Jenny Jones Guest Who Killed Gay Man Released From Prison

It was one of the most sensational media stories of the mid-'90s: a gay guest came out during a taping of TheJenny Jones Show, revealed to a straight friend he was crushing on him while a Chicago studio audience watched, and then, days later, the gay man was shot to death by the man he adored.

Maybe even more shocking is that after serving less than 18 years in prison, Jonathan Schmitz is out of prison for murdering Scott Amedure, only 32 at the time of his death.

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Schmitz, 24 at the time, claimed embarrassment over the episode led him to kill Amedure; basically, a variation of the gay panic defense. Tried twice, Schmitz was eventually found guilty of murder in 1999 and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. Now walking free, Schmitz is only 47 years old.

Adding insult to injury for Amedure's family is that a $25 million civil case against The Jenny Jones Show, a tacky daytime talk show that competed with The Jerry Springer Show and canceled in 2003, was tossed out on appeal.