Michigan Man In 'Jenny Jones Show' Murder Case Released From Prison

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JACKSON, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A Michigan man convicted in the 1995 killing of a man who expressed romantic interest in him on a TV talk show is out on parole.

The Michigan Department of Corrections says 47-year-old Jonathan Schmitz was released Tuesday from Parnall Correctional Institution in Jackson.

Jonathan Schmitz (Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections)

Jonathan Tyler Schmitz was 24 years old when he was invited to travel to Chicago to appear on the Jenny Jones Show where he would meet a "secret admirer." During the taping, a male acquaintance — 32-year-old Scott Amedure — revealed he was romantically interested in him.

Schmitz, who said he wasn't gay, three days later bought a 12 gauge pump-action shotgun and fatally shot Amedure at his mobile home in Lake Orion. [More details]

Immediately after the shooting, Schmitz called 911 — telling police he killed Amedure because he was embarrassed and had been humiliated on national television.

While the defense argued that Schmitz was manic-depressive and had been ambushed and then stalked by Amedure, Schmitz was found guilty of second degree murder by an Oakland County jury. On Sept. 14, 1999, he was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

Although he could have been imprisoned December 17, 2037, he was granted parole after a March hearing.