Murder of Scott Amedure

Scott Bernard Amedure (January 26, 1963 – March 9, 1995) was a bartender from Lake Orion, Michigan, who was fatally shot twice on March 9, 1995, by his acquaintance Jonathan Schmitz. Three days prior to the shooting, Amedure and Schmitz filmed an episode of the tabloid talk show The Jenny Jones Show; titled "Revealing Same Sex Secret Crush", Amedure, a 32-year-old gay man, publicly revealed to Schmitz, a 24-year-old straight man, that Amedure was his secret admirer. Following this appearance, Schmitz confronted Amedure and shot him twice in the chest. He confessed to the killing and was found guilty of second-degree murder. The Amedure family sued The Jenny Jones Show for wrongful death, although the show was ultimately found to not be liable. Amedure and Schmitz's appearance on The Jenny Jones Show was shelved, although it was later shown to jurors during the latter's trial.

Scott Amedure
Born
Scott Bernard Amedure

(1963-01-26)January 26, 1963
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 1995(1995-03-09) (aged 32)
Lake Orion, Michigan, U.S.
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
Resting placeClarkston, Michigan, U.S.
OccupationBartender
Known forMurder victim

Early life

Amedure was born in 1963 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Lake Orion, Michigan. He served in the army, where he came out as gay.[1]

Appearance on The Jenny Jones Show

On March 6, 1995, Amedure was a guest on an episode of The Jenny Jones Show titled "Revealing Same Sex Secret Crush", in which he admitted to being a secret admirer of Jonathan Schmitz, who lived near him in Lake Orion, Michigan. Until the taping, Schmitz did not know who would be revealed as his secret admirer. Schmitz stated that he participated in the show due to curiosity, and he claimed later that the producers implied that his admirer was a woman,[2][3] although the producers of the show claim that they did tell Schmitz that the admirer could be male or female.[4]

During the segment, Amedure was encouraged by Jones to share his fantasies about Schmitz, after which Schmitz was brought onstage. According to The Washington Post, "[t]he two men exchanged an awkward embrace before the host dropped her bombshell." In response to Amedure's disclosure, Schmitz laughed, then stated that he was "definitely heterosexual".[5]

Aftermath and murder

According to footage of the murder trial, it was stated later by a friend of Amedure's that Amedure and Schmitz went out drinking together the night after the taping and an alleged sexual encounter occurred.[4] According to the testimony at the murder trial, three days after the taping, Amedure left a "suggestive" note at Schmitz's house.[6] After finding the note, Schmitz withdrew money from a bank, purchased a shotgun, and then went to Amedure's mobile home. He then asked Amedure if he was the one that left the note. According to court documents, Amedure responded with a smile. Schmitz then returned to his car, got his gun, and returned to Amedure's trailer. He then shot Amedure twice in the chest, killing him. After killing Amedure, Schmitz left the residence, telephoned 9-1-1, and confessed to the killing.[7][8]

Trial and sentencing of Schmitz

At trial, defense attorneys argued that Schmitz, who had been diagnosed with manic depression (bi-polar disease) and Graves' disease, was caused to commit homicide by mental illness and humiliation, by way of the "gay panic defense".[9] Schmitz was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to 25–50 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Upon retrial, he was found guilty of the same charge once again and his sentence was reinstated.[10] Schmitz was released from prison on August 22, 2017, after being granted parole.[11]

Trial of the show producers

In 1999, the Amedure family, retaining Geoffrey Fieger as lawyer, sued The Jenny Jones Show, Telepictures, and Warner Bros. for the ambush tactics and, as the Amedure family considered it, their negligent actions that resulted in Amedure's death. In May, the jury awarded the Amedures $29,332,686.[12]

The jury found that The Jenny Jones Show was both irresponsible and negligent, contending that the show intentionally created an unpredictable situation without due concern for the possible consequences.[13] Time Warner's defense attorney later claimed the verdict would cause a "chilling effect" on the industry.[14]

The judgment was later overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a 2-to-1 decision.[15] The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[16]

Media coverage

The podcast Criminal included the murder of Scott Amedure and following trial of Jonathan Schmitz in their episode "Panic Defense" about the gay panic defense.[17]

The Jenny Jones controversy was also covered as the first episode in the Netflix series Trial by Media.[18]

In 2021, the controversy was covered in season 6 of the series How It Really Happened on the US TV network HLN in an episode titled "The Jenny Jones Show: Fatal Attraction".[19]

See also

References
  1. "'Jenny Jones' Show Killer Jonathan Schmitz Set for Parole".
  2. "Fatal Shooting Follows Surprise on TV Talk Show–New York Times". The New York Times. March 12, 1995. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  3. Carter, Bill (November 1, 1996). "Talk-Show Host, Testifying at Murder Trial, Plays Down Her Role in Program". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  4. TomEvision (April 17, 2010). "Jenny Jones Trial (Producer testifies)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. Swenson, Kyle (August 23, 2017). "A 1995 TV show surprised him with his gay secret admirer. This week he leaves prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  6. Bradsher, Keith (November 13, 1996). "Talk-Show Guest Is Guilty Of Second-Degree Murder–New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  7. "Man Convicted Again In Talk Show Murder". The New York Times. August 27, 1999. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  8. Jennings, Marianne M. (2005). Business: Its Legal, Ethical and Global Environment. Thomson West. pp. 388. ISBN 0-324-20488-4.
  9. "Jenny, on the Spot". The Washington Post. November 1, 1996.
  10. "25-50 Year Sentence in Talk Show Slaying". The New York Times. September 15, 1999.
  11. "Man who killed after Jenny Jones Show leaves prison". Lansing State Journal. August 23, 2017.
  12. "STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS" (PDF). May 9, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  13. Sadler, Roger L. Tyreese (2005). Electronic Media Law. SAGE. p. 227. ISBN 1-4129-0588-5.
  14. "Talk show held negligent in guest's killing". cnn.com. May 7, 1999. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  15. "Michigan Court of Appeals–Court Opinions". Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  16. "Gilbert, et al. v. Ferry, et al" (PDF). Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  17. "Panic Defense". Criminal. December 6, 2019.
  18. Gajanan, Mahita (May 11, 2020). "What to Know About the Six Sensationalized Court Cases Examined in Netflix's Trial By Media". Time.
  19. "Season Six of HLN's Longest Running Original Series "How It Really Happened with Hill Harper" Premieres Sunday, March 14 with Two-Hour Investigation of Missing Utah Mom Susan Powell" (Press release). CNN. March 1, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.