The Jenny Jones Show Murder: How a Tragic 1995 Killing Led to the End of '90s 'Trash' Talk TV By Nicole Acosta

It was meant to be a lighthearted talk show segment about “secret crushes” — but it ended in tragedy.

In March 1995, 32-year-old Scott Amedure appeared on The Jenny Jones Show and revealed a secret crush on his acquaintance, 24-year-old Jonathan Schmitz.

Schmitz agreed to appear on the show after being told a secret admirer would be revealed and that the admirer could be a man or a woman. Producers were aware that Schmitz identified as heterosexual, but he claimed the revelation came as a shock to him.

Three days after the episode was recorded for broadcast, Schmitz bought a shotgun, traveled to Amedure’s home in suburban Detroit and fatally shot him twice in the chest. He then drove to a gas station, called 911 and confessed to the killing, telling police that he had been embarrassed by the public revelation. He was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

This case is one of many explored in the three-part ABC docuseries Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV. The second episode, titled “Part 2: Talked to Death,” which aired Wednesday, Jan. 21, revisits the killing and raises questions about talk-show ethics.

“Hear candid, never-before-told stories from the hosts, producers and insiders who defined the talk TV world, alongside expert analysis that explains why millions tuned in and why guests were willing to unabashedly share it all on national television,” a press release reads.

In 1996, Schmitz was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder. That conviction was later overturned on appeal, but he was retried and convicted again in 1999. He ultimately served about 22 years in prison before being released on parole in 2017.

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At trial, Schmitz’s defense team cited mental health issues and invoked the “gay panic” defense — a controversial legal strategy that attempts to justify violence by framing a same-sex advance as a provocation.

The Jenny Jones episode featuring Amedure was never aired but was used as evidence in court. Host Jenny Jones testified during the trial, saying she had little input and that it was not an ambush.

“It was not the ‘Jenny Jones murder,’” she told PEOPLE in 1999. “It was the Jonathan Schmitz murder.”

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The show ran from 1991 to 2003. Since then, Jones has focused on creating cooking content, operating a website and YouTube channel titled Jenny Can Cook; the last video was posted in 2018.

In 1995, Amedure’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the show and its partners, including Warner Bros., but a jury later found they were not legally liable.

Frank Amedure, the victim’s brother, spoke to PEOPLE in 2017 at the time of Schmitz’s release.

“I guess it’s like any other person who’s lost a family member to murder — they wouldn’t feel comfortable about the murderer being released,” Frank said. “It might be easier if he [Schmitz] was old, an old gray-haired man. But he’s still pretty young at 47 — he’s still got a lot to go, and my brother doesn’t.”

Frank added of Schmitz, “But there’s a side of, at least me and maybe some of my family members, that we do feel he was victimized in all of this, and so we can empathize with all of that.”

He also remembered his late brother as someone who was “fun-loving,” and “compassionate,” adding, “he didn’t deserve to be killed, that’s for sure.”

With reporting by Jeff Truesdell