Jenny Jones Show murder
The "Jenny Jones Show murder" refers to the tragic killing of Scott Amedure by Jonathan Schmitz, which occurred shortly after a 1995 episode of the talk show featuring a "secret admirer" theme. Amedure's identity as Schmitz's admirer was not disclosed to Schmitz prior to the show, leading to significant emotional turmoil for him. Following the episode, Schmitz purchased a shotgun and fatally shot Amedure three days later. Initially convicted of second-degree murder, Schmitz's conviction was later overturned on a technicality, but he was retried and sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
This case highlighted the controversial "gay panic defense" used in Schmitz's trial, which sparked discussions about victim-blaming and the responsibility of media producers in managing sensitive topics. Amedure's family also pursued a civil suit against the show's producers, initially winning but ultimately seeing that decision reversed on appeal. The murder had a significant impact on the landscape of talk shows, leading to declines in viewer ratings and changes in how LGBTQ themes were addressed in such programs. The case further contributed to the public discourse about the gay panic defense and its implications in legal contexts.
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Subject Terms
Jenny Jones Show murder
The Event Scott Amedure confesses his love for his friend Jonathan Schmitz on the air during a taping of the Jenny Jones Show; three days later, a humiliated Schmitz shoots Amedure twice in the chest, killing him
Date March 9, 1995
Place Detroit, Michigan
This murder and subsequent trials served to curtail the “ambush-style” talk-show episode of the early 1990’s. In addition, the trials brought attention to the use of the “gay panic” defense in the courtroom.
On March 6, 1995, Jonathan Schmitz, a guest with a history of mental illness and substance abuse, was invited to a “secret admirer” episode without the knowledge that the admirer was a man, a friend by the name of Scott Amedure. Though Schmitz was seen to be amicable and joking during the show, he became disturbed after leaving the studio. Three days later, he bought a shotgun, drove to Amedure’s trailer home, and shot him twice in the chest.
Schmitz was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1996, but his conviction was overturned on appeal because of a technicality. He was retried and convicted in 1999 and sentenced to twenty-five to fifty years in prison. Schmitz’s lawyers had attempted to use the so-called gay panic defense—which tries to characterize the victim as a homosexual predator (according to trial testimony in 1996, Amedure left suggestive notes at Schmitz’s home before the latter purchased the murder weapon) whose advances resulted in the defendant’s violent action. The argument, which essentially claims that the crime was committed in self-defense, has been criticized as “blaming the victim.”
In addition, Amedure’s family filed a civil suit against the Jenny Jones Show asserting that the show’s producers ought to have discovered Schmitz’s history of mental illness. The family won the ruling in 1999, and the show was ordered to pay them $25 million. On October 23, 2003, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the 1999 decision of the Oakland County jury, ruling that the show’s owner, Warner Bros., and its distributor, Telepictures, were not liable for the death of Scott Amedure.
Impact
Amedure’s murder shook the ground beneath the so-called ambush-style talk shows of Jerry Springer, Geraldo Rivera, and Maury Povich. After the 1996 verdict, ratings for the Jenny Jones Show and similar talk shows declined. The Jenny Jones Show was subsequently canceled in 2003. Schmitz’s trials became the first in a series of cases probing the degree to which a party can be found culpable when someone else pulls the trigger. In addition, talk-show producers became leery of using gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) themes in their repertoire, especially “secret crush” episodes. More important, the trials brought to public attention the gay panic defense, which was thrown out by a judge during the 1999 trial for the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. Following the Jenny Jones Show murder, talk shows became less salacious in dealing with the GLBT community, and the gay panic defense became less popular.
Bibliography
“Can Media Kill?” The Economist 351 (May 15, 1999): 26-27.
Dahir, Mubarak. “Homosexual Panicking.” The Advocate, June 22, 1999, 27-28.
“An Unhappy Rerun.” The Advocate, October 13, 1998, 14.