Jonathan Schmitz was convicted Thursday afternoon in his retrial for killing a gay acquaintance who revealed a crush on him during a taping of The Jenny Jones Show.
Daytime television's racy repertoire and occasional ambush tactics came under a heavy spotlight by way of the Schmitz case. He was convicted in his first trial in 1996, but the conviction was subsequently thrown out based on errors in jury selection.
Schmitz, who says he was heterosexual and felt humiliated when he discovered his secret admirer was not a woman, could get life behind bars for the murder. He faces sentencing 14 September.
In between his two murder trials, producers for The Jenny Jones Show were ordered to pay the Amadeure family $25 million in a lawsuit the family brought against the show.
CourtTV reports the Amadure family expressed relief with Schmitz's conviction at retrial but still holds The Jenny Jones Show ultimately responsible for the killing.
The second murder trial jury deliberated less than three hours over two days, asking among other things to see a note with a blinking light attached said to be left by Amadure on Schmitz's door the night before the killing. Yet the panel rejected Schmitz's crime of passion defense, citing the time between the show taping and the killing.
The show in question was titled "Same Sex Secret Crushes". The audience howled with approval when Jones drew out Amadure's fantasy involving Schmitz, who turned away when Amadure put an arm around him. Schmitz claimed he had been humiliated by the encounter.
Another factor in the second trial was Schmitz's defense not being allowed to bring up his history of depression and attempted suicide as a factor in the Amadure killing. Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota, says the Associated Press, did not blame The Jenny Jones Show nor call Jones herself to testify - as she had done in the first murder trial and the lawsuit.
Sabbota had sought a manslaughter verdict, arguing Amadure kept up his pursuit of Schmitz after the Jones taping. But prosecutor Donna Pendergast argued successfully that Schmitz had overreacted to simple embarrassment.
Just as the controversy over stage and audience violence has put a dent in The Jerry Springer Show's ratings, the Amadure killing has affected the ratings of The Jenny Jones Show, which critics often say runs a close second to Springer for racy and quasi-pornographic subject content.
