A US jury has convicted a guest on a television talk show of second degree murder for killing a gay man who revealed a crush on him during the programme.
The defendant, Jonathan Schmitz (26), blinked as the guilty verdict was read on Tuesday, but showed little emotion as he was led away in handcuffs, saying "It's OK," to his mother.
Schmitz admitted shooting Mr Scott Amedure twice on March 9th, 1995, three days after Amedure revealed during a taping of the Jenny Jones talk show in Chicago that he had a crush on Schmitz.
In a five week trial that held TV talk shows up to public scrutiny, the jury rejected a first degree murder conviction in the shotgun death of 32 year old Amedure, which would have carried a mandatory life sentence.
Sentencing was scheduled for December 4th, but the verdict means Schmitz is not likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.
The show was never broadcast, but it was replayed for the jury and portions of it were repeated on television news programmes.
In it, Schmitz appeared surprised when Amedure, an acquaintance and neighbour, revealed his affections. But he was seen laughing, then burying his face in his hands and telling the audience he was not homosexual.
"There's no way that he's going to end up getting enough time to justify what happened to Scott," said Amedure's brother, Frank. He said his family intended to pursue a $25 million (£10 million) lawsuit against the show and producer Telepictures, a unit of Warner Brothers.
"None of this would have happened but for the Jenny Jones show exploiting homosexuality, a sensitive issue," Mr Frank Amedure said.
In a statement, Telepictures declined to comment on the verdict but added it "doesn't lessen the sadness and sorrow we feel about the senseless murder of Scott Amedure and the pain and sorrow his family and friends have been suffering".
Schmitz's family blamed the Jenny Jones show for the tragedy. "I hope this changes the talk shows. They are rotten," Schmitz's grandfather, Mr Walter Schmitz, told WXYZ-TV, calling Ms Jones "the triggerman".