A former Ontario fire captain who murdered his wife and left her body inside a burning SUV has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.
James Schwalm, a 40-year-old Collingwood resident who once served with Brampton fire, was handed his sentence by Supreme Court Justice Michelle Fuerst in a Barrie courtroom Monday. Schwalm pled guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife, 40-year-old Ashley Schwalm, last June.
Ashley’s body was found inside a burning SUV that had left a road in Collingwood on Jan. 26, 2023. According to an agreed statement of facts (ASF) entered in court when Schwalm pled guilty, her body was found burned beyond recognition.
An autopsy found she was not alive at the time of the fire, and had died from physical trauma to her neck from strangulation. Police later alleged Schwalm murdered her and staged her death.
“His actions on the morning of Jan. 26, 2023, … were completely at odds of his responsibility as a firefighter to save lives, not take them,” Fuerst said Monday.
“Ashley Schwalm’s murder was an act of egregious selfishness; it was cold, callous and in many respects, calculated.”
The ASF showed the Collingwood couple — who were married for more than 10 years with two children by the time of the murder — were growing apart. In 2022, Schwalm learned his wife was having an affair with her boss, and the couple tried to repair their marriage by going to counselling.
Schwalm then began nurturing a relationship with the ex-wife of Ashley’s boss. Ten days before the murder, he told her he had romantic feelings for her, which she said was mutual. Just five days prior to the killing, Schwalm told her he had a made a decision that he was going to do what would make him happy.
Court heard that for two weeks before the slaying, Schwalm was assessing the financial implications of divorce. He also did internet searches about alimony, car fires and whether search histories are saved even when deleted. Ashley had a $1-million life insurance policy; her husband was the sole beneficiary.
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The night before her body was found, the couple got into a fight while their children, aged six and nine, slept. The couple’s son said he woke up to hear his parents arguing. His mother asked the boy to get her cell phone so she could call police. Schwalm told him to return to his bedroom.
Later around 3 a.m., the boy opened his door and saw his father crying. He saw his father putting on his coat and said he was taking the dog for a walk. Later, he noticed the dog was still in the sunroom.
James Schwalm was charged with first degree murder in February 2023 death of his wife Ashley Schwalm.
Courtesy of Brampton Fire Department X
Two days after her body was found, Schwalm told police he believed it was nothing more than a tragic crash and was cooperative with investigators. He said his wife had gone for an early morning hike and she hadn’t returned home. Schwalm pointed to text messages between him and Ashley and had an alibi, saying he had taken the dog for a walk just prior to her leaving.
In court, he admitted to driving his wife’s remains to the nearby Alpine ski club, dousing her in gasoline, driving the vehicle over an embankment and lighting the car on fire.
Second-degree murder, which Schwalm pled guilty to, carries a mandatory life sentence. The issue the judge had been facing was the period of parole ineligibility between 10 and 25 years.
In her sentencing submissions, Crown attorney Lynne Saunders suggested a period of parole ineligibility of 21 to 22 years would be appropriate. Saunders also suggested that Schwalm should not be allowed to have any contact with his children until they turn 18.
While Schwalm does not have a prior criminal record, Saunders called the circumstances of the case egregious, a horrific breach of trust and one that included research, planning, and execution. Saunders said it also took gall to sit there among the grieving while acting as a grief-stricken widow.
“He used his training as a firefighter as a tool towards hiding responsibility for her murder,” Saunders said.
“This is an astonishingly heartless performance trying to divert suspicion from himself, allowing him to play the role of the grieving husband.”
Defence lawyer Joelle Klein said a more appropriate period of parole ineligibility would be 13 to 14 years, saying Schwalm has taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty and saving the family from a trial.
Klein also said Schwalm should be allowed to have contact with his children when they turn 16 years old.
Fuerst ultimately ruled Schwalm have no contact with his children until they’re 18 years of age.
Schwalm addressed the court in November.
“I never thought I saw myself capable of these horrendous actions. I despise my actions and am haunted they continue to hurt the people I love and care for the most,” he said.
“This path is not one I thought I could ever take but it is where I shamefully and sadly have put and forced others. This is where I need and deserve to be because of my terrible awful actions.”
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