Spookie Williams

In 1995 a 24-year-old man went to Chicago to be on a TV talk show because someone had a secret crush on him. He was sure it was a girl. On stage, with the audience cheering, he found out it was his neighbor Scott Amedure, who had just told the cameras his sexual fantasies about him. He laughed it off. Three days later he bought a shotgun and killed him. He sat on that stage smiling and laughing the whole time. Everyone watching thought he was in on the joke. In the video below is the real footage from the episode, which never aired, and the moment Jonathan Schmitz finds out who his secret admirer is. Watch his face. The episode was called "Revealing Same Sex Secret Crush." Producers never told him the admirer was a man. Years later, under oath, Jenny Jones admitted the show didn't want him to know. Scott went out first. He was 32, a bartender, and he talked about Jonathan while the crowd hooted. Then Jonathan walked out, saw who was sitting there and forced a smile. He told the audience he was completely heterosexual. They laughed right along with him. After the taping the three of them went out together like nothing had happened. Three days later Jonathan found a note on his door that he took as a come-on. He bought a 12-gauge shotgun, drove to Scott's trailer and shot him twice in the chest. Then he called 911 and told them what he'd done. The episode did finally air in 1996, on Court TV, as part of the trial. He got 25 to 50 years and walked out in 2017. A jury ordered the show to pay Scott's family $25 million. An appeals court took it away. Who really killed Scott Amedure: the man who pulled the trigger, or the show that walked him into that room for ratings?