Tragedy Follows TV `Confession' -- Gay Man Fatally Shot After Revealing `Crush'

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - When John Schmitz went to Chicago to tape a segment of "The Jenny Jones Show" on Monday, he was told he'd be meeting a secret admirer.

Walking onstage, he saw his friend Donna Riley, who lived in his Orion Township, Mich., apartment complex, and her friend Scott Amedure, 32. Schmitz, 24, leaned over and kissed Riley, believing her to be the admirer.

Then, according to police and friends of Schmitz, Jenny Jones told him that it was Amedure who had the secret attraction and the show was about "men who have crushes on other men."

Schmitz told the audience that he was heterosexual and politely maintained his composure for the rest of the taping, police and neighbors said. But Schmitz really was embarrassed, Oakland County Sheriff's Lt. Bruce Naile said yesterday.

And sometime before 11 a.m. yesterday, Amedure was shot twice in the chest at his home in Orion Township, Mich. He died before paramedics arrived.

Schmitz was arraigned today on charges of first-degree murder and using a firearm in a felony. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he was ordered held without bail pending another hearing April 4.

Naile said Schmitz told him his experience on the show had "eaten away" at him and that the final provocation was an unsigned note he found at his home yesterday that he assumed was left by Amedure.

"It was Scott's idea to go on the show; he had a crush on John," said Laurie Caddick, a friend of Amedure and Riley. "It was all in fun, you know. We're just so shocked."

Officials with "The Jenny Jones Show" did not return telephone calls.

Telepictures Productions released a statement saying "we are shocked and saddened" by the shooting. The episode is not scheduled for broadcast.

Neighbors and family members said Amedure had been a previous victim of violence. Men beat him and smashed his truck several months ago, they said.

George Gerbner, dean emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, said that in his 30 years of studying television and violence he had never heard of such a case.

"It's a bizarre situation," Gerbner said. "Of course, it fits in with the bizarre phenomenon of these talk shows that select out the most unusual behaviors - expose people and give a very twisted sense of reality."

It was unclear what the Jenny Jones staff told Schmitz about the show's topic.

Gerbener said if they participated in a ruse, "that is a highly dangerous and unethical activity. It is reprehensible if they did that. . . . Being on television, especially being exposed on television, is a highly explosive situation."

Jones, a former rock drummer and stand-up comic, landed her talk show three years ago. After initially dismal ratings, this season the show is challenging "Ricki Lake" for second place behind the queen of daytime talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.

In an interview last month, Jones said she and her producers made a conscious decision two years ago not to do sensational topics. "We try to use a little restraint," Jones told the newspaper. "In the end, we'd like to think people can get some help (from watching)." Information from Associated Press is included in this report.