The former Mountie charged with murdering his common-law wife in Penticton will stay behind bars until his trial.
Keith Wiens applied for bail Wednesday, but B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Rogers turned him down. Relatives and friends of Lynn Kalmring were pleased with the decision.
"The pain in my gut is gone for today," Kalmring's sister Shelley Pertelson said outside the Kelowna Law Courts. "I was scared what (the judge) was going to say, but as soon as he said it, I just looked at (Wiens) - like, there you go. Really, it's a big relief."
Wiens, 57, was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Kalmring, 55, at their home on South Main Street on Aug. 16, 2011. Originally granted bail, he was arrested last January for breaching the terms of his recognizance months earlier.
The retired RCMP officer now sports a goatee and has let his grey hair grow down to his shoulders. A court-ordered ban forbids his lawyer's arguments and the judge's reasons from publication.
A jury will begin hearing the three-week trial in Kelowna the week of May 27.
Wiens was born and raised in Penticton. He worked as a Mountie for 20 years in Summerland before returning to the Peach City, where he worked as a school-bus driver.
Kalmring's daughter and other relatives also live there. Since her death, the family made 1,000 buttons with her picture and handed petitions to MP Dan Albas demanding changes to the justice system.