New Netflix Series Revisits 1995 Michigan Murder
A new series on Netflix features an episode devoted to a 1995 Michigan murder. Some of you may remember this particular case as the 'Jenny Jones murder' and or the 'talk show murder'.
'Trial By Media' takes us back to 1995 when Scott Bernard Amerdure of Lake Orion, Michigan was shot and killed by Jonathan Schmitz. The murder happened three days after the men had taped an episode of 'The Jenny Jones Show'.
The subject of this particular episode was about revealing your secret crush. Jonathan Schmitz agreed to go on the show knowing that someone had a crush on him and it could be a man or a woman. The person who had a crush on him was Scott Bernard Amerdure.
After shooting and killing Scott Bernard Amerdure, Jonathan Schmitz called 911 and confessed to the shooting. Schmitz was arrested and was eventually found guilty of second-degree murder.
Charges were later filed against 'The Jenny Jones Show' and the family of Scott Bernard Amerdure was awarded over $20 million dollars. Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger represented the Amerdure family in this trial. The family never received a penny as the judgment was later overturned.
I should preface that the episode with Scott and Jonathan never aired. So what drove Jonathan to murder? At the trial, his defense attorneys argued that Scott was diagnosed with manic depression and also suffered from Graves disease.
Jonathan Schmitz served 22 years behind bars for the murder of Scott Amerdure. Schmitz was released in 2017. Schmitz and Jenny Jones opted not to be a part of the 'Trial By Media'.
You can check out a portion of 'The Jenny Jones Show' featuring Scott and Jonathan, and see a trailer for 'Trial By Media' below.