Episode 014: The Jenny Jones Show Killer: The Murder of Scott Amedure

On March 6, 1995, 3 friends, Scott Amedure, Jon Schmitz, and Donna Riley, went on the Jenny Jones daytime talk show. During the taping of the show, Scott Amedure revealed that he had a secret crush on his friend Jon Schmitz. Jon seemed to laugh off the experience until 3 days later when Jon showed up at Scott’s house where he shot and killed Scott.  

Sources: 

 

Courtney Hardwick, “QUEER CRIME: The Gay/Trans Panic Defence Is Still A Thing”, IN Magazine, Feb, 24, 2021, https://inmagazine.ca/2021/02/queer-crime-the-gay-trans-panic-defence-is-still-a-thing/, accessed June 4, 2024. 

 

Bernadette Giacomazzo, “The Story Of Jonathan Schmitz And The Infamous ‘Jenny Jones Murder’”, All That’s Interesting, May 3, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/jonathan-schmitz, accessed June 6, 2024. 

 

Lauren Kranc, “Trial By Media Re-Examines the Murder of Scott Amedure After a Talk Show Appearance”, Esquire, May 11, 2020, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a32416884/jonathan-schmitz-scott-amedure-murder-trial-by-media-true-story-jenny-jones-show/, accessed June 6, 2024.  

 

Bernadette Giacomazzo, “The Story Of Scott Amedure, The Gay Man Who Was Murdered Because Of His Appearance On ‘The Jenny Jones Show’”, All That’s Interesting, May 24, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/scott-amedure, access June 6, 2024. 

 

Namrata Tripathi, “'Trial by Media’: How a gay man revealing his crush on ‘The Jenny Jones Show’ led to a horrific murder”, Meaww, May 12, 2020,  https://meaww.com/netflix-trial-by-media-gay-man-crush-the-jenny-jones-show-murder, accessed June 7, 2024. 

 

 

Tony Yacenda, “Talk Show Murder”, Trial By Media, Netflix, May 11, 2020.