When Ratings Turn Fatal Pt. 1 | Murder: True Crime Stories

Summary

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Scams, Money, & Murder

When Ratings Turn Fatal Pt. 1 | Murder: True Crime Stories

Date: April 23, 2026
Hosts: Carter Roy & Vanessa Richardson

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, hosts Carter Roy and Vanessa Richardson peel back the curtain on the 1995 murder of Scott Amador—a case that exposed the dark underbelly of 1990s daytime television and questioned the cost of chasing ratings. Focusing on the infamous Jenny Jones Show taping that culminated in tragedy, the hosts examine how entertainment, manipulation, and personal vulnerability collided, setting the stage for a shocking crime. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise of Trash Talk TV in the 1990s

• Daytime Talk Show Culture:

  • The 1990s saw explosive growth in sensationalist daytime television.
  • Programs like Jenny Jones, Jerry Springer, and Ricki Lake thrived by pushing boundaries and blurring lines between “funny” and “cruel.”
  • Quote (Carter Roy, 00:48):

    "We all have a line, an invisible boundary between what's funny and what's cruel, between entertainment and exploitation. In the 1990s, daytime talk shows made a business out of erasing that line."

• Ambush Television:

  • The competitive ratings war fueled increasingly provocative, sometimes volatile programming.
  • "Ambush TV" became the norm, promising one experience to guests and delivering another, often at the expense of their dignity and privacy.

Introducing Scott Amador

• Background & Personality:

  • Born in 1963, youngest of six, moved to Michigan at age 5.
  • Dropped out of high school, joined the Air Force, served in Germany.
  • Came out as gay to his family during his service—a brave act during a deeply prejudiced era (“the mid-80s, that kind of acceptance was rare,” Carter Roy, 06:28).
  • Support at home:

    "The Amadors accepted Scott for who he was. In the 1980s, that kind of acceptance was rare." (Carter Roy, 06:30)

  • Worked in telecommunications, later became a bartender at a gay club (Club Flamingo) and struggled with substance abuse, attending rehab twice but remained beloved for his friendly, openhearted nature.

• Obsessed with Talk Shows:

  • Found comfort and excitement in daytime TV, drawn to its drama and spectacle.
  • Quote (Carter Roy, 10:23):

    "Talk show television became his new obsession. This was the mid-90s, the golden era of trash talk. TV hosts… competing for attention, trying to get the highest ratings by airing increasingly risque topics."

  • Dreamed of appearing on a show himself.

The Fateful Encounter

• The Meeting:

  • Early 1995: Scott meets Jonathan Schmitz, 24, through mutual friend Donna Riley.
  • Scott is immediately attracted and shares his crush with Donna, who encourages it—even engineering casual encounters at her apartment.

• Jonathan Schmitz’s Background:

  • Fourth of five children, raised in a strict household with an authoritarian father.
  • Known as a “relationship type” and had recently broken off an engagement, rumored to have occasionally visited Club Flamingo, though he never admitted to being gay.

The Jenny Jones Show Trap

• The Setup:

  • The Jenny Jones Show seeks participants for a “secret same-sex admirer” segment.
  • Scott contacts producers and volunteers himself and John, who remains unaware of the true premise.
  • Producers lure John with vague promises, suggesting his admirer “could be a man or a woman”—but at some point, he becomes convinced (possibly falsely assured by staff) that it’s a woman.

• The Manipulation:

  • John’s anticipation builds; he buys new clothes and is flown to Chicago, excited for a TV reveal, unaware he’s about to be publicly “outed.”

• The Stage is Set:

  • March 6, 1995:
    • Scott and Donna are on stage; John is kept backstage in a soundproof room, believing he’ll meet a female admirer.
    • The live audience is primed for drama.
    • Jenny Jones herself sets the tone with provocative questions.
    • Quote (Jenny Jones via Carter Roy, 28:58):

      "Now, which of these ways would you choose to reveal your secret crush on someone? A: Write a letter? B: Tell them in private? Or C: Tell them you’re gay and hope he is… on national television?"

The Televised Ambush: What Happens Onstage

• Scott’s On-Air Fantasies:

  • Scott, in the spotlight, shares playful and risqué fantasies about John, encouraged by Jenny Jones.
    • Quote (Scott via Carter Roy, 29:56):

      "He has a cute little hard body."

    • And about the “hammock fantasy”:

      "…tie John up to the hammock in his yard… whipped cream and champagne involved."

• John’s Reaction:

  • John enters, initially thinking Donna is his secret admirer.
  • The reveal: Jones announces it’s Scott; the audience laughs and cheers, but John is visibly uncomfortable.
  • He’s polite, plays along, but his forced smile and tense body language reveal his distress.
    • Quote (Carter Roy, 30:56):

      "It was clear to most people in the audience that John was uncomfortable. You could see it in his body language, the way his shoulders tensed and his smile didn't quite reach his eyes."

  • Jones continues pressing, replaying Scott’s fantasies. John, caught off-guard, admits he didn’t know Scott felt that way and affirms he’s heterosexual, again to audience amusement.

• Culture and Context:

  • The segment highlights 1990s attitudes—where coming out was taboo and gay crushes were treated as punchlines.
  • Only about a quarter of Americans supported gay marriage at the time (Carter Roy, 29:25).

The Aftermath—Setting Up Part 2

• Unseen Consequences:
  • The emotional fallout from this broadcast went far deeper than a TV prank.
  • Three days later, John Schmitz would murder Scott Amador—an act that forced the country to reconsider not just individual accountability, but the wider responsibility of media and the ethics of “ambush” entertainment.
  • The episode ends on a cliffhanger, promising to explore the court case and aftermath in Part 2.

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Notable Quotes

• On the morality of ratings-driven TV:

  "Ordinary people were promised their moment in the spotlight... Their most vulnerable secrets became spectacle, all in the name of ratings."
  — Carter Roy (00:48)

• On Scott's acceptance at home:

  "The Amadors accepted Scott for who he was. In the 1980s, that kind of acceptance was rare."
  — Carter Roy (06:30)

• On the thrill (and danger) of talk shows:

  "He loved watching people's most intimate details get spilled on national tv. He thought that maybe one day he would end up on a show like that."
  — Carter Roy (10:23)

• Jenny Jones’ setup to the audience:

  "Now, which of these ways would you choose to reveal your secret crush on someone? ... Or C: Tell them you’re gay and you hope he is? On national television."
  — Carter Roy as Jenny Jones (28:58)

• Recognition of John’s discomfort:

  "It was clear to most people in the audience that John was uncomfortable. You could see it in his body language, the way his shoulders tensed and his smile didn't quite reach his eyes."
  — Carter Roy (30:56)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:48: Carter Roy’s introduction; framing the episode and 1990s talk show culture
• 06:02: Scott Amador’s background—family, coming out, life as a young gay man
• 10:23: Scott’s fascination with talk shows and the allure of on-air spectacle
• 11:30–16:59: The first encounters between Scott and John, and how Donna tries to play matchmaker
• 16:59–22:00: John Schmitz’s background, rumors of sexuality, setup for the Jenny Jones Show
• 22:00–28:58: Behind the scenes of the Jenny Jones Show, producers’ manipulations, ambush setup
• 28:58–32:25: The taping: Scott’s revelations, John’s awkwardness, Jenny Jones’ handling, audience reaction
• 32:25–35:10: Episode wrap-up, foreshadowing tragedy and legal/cultural reckoning

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Memorable Moments

• Scott’s playful description of John on-air (“cute little hard body”; 29:56)
• John’s dawning realization and discomfort captured in his body language (30:56)
• Jenny Jones presenting personal crises as game show style drama (28:58)

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully outlines how 1990s TV exploited personal vulnerability for entertainment and introduces listeners to the real people whose lives were upended—permanently—by the chase for ratings. By zeroing in on Scott’s story and the fateful Jenny Jones taping, the hosts raise challenging questions about responsibility, media ethics, and the human cost of making private pain public.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where the aftermath, trial, and the media’s ultimate culpability are unpacked in depth.

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Transcript

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi listeners, it's Vanessa Richardson. Real quick, before today's episode, I want to tell you about another show from Crime House that I know you'll love. America's Most Infamous Crimes. Hosted by Katie Ring. Each week, Katie takes on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history. Serial killers who terrorized cities, unsolved mysteries that keep detectives up at night, and investigations that change the way we think about justice. Listen to and follow America's Most Infamous crimes Tuesday through Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Carter Roy]

This is crime house. We all have a line, an invisible boundary between what's funny and what's cruel, between entertainment and exploitation. In the 1990s, daytime talk shows made a business out of erasing that line. Ordinary people were promised their moment in the spotlight. They were pulled onto brightly lit stages and exposed in front of millions. Their most vulnerable secrets became spectacle, all in the name of ratings. But almost no one stopped to ask the question that mattered most. What happened after the cameras stopped rolling and the laughter faded? On March 6, 1995, the Jenny Jones show taped a segment about people revealing their same sex crushes. It was marketed as yet another episode in a long line of shocking reveals and embarrassing confrontations. Instead, it triggered a reckoning for the daytime talk show industry because three days later, one of the guests would be dead and the other would be charged with his murder. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come out every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Friday's episodes covering the cases that deserve a deeper look. And remember, those Friday episodes are also on YouTube with full video. Just search for Murder True Crime Stories and be sure to like and subscribe. Thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow the show and for ad free access to every episode. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This is the first of two episodes on the murder of 32 year old Scott Amador in Michigan in 1995. Today, I'll introduce you to Scott and dive into the culture of daytime talk television in the 1990s. Explain how Scott fell into the trap set by the Jenny Jones show and what happened on that Chicago stage in March 1995. Next time I'll cover the days after the taping and the moment when Scott's life came to an end. Then I'll follow the case into the courtroom. Lawyers debated whether the person who pulled the trigger was to blame or if the Jenny Jones show bore the brunt of the responsibility. All that and more coming up.

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[Carter Roy]

Scott Amador was born on January 26, 1963 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dad, Frank, was a truck driver and his mom, Patricia, was a factory worker. Scott was the baby of the family, the youngest of the couple's six children. When Scott was five, the family moved to Michigan. Two years later, in 1970, his parents got divorced. Scott was just seven and at that point he and his siblings spent most of their time living with their dad we don't know a whole lot about Scott's teenage years. All we know is that at 17 years old, he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Air Force. Scott was deployed to Germany, where he got his GED while training in satellite communications. In his free time, he learned to ski, which would ultimately be his downfall. After four years abroad, he broke his leg while skiing in Switzerland. After that, 21 year old Scott received an honorable discharge and was sent back stateside. Maybe the military gave him the structure he was looking for. Maybe it gave him an escape from his family. Or maybe it was just a job. But at some point while Scott was serving his country, something important happened. Something that would shape the rest of his life. He came out to his family. According to his brother, no one had an issue with Scott's sexuality. Not even their dad, who would have been the most old fashioned of the bunch. The Amadors accepted Scott for who he was. In the 1980s, that kind of acceptance was rare. This was an era when the US Military openly said that homosexuality was incompatible with service. Thousands of men were kicked out simply for being gay. About 17,000 over the course of the decade. So when Scott came out, he certainly didn't tell his superiors. He quietly let his family know. In most parts of the country, it was still legal to fire someone for their sexual orientation. The American Psychiatric association had only stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973, just about a decade before Scott came out. And then there was AIDS. And by the time Scott returned stateside in 1984, the epidemic was tearing through the gay community. Politicians and religious leaders called it the gay plague, using fear and misinformation to justify even more discrimination. Gay men were dying by the thousands, while the federal government said very little and did even less. It must have been a terrifying time to be a young gay man in America. But Scott had his family support. And for someone coming out in the mid-1980s, that meant everything. It meant he didn't have to hide at home. He had a place to be himself. So by the time 21 year old Scott returned to Michigan after his stint in the Air Force, he was an out and proud gay man. He wasn't hiding or pretending. He was just Scott. He was always there for his friends and family when they needed him. And deep down, Scott just wanted everyone to love him the way he loved them. Over the next few years, he tried to build a life for himself. In his early 20s, he got a job in the telecommunications industry. He stuck with it for a few years the work was fine and the money was okay. It paid the bills, but it just wasn't who he was. So eventually, Scott let it go. And by his late 20s, he'd found something that suited him better. He became a bartender at Club Flamingo, a gay club in Pontiac, Michigan, about 20 minutes away from where he lived in Lake Orion. He was friendly, charming, and good at making conversation. He especially loved the social side of the job. Getting to know the regulars, falling into a rhythm, feeling connected. But that didn't mean life was easy. At some point along the way, Scott struggled with substance abuse issues, specifically cocaine. It's not clear when it started or how bad things got, but we know Scott went to rehab twice, trying to get it under control. And once he was back home, focused on staying clean. Talk show television became his new obsession. This was the mid-90s, the golden era of trash talk. TV hosts like Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones competed for attention, trying to get the highest ratings by airing increasingly risque topics. Episodes of Jerry Springer included I Want to Confront my Pimp and I slept with 251 men in 10 hours. Jenny Jones counter programmed with episodes like I Don't Want My Daughter to Date Interracially, I Hate My Own Race and My Teens Too Hot. The shows got messy fast, sometimes even violent. Participants were often manipulated into either divulging or learning uncomfortable information. Secrets were spilled, confrontations erupted, and no matter what, the cameras kept rolling. Scott loved it all. He would call up friends to gush about what the talk show hosts were covering that day. He loved watching people's most intimate details get spilled on national tv. He thought that maybe one day he would end up on a show like that. He had no idea that a chance encounter would bring him one step closer to making that dream come true. In early 1995, 32 year old Scott was on his way to see one of his brothers who lived nearby in the Manitou Lane apartments. The two story complex was home to a lot of friendly faces, including one of Scott's good friends, 32 year old Donna Riley. Scott was always in and out of the place, dropping by and hanging out with either her or his brother. That day, Scott happened to notice a young man fixing Donnah's car in the parking lot. Technically, he just saw the bottom half of the stranger, but Scott was intrigued. So he went over to introduce himself. The man emerged from underneath the car and said hi back. It was 24 year old Jonathan Schmitz, or just John as his friends called him. He was one of Donna's friends. Scott thought John was cute, and knowing Scott, he probably did a little flirting with John right then and there. Maybe he gave him some tips on the car, since Scott was a bit of a handyman himself. Or maybe he just cracked a joke, flashed a smile and moved on. However it went down, Scott told Donna about the encounter. Later, he must have asked what she knew about John. And because that's what you do when you meet someone who catches your eye, you ask questions and find out more. Donna didn't know if John was into guys. She said John's family had questioned him about his sexuality, but John had never come out to her or anyone else as far as she was aware. Still, she thought it would be great if her two friends got together together. She liked Scott. She liked John. What was the worst that could happen?

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[Carter Roy]

I'm Carter Roy, host of Murder True Crime Stories. If you listen to true crime because you want more than just what happened, this show is for you. On Murder True Crime Stories, we take deep dives into history's most notorious murders. But we don't stop at the crime scene. We look beyond the headlines to understand the real story and the people who are impacted the most. Because these cases aren't just mysteries. They're lives. Families, communities that were changed forever. Whether a case is solved or unsolved, my goal is for you to walk away understanding why these stories still matter and why they deserve to be told with care. Each episode explores the darkest corners of true crime while keeping the focus where it belongs. On the human cost. New episodes drop every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Follow Murder True Crime Stories on Apple, podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen.

[Vanessa Richardson]

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[Carter Roy]

You're lucky to make it out alive.

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[Vanessa Richardson]

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[Carter Roy]

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[Carter Roy]

In early 1995, 32 year old Scott Amador met 24 year old Jonathan Schmitz through mutual friend 32 year old Donna Riley. Scott told Donna that he had a crush on John and she encouraged Scott to pursue him. She even staged accidental run ins between the two at her apartment just to see if there was a spark there. Over the next month or so, Scott learned more. He found out that John was a waiter at a local restaurant called Fox and Hounds. He was a big outdoors guy, hunting, fishing, that kind of thing. He was the fourth of five kids and his family had lived in Michigan his entire life. John's mom stayed home to take care of the children while his dad Allen was a woodworker. Allen was also very strict and believed in physical punishment. One time he spanked John with a belt, supposedly in front of his sixth grade class. It was difficult to navigate, especially since John was just a kid, but he managed to find his footing as a teenager in high school. All the girls loved him, but he never played the field. He always had a steady girlfriend and was definitely the relationship type. After graduating from high school in 1987, John stayed in Michigan. He even got engaged and moved in with his fiance. Her name has been kept private, so we don't know much about her relationship with John or how they met. But at some point, they decided to break things off. Supposedly, they both agreed they were too young and just weren't ready for marriage. It was a mutual decision with no hard feelings. They even stayed close afterward. However, some people have speculated there was another reason for the breakup. Several patrons at Club Flamingo, the gay club where Scott bartended, claimed to have seen John at the club walking around scoping things out. If that was true, he and Scott never crossed paths there. But if Scott had heard the rumors about John showing up at the club, he might have been encouraged to pursue John even more. Because if John really was closeted, maybe the two of them stood a chance. Scott saw an opportunity to find out once and for all while watching an episode of the Jenny Jones Show. The talk show was looking for people who wanted to reveal their same sex crush on live tv. It was the kind of segment that Scott loved to watch and now he could be part of it. He decided to call the number he pitched himself and explained the situation with John. Then he waited for the them to make a decision. Soon a producer called him back. They were interested in having him and John on the show. For Scott, this was the best of both worlds. He was an adventurous Person who was down to try anything. Not to mention he loved talk shows, especially Jenny Jones. He'd always wanted to be in the spotlight. Now Scott could tell John how he really felt and make his TV debut. In the process, John had a very different reaction. After speaking to Scott, producers from the Jenny Jones show called John out of the blue. They told him they were running a program dedicated to secret admirers. If he agreed, they would fly him to Chicago, where the show was filmed. There, his secret admirer would be revealed in front of a studio audience. The producers told John the secret admirer could either be a man or a woman. But it's not clear if John was really processing what they were saying. It was all a bit overwhelming for him, and John told the producers he would have to think about it. But internally, he was leaning toward saying no. His friends and co workers convinced him otherwise. John and his fiance had called off their engagement in the fall. Months had gone by, and they thought it was time for John to put himself back out there. This could be his fresh start, his big moment. At that point, John started reconsidering. But before saying yes, he wanted to figure out who put him up to this. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was either Donna or Scott. He lived below Donna, so he went upstairs to her apartment. He asked if she had any big plans, like maybe going to Chicago next Monday. Donna pretended like she had no idea what he was talking about. She said she wasn't planning on going to Chicago anytime soon. When John questioned Scott, he said the same thing. He had other plans. John believed them, which made him think that maybe there really was a secret admirer out there. It didn't matter that he'd been told the person could be a man or a woman. John started daydreaming about his perfect girl, someone who'd been there all along, just waiting for the right moment to tell him how she felt. Soon, he called the producers of the Jenny Jones show back and told them he was in. After that, John went out and spent about $300 on new clothes. He wanted to look good for the taping. Then, on Sunday, March 5, 1995, he flew to Chicago for the Jenny Jones show. By 1995, the Jenny Jones show was firmly entrenched in the daytime talk show ecosystem and competing for survival within it. The show hadn't started out that way. When it premiered in 1991, Jenny Jones operated more like a traditional daytime program. Cooking segments, fashion tips, celebrity interviews. It was safe and inoffensive, but crucially easy to ignore. That version of the show didn't last very long. By its second season, the format shifted to keep pace with what was working elsewhere. The focus became single issue. Episodes built around everyday people and their personal lives. Oftentimes, the subjects were what producers called relational transgressions. We're talking infidelity, family drama, secret crushes, Stories that could be teased in a sentence and escalated on camera. Jenny Jones wasn't operating in a vacuum. She was up against Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Sally Jesse Raphael, Maury Povich, Oprah. All of them were chasing the same daytime audience and the ratings that went along with them. And in the ratings war, winning meant going bigger, louder and more shocking. By the mid-90s, the competition had pushed the genre toward what critics called ambush. TV shows promised participants one experience, then delivered something much more volatile. Once the cameras were rolling and the Jenny Jones show became especially well known for this approach, Producers encouraged big reactions and uncomfortable reveals. The appeal was watching real people process emotional landmines in real time. For viewers, it was unpredictable entertainment. For networks, it was great business. And for people like Scott Amador, it was an opportunity to be part of the spectacle himself. But then there was John, who wasn't really aware of any of that. He wasn't a talk show fan like Scott. He didn't know about the staged confrontations or the tricks producers used to get reactions. He was just a 24 year old man who thought he was about to meet the woman of his dreams. Because according to John, at that point, a staff member had assured him that his secret admirer was in fact a woman. In John's head, there was no reason to doubt them. Why would they lie? This is a real TV show with professionals at the helm. John was so excited that he started jumping up and down on his hotel bed like a kid on Christmas morning. He called another friend to say he couldn't wait. By the time Monday morning came, John was still riding that high. He waited in a soundproof room backstage, knees bouncing, feet tapping, heart racing. He was moments away from meeting his mystery woman. Then a producer came to his room and grabbed him. It was time. John could hardly contain his smile as they led him to the stage. But when he stepped out in front of the studio audience, his stomach turned. That's when he realized this was not what he'd signed up for.

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[Carter Roy]

On March 6, 1995, the Jenny Jones show taped an episode titled Secret Crushes on people of the same sex. Producers brought 32 year old Scott Amador and his friend, 32 year old Donna Riley from Michigan to the show Chicago studio. They flew 24 year old Jonathan Schmitz out. Separately. Everyone but John knew what was about to go down. While John was sequestered in a soundproof room backstage, pacing, waiting, his heart hammering with excitement, Scott and Donna took their seats in front of the studio audience. The air in the room buzzed with anticipation. The audience knew they were about to watch something messy unfold and they couldn't wait. Jennie Jones stood among them. Wearing a yellow suit, her hair perfectly blown out, she looked like someone's nice mom. She smiled like it too. If you met her on the street, you might describe her as warm or approachable. But Jones was a woman who knew how to stir up drama in the name of ratings. She spoke to the camera first, priming the audience for what they were about to witness. This was her opening statement. Now, which of these ways would you choose to reveal your secret crush on someone? A Would you write that person a letter? B Would you tell that person in private in case he rejects you? Or C Would you tell that person that you're gay and you hope he is? On national television, the audience erupted in cheers and laughter. Some held their hands over their mouths. Others turned to their friends and started gossiping and this was 1995. Fewer people came out of the closet. Only a fourth of Americans supported gay marriage. The prospect of having a gay crush and revealing it on TV was shocking and provocative. Jones played right into that. With her audience on edge, Jones turned her attention to Scott and Donna on stage. She started asking Scott questions about John. How had they met? What were Scott's first thoughts about him? And did John know that Scott was gay? Scott confirmed that yes, John knew Scott was gay. But Scott and Donna weren't sure about John's sexuality. Then Scott smiled and shrugged and said, anything's possible. The studio audience ate that up. After that, Jones tried to get Scott to share his fantasies about John. Although honestly, it didn't take much. Scott was soaking up the spotlight, loving every minute of it. He still didn't know how John would respond. But Scott figured, worst case, it would be a joke they could all laugh about later. So Scott played into Jones's hands. When she asked him what was so interesting about John, Scott said, quote, he has a cute little hard body. The audience laughed and Scott kept going, saying that he wanted to just pick John up and put him in his cabinet to dust off whenever he wanted. Then Jones asked about sexual fantasies and Scott delivered. He talked about wanting to tie John up to the hammock in his yard. Then he added that there would be whipped cream and champagne involved. The audience was hooked up, which meant it was time for Jones to bring John out. The moment John stepped onto that stage, everything changed. John gave Donna a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then a one armed half hearted hug to Scott. At that point, it seemed like John believed Donna was the one with a crush on him. That's when Jones drop the bombshell. It wasn't Donna who had the secret crush on John, it was Scott. John laughed it off, but it was clear to most people in the audience that John was uncomfortable. You could see it in his body language, the way his shoulders tensed and his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. So of course, Jenny Jones pushed his buttons. She played back a clip from a few minutes earlier, the one where Scott was elaborating on his fantasies. John listened as Scott detailed the hammock fantasy. The camera cut back to John. His face was frozen in that same forced smile. Jones asked what he thought. John admitted he had no idea that Scott liked him like that. Then Jones asked about John's relationship status. He said he was not seeing anyone, but was definitely heterosexual. The audience laughed and clapped. John just sat there trying to hold it together. The rest of the segment followed a similar pattern. John was still uncomfortable but played ball. He was polite and didn't make a scene. At the end. Scott said it was fine that John didn't have feelings for him. Jones laughed along with the audience and said that at the very least, Scott had paid John a nice compliment. She made it sound harmless, just some light fun. But that wasn't how John saw it, and three days later he would show the world how he really felt about being ambushed on live tv. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for part two on the murder of Scott Amador and all the people of it affected. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media crime house on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcast Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free. We'll be back on Thursday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzofsky, Sarah Camp, Alex Burns and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.

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