phone calls related to Sealand,” Michael said. The killer, Andrew Cunanan, committed suicide on a houseboat he had broken into several days after murdering Versace. But during the investigation the owner of the boat, a man named Torsten Reineck had presented forged Sealand passports to authorities.
