Jonathan Schmitz \nPONTIAC, MI - He killed the man who revealed a gay crush on him during a Jenny Jones Show taping. He was tried and convicted twice for the crime, with the first conviction thrown out over jury selection issues. Now he's going to prison for 25-50 years. And his defense will appeal once again.
Jonathan Schmitz apologized to Scott Amadure's family and asked for God's forgiveness before an Oakland County Circuit Court Judge sentenced him for the 1995 shotgun killing.
"The sentence of this court will rob you of your youth," Judge Wendy Potts told the defendant. Amedure's mother wept in open court while asking the judge to give Schmitz a long term. The sentence was the same sentence he received after his first conviction.
Schmitz's defense plans an appeal again. Attorney Jerome Sabbota had asked for no more than fifteen years for his client. He says he'll appeal on ground the jury should have been allowed to hear evidence about Schmitz's alcoholism and suicidal behavior.
He was convicted at his re-trial last month for killing Amedure three days after the Jenny Jones Show taping. Amedure had revealed a homosexual crush on Schmitz, a heterosexual.
The Amedure family was awarded $25 million in a wrongful-death suit against the show's corporate parent, Warner Brothers, and CNN Interactive.
