Schmidt to pay in wrongful death suit

APPLETON - A judge has awarded civil damages to the stepson of convicted killer Scott Schmidt.

The Appleton man is serving a life sentence for the 2009 death of his estranged wife Kelly Wing-Schmidt. Schmidt was sentenced more than a year ago, but appeared Wednesday in Outagamie County Court for the civil case.

The judge has ordered Schmidt to pay a total of $850,000 to his stepson and Kelly Wing-Schmidt's son, Noah Wing.

It's money Wing isn't expecting to see. But he says the suit wasn't only about finances. Wing told FOX 11 he misses his mother and said it was difficult to face the man who killed her. However, he and the judge wanted to make sure Schmidt can never write a book or do anything else to profit from Wing-Schmidt's death.

"Even if my family never sees any of the settlement that's fine with me, that's not what I was worried about," Wing said.

Schmidt was convicted of gunning his estranged wife down in their driveway in April of 2009. He represented himself in the civil suit and claims he has no assets. Schmidt told the court he drained his retirement and bank accounts to cover his legal bills.

"Kelly's not going to come back, none of us can bring her back and if anybody on this earth wishes she was back it'd be me," Schmidt said. "So I don't know what $500,000 is going to do."

While Schmidt called the settlement astronomical, Noah Wing was satisfied with it.

"He's going to spend the rest of his life doing nothing, thinking about it and having to live through what he's done and I get to walk out of here today and I get to spend the rest of my life with my family and take care of them and make sure that everything goes well for them," Wing said.

Schmidt is serving his life sentence at the Dodge County Correctional Institution. He told the court he is making 35 cents an hour there.

Schmidt will be eligible for parole in January of 2050 when he is 79 years old.