Netflix
Jonathan Schmitz turned himself in to authorities.
The Jenny Jones speak present was one in every of a number of tabloid-esque TV applications within the 1980s and 1990s that traded on “gotcha” moments and loopy reveals, like “who’s the daddy.” Now Netflix has launched a brand new docuseries, Trial By Media, that examines “among the most dramatic and memorable trials in latest historical past” by the lens of the concept that “courtroom dramas have more and more been reworked right into a type of leisure.”
The primary episode is titled “Speak Present Homicide” and it contains a well-known case the place a person named Jonathan Schmitz was confronted by one other man, Scott Amedure, who had a crush on him on The Jenny Jones Present. Schmitz would then go on to homicide Amedure. Right here’s what you’ll want to learn about what occurred afterward.
Schmitz Was Launched in 2017
In 1995, Amedure and Schmitz filmed an episode of The Jenny Jones Present the place Amedure revealed he harbored romantic emotions for Schmitz. By all appearances on the present, Schmitz appeared to roll with it. He made it clear he was not homosexual and never all in favour of AMedure, however he was usually amiable.
Nevertheless, three days later, Schmitz confronted Amedure about it at Amedure’s trailer after which shot him twice within the chest with a shotgun. Schmitz was convicted of second-degree homicide in 1996 and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in jail. He served two years earlier than the sentence was overturned, however then in 1999, after a retrial and a brand new conviction, Schmitz’s sentence was reinstated.
In August 2017, Schmitz, 47, was launched after serving 22 years of his sentence. A Michigan Division of Corrections spokesman instructed Folks it was as a result of “good habits” credit score.
Amedure’s brother Frank, who’s featured closely within the Trial by Media episode about Scott’s loss of life, instructed Those who he can not less than empathize with Schmitz.
“I assume it’s like another one that’s misplaced a member of the family to homicide — they wouldn’t really feel comfy concerning the assassin being launched. It could be simpler if he [Schmitz] was outdated, an outdated gray-haired man. However he’s nonetheless fairly younger at 47 — he’s nonetheless received so much to go, and my brother doesn’t,” stated Frank, including, “However there’s a aspect of, not less than me and possibly a few of my relations, that we do really feel he was victimized in all of this, and so we will empathize with all of that.”
And Geoffrey Finger, an legal professional who represented the Amedure household within the civil go well with introduced in opposition to The Jenny Jones Present, stated, “He spent 22 years, in order that appears like he’s accomplished nearly his whole sentence. I’m not absolving Schmitz of his crime. I’m simply saying that The Jenny Jones Present and the those that have been behind the present have been equally accountable.”
Scott’s Brother Thinks He Would Be in Leisure If He Have been Alive Right now
Frank says his brother “all the time needed to be on TV and within the limelight,” which is partially why he went on The Jenny Jones Present within the first place.
Frank additionally says if he have been nonetheless alive as we speak, he might see Scott working as somebody much like the folks interviewing him for the docu-series.
“He could be working with you guys. He would have liked this sort of stuff, this was his factor. He’d’ve liked these items,” says Frank.
Trial By Media is out now on Netflix.
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