Jenny Jones Show Murder Retrospective: Complete Timeline from 1995 Taping to Povich's Comments
By James H. Sterling
The studio audience roared with laughter, but the psychological unraveling began before Schmitz even landed back in Detroit. While Amedure viewed the taping as an adventurous gesture, Schmitz spiraled into acute humiliation, convinced his family, friends, and coworkers would mock him once the segment aired. Although the episode never aired on broadcast television, news broadcasts played the raw studio footage millions of times following the murder.
On the morning of March 9, 1995, Schmitz discovered a suggestive calling-card note from Amedure left at his apartment. The note shattered whatever fragile composure Schmitz retained. He drove to a local bank, withdrew cash, purchased a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun along with ammunition, and drove directly to Amedure's trailer at the Independence Mobile Home Park in Lake Orion, Michigan.
Schmitz confronted Amedure outside the mobile home, returned to his vehicle to retrieve the shotgun, and fired two point-blank rounds into Amedure's chest. Amedure died almost instantly. Schmitz walked to a nearby gas station payphone, dialed 911, and surrendered to dispatchers, plainly stating he had killed a man who had humiliated him on national television.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
