Jonathan Schmitz

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. 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.

In 1999, the Amedure family, retaining Geoffrey Fieger as lawyer, sued The Jenny Jones Show, Telepictures, and Warner Bros. for the ambush tactics and, as the Amedure family considered it, their negligent actions that resulted in Amedure's death. In May, the jury awarded the Amedures $29,332,686.

On March 6, 1995, Amedure taped 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 with 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.

Scott Bernard Amedure (January 26, 1963 – March 9, 1995) was an American murder victim. During a taping of The Jenny Jones Show, a television talk show, Amedure revealed that he was attracted to an acquaintance, Jonathan Schmitz (born July 18, 1970). Three 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. The Amedure family successfully sued The Jenny Jones Show for wrongful death, but the judgment was subsequently overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals. The episode was never broadcast, although segments of it were played for television news programs.