APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - A former Appleton fire-fighter who’s in prison for killing his estranged wife will not get a new criminal trial.

Outagamie County Circuit Judge John Des Jardins rejected Scott Schmidt’s request for a second trial.

He was given a life prison sentence with a chance for a supervised release in 2050, after he was convicted in the 2009 shooting death of Kelly Wing Schmidt outside the home they once shared west of Appleton.

The 40-year-old Schmidt claimed he was wrongfully barred from presenting a so-called “heat of passion” defense – and he was denied his right to meet with a lawyer before a major pre-trial hearing. Des Jardins rejected both arguments in a 15-page decision after he heard arguments in the case yesterday.

Recently, Schmidt lost a civil suit filed by a step-son