In 1995, a tape of Jenny Jones Show ended in the murder of a 32-year-old man named Scott Amedure. The scandal has been ingrained in the public the true crime of the memory through a highly publicized trial — after Amedure confessed a romantic interest in him on the television, Jonathan Schmitz, 24, fatally shot three days later. Netflix is one of the new series The trial-by-Media take this horrible case and the media frenzy that followed. In 2017, Schmitz, after 47 years, he was released from prison. Here’s what you should know about his trial and the whereabouts after having committed the murder.
The episode Jenny Jones Show secret crushes surprised Schmitz with a secret admirer. During the taping, Amedure confessed that he had a crush on Schmitz, who was of his knowledge. In the installation the day of the tabloid talk show, Schmitz said“I’m definitely heterosexual, I guess you could say.” Three days after the recording, Schmitz shot Amedure twice in the chest and called 911, embarrassed about the revelation in the show. Amedure had allegedly left a suggestive, unsigned note at his home, which caused Schmitz to get a shotgun and go to Amedure’s mobile home. The episode never aired, but it has been mentioned in the room and is used for television news programs.
Schmitz, the defense lawyers argued that he had been diagnosed with manic depression and Graves diseasethe show that triggers their mental illness. Schmitz was convicted of second-degree murder and received a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison in 1996. His conviction was overturned on appeal, but he still ended up with the same charge and sentence in 1999.
Amedure’s family believes that the producers were to blame, as well as the show not les Schmitz that his admirer was a man. The Amedures sued the show for wrongful death, putting Jones to herself on the stand and the questioning of the ethics of the tactics of ambush in your program. A jury awarded the Amedures $29.3 million and it seemed that the show irresponsible and negligent, but the decision ended up being overturned.
Schmitz served time in Michigan Parnall Correctional Institution. In 2017, who received early parole, released on good behavior. Amedure’s brother Frank has expressed its concern about the decision.
“I wanted the assurance that the (parole board’s) decision is not only based on the good conduct in the jail,” Amedure’s brother said to the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I would like to know that you learned something, that he is a changed man, he is not homophobic and has received psychological care.”
