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Jonathan Schmitz: The Jenny Jones Murder, And Legal Insan

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Jonathan Schmitz: The Jenny Jones Murder, and Legal Insanity On March 6, 1995, the Jenny Jones show recorded an episode on secret crushes, where a gay man named Scott Amedure confessed to having a crush on a long time friend Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz, at the time the revelation was confessed, seemed to display no issues of the news his friend just shared, so it was a surprise to find out that merely three days later Scott Amedure was shot and murdered on the front stairs of his home by none other than his “secret crush”, Jonathan. Reports say that days after the show was recorded, Schmitz found a suggestive letter left taped to his door by Amedure, and it set him off to a “temporary case of insanity” where he ended up purchasing a shotgun as well as some ammunition, returned to the residence where his associate lived, and shot him after he answered. Later, in the case of “The Jenny Jones Murder” defense lawyers used “Grave’s Disease” (autoimmune disorder which leads to over activity of the thyroid gland) and the Gay Panic Defense (panic caused by the threat of homosexuality resulting in assault or murder caused by temporary insanity) to alleviate punishment to their client. Both excuses were under the demise that their client, Mr. Schmitz, was insane at the moment of the crime, …show more content…

The legal definition of insanity differs from the medical definition of insanity, and due to this, there have been ongoing debates on whether or not

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