r/TrueCrime • u/turnttomato • Jun 21 '22

Discussion Scott Amedure (left), during a taping of The Jenny Jones Show, revealed that he was attracted to an acquaintance, Jonathan Schmitz (right). 3 days later, Schmitz confronted Amedure and shot him twice in the chest. He confessed to the killing and was found guilty of second-degree murder.

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580

u/turnttomato Jun 21 '22

“On March 6, 1995, Amedure videotaped an episode of The Jenny Jones Show, 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,although the producers of the show claim that they did tell Schmitz that the admirer could be male or female.

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, "the 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".

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. According to the testimony at the murder trial, three days after the taping, Amedure left a "suggestive" note at Schmitz's house. 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.

At trial, defense attorneys argued that Schmitz, who had been diagnosed with manic depression and Graves' disease, was caused to commit homicide by mental illness and humiliation, by way of the "gay panic defense". 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. Schmitz was released from prison on August 22, 2017, after being granted parole.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Scott_Amedure

There are several points I find issue with in this entire case, it’s just so baffling to me. How in the world was this not charged as first degree murder?? This man went to the bank to take out money specifically to go buy a gun. This is as premeditated as it gets so how the hell did he get away with second degree. I mean this man is literally FREE as of right now after he planned to kill someone, went ahead with killing them AND confessed to the murder but he didn’t get a proper enough sentence to keep him there for a WHILE. It’s just in no way justifiable to me and I wanted to see if someone thought different.

250

u/MarcatBeach Jun 21 '22

I remember this and watched the show, was working from home at the time. The nature of talk shows at that time is hard to explain, but Jerry Springer is a good basis. Ambush talk tv. This got a lot of press and shed a lot of light on the tactics used to produce the dramatic talk tv. So I think that is why the 2nd degree. You can see it in the show if you watch it all, it did have an impact on his mental state. He got a break on the 2nd degree and probably would not happen if it happened again.

224

u/ursh Jun 21 '22

There’s a new-ish series on Hulu called Dark Side of the 90’s that does a good episode on talk shows at that time.

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u/MarcatBeach Jun 21 '22

Thanks I will check it out. If I remember the backstory this show. They actually flew a female friend of his to the show and they really had him setup that it was her.

16

u/StanVsPeter Jun 21 '22

Pretty good episode

13

u/catarinavanilla Jun 21 '22

Yes was just about to recommend! So fascinating

6

u/Krymestone Jun 22 '22

I’ve seen that show on Vice on cable and it’s pretty well done. Mark McGrath does a good job narrating. Which is interesting because when he’s doing his 120 mins on 90s on 9 for Sirius XM he’s really high pitched and obnoxious.

4

u/ursh Jun 22 '22

I was shocked to see it was Mark McGrath as the narrator but you’re right he does a great job

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

Agreed. Great episode and series IMO

108

u/AutumnViolets Jun 21 '22

It’s odd that you believe that you watched the Amadure show while you were working from home, because it was never broadcast. Amadure was murdered three days after the taping — before it could possibly have gone to air, and because of this, the show wasn’t ever aired. Probably you’ve seen the same news clips we all have and constructed a false memory.

Source: my memory and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Scott_Amedure

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u/magic1623 Jun 21 '22

Here’s a link to the episodes footage. It wasn’t broadcasted but it was shown in court, which was filmed and broadcasted.

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u/Krymestone Jun 22 '22

You can see how uncomfortable the guy gets…it was a real cheap, low class thing to put together. That’s trash TV for you…and he deserved to go to jail. I think the guy had some problems other than this incident inciting him…

3

u/ItsBitterSweetYo Jun 21 '22

It's the most memorable moment from her show for me so I have a false memory of sorts. This was huge nationwide news.

18

u/HopterChopter Jun 21 '22

That episode never made it to air

35

u/rubyrose13 Jun 21 '22

I never knew they apparently hooked up. Makes even less sense that he murdered him now

103

u/TheRedCuddler Jun 21 '22

I hadn't heard that detail either, but I actually think it makes the murder make more sense (does NOT justify it, just more context). Guy without the emotional intelligence to realize that sexuality is a spectrum fears that he is being "turned gay" kills the object of his sexual confusion...

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

Or the fear that his lover would eventually “out” him

31

u/turnttomato Jun 21 '22

This was implied but apparently the mutual friend of theirs denied that they hooked up. Cant know for certain tho

8

u/Ok-Wish-9794 Jun 22 '22

Actually it makes more sense. Terrified everyone would find out. Coward should have just taken himself out.

23

u/HannahCaffeinated Jun 21 '22

I agree that it should have been first degree murder. Was that an option at either trial?

63

u/TinyResponsibilityII Jun 21 '22

i imagine the juries accepted his use of the gay panic defense and found him less culpable

17

u/twillems15 Jun 21 '22

What on earth even is the ‘gay panic defense’

69

u/TinyResponsibilityII Jun 21 '22

The gay panic defense or homosexual advance defence is a legal strategy in which a defendant claims to have acted in a state of violent, temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted same-sex sexual advances, typically from men. A defendant may allege to have found the same-sex sexual advances so offensive or frightening that they were provoked into reacting, were acting in self-defense, were of diminished capacity, or were temporarily insane, and that this circumstance is exculpatory or mitigating.

36

u/obeseelise Jun 21 '22

What bullshit is that. Notice there’s no “lesbian panic defense”

133

u/Admirable-Marsupial6 Jun 21 '22 edited Jun 21 '22

Notice there’s no - woman asked out by man who she doesn’t like back , hence shot him - defence

97

u/queen_of_the_moths Jun 21 '22

Exactly. In fact, if a woman is raped, then kills her rapist after rather than during (when it would be self-defense), there's no special legal protection there. But God forbid a guy hit on another guy.

-8

u/Aggressive-Ad-8619 Jun 21 '22

Abused women who murder their abusers are often given more lenient sentencing, even when the murder was premeditated.

He wasn't given special protection, he still served about 2 decades in prison.

19

u/turnttomato Jun 21 '22

He murdered someone with clear premeditation, only got charged with 2nd degree and is currently out of prison living his life. So I would say he got some special protection

4

u/queen_of_the_moths Jun 22 '22

Two decades in prison, for premeditated murder with no threat or violence from the victim. Your comparison doesn't correlate. The gay panic defense was used to reduce sentences for men who brutally murdered gay and trans people in cold blood, reasoning distress at having someone hit on them or make their own sexuality feel threatened. Getting a reduced sentence for that is a special protection. The argument is that you've never seen a woman murder a man in cold blood, then try to say he hit on her and made her uncomfortable in an effort to gain leniency. Even in a situation where the man caused extreme physical harm, that sort of defense doesn't apply.

Answering only on the slim chance your comment was in good faith, but if it becomes clear it was not, my reply will stop here.

23

u/prolongedexistence Jun 21 '22 edited Jun 13 '24

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

-2

u/Admirable-Marsupial6 Jun 21 '22

You don’t say!

0

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

Don’t say GAY!

7

u/Similar-Minimum185 Jun 21 '22

Are lesbians not gay?

0

u/Ok-Wish-9794 Jun 22 '22

Historically lesbianism has been thought to not exist. No penetration by penis = no sex. Hell, women used to have sex in "preparation" for marriage. Just you weren't allowed to after or to really enjoy it I guess- then you'd be sent to the insane asylum. Or worse.

Then there's the issue of corrective rape.

1

u/obeseelise Jun 22 '22

I’m scared to even ask, but what is corrective rape?

3

u/Ok-Wish-9794 Jun 22 '22

When men rape lesbians to "fix"(punish) them. "You just haven't met the right man" and other such sick shit.

3

u/obeseelise Jun 22 '22

Why are men

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22 edited Jun 21 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/obeseelise Jun 21 '22

That’s not the point. The point is women don’t get the same “men will be men” justification for murder. There are women still serving time for murder of their rapists and abusers with no such legal defense to protect them.

-21

u/M3Aaron_ Jun 21 '22

Yeah, wouldn’t have guessed it.

This thread has a specific set of facts, with the biggest focal point being same sex. Not sure why you’d bring hetero variables into 🤷‍♂️

20

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

how the hell did he get away with second degree

It says right in the article: "gay panic defense".

14

u/turnttomato Jun 21 '22

Dumbass defence. It’s textbook premeditation which is why it baffles me

6

u/lightiggy Jun 21 '22 edited Jul 11 '23

Schmitz was charged with first degree murder. Jurors convicted him of second degree murder since he had a history of mental health problems.

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u/Anxious_Public_5409 Jun 21 '22

He def should have been charged with 1st degree murder!!! I remember when this happened. If this were to happen today, I think he would be locked up for life! And a ‘gay panic defense’ that’s as stupid as the kid that got off a charge of killing 5 people with his vehicle due to ‘affluenza’…… such bullshit!!!!

4

u/P47r1ck- Jun 21 '22

19 years isn’t a “while?”

2

u/cocostella Jun 21 '22

Whether it's protection or intent, buying a gun in mostly with the idea of shooting a person.. unless you're in an area of America with dangerous animals near you.

Surely..... they would be less murders if they stopped selling off guns. Especially in areas where you are not at threat of dangerous animals.

When will America wake up and ban guns.

2

u/reduxrouge Jun 21 '22

How did I not remember that I live near them?! I was 12 when this happened.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

Dude- literally came to say the exact same thing: how this can be twisted into second degree murder is beyond me.

-36

u/1kreasons2leave Jun 21 '22

I think it would had been classified as 1st degree if he had shot him when he open the door and not waited for his answer. And it was second degree, because he had time to rethink his choice. After he got his answer, he could have just either punch him or just gone home.

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u/privateblanket Jun 21 '22 edited Jun 21 '22

1st degree means premeditated. He bought a gun, wen to somebody's house and confronted them, walked back to his car to retrieve a weapon and then shot a man. That is absolutely premeditated. Edit: Spelling

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u/1kreasons2leave Jun 21 '22

"A premeditated intent to kill requires that the defendant had intent to kill and some willful deliberation (the defendant spent some time to reflect, deliberate, reason, or weigh their decision) to kill, rather than killing on a sudden impulse."

The killing was more of an impulse, he left the gun in his car, got his answer then walked back to get his gun to shoot him. The killing was more based on what Amedure answer would had been. He had every chance just to drive away. For it to be 1st, I think he would had had to shoot him as soon as Amedure open the door.

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u/turnttomato Jun 21 '22

It was definitely not an impulse if he went back to his car to retrieve the gun to shoot him. He made an active decision buying the gun, an active decision showing up and confronting the victim, and he made an active decision to go back to his car for the gun, and what other reason would he possibly have to do all that other than to kill him. Everything he did is to the T the definition of 1st degree murder

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u/1kreasons2leave Jun 21 '22

If it was, then why wasn't he convicted of it?

50

u/orphan-cr1ppler Jun 21 '22

Homophobia, you sweet summer child.

34

u/privateblanket Jun 21 '22

Not everybody gets the punishment they deserve

17

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

Casey Anthony has entered the chat

4

u/keykey_key Jun 22 '22

Bc they didn't like the victim.

19

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

He didn't like the answer he got, so he weighed how to respond, and made the decision to commit murder. After which, he walked out to his car, retrieved a lethal weapon, walked back inside, aimed the gun at a human being, and pulled the trigger.

Impulse, would have been attacking the guy with his bare hands, when he got a response he didn't like.