Ex-Brampton fire captain should face at least 21 years in prison for killing wife, Crown says

Ashley Schwalm's friends and family say they are still traumatized by her death at hands of her firefighter husband nearly two years after she was killed, a Barrie court heard Monday. 

James Schwalm, a former fire captain with the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, pleaded guilty in Superior Court this June in the death of his wife Ashley, whose burned body was found in an SUV in the Blue Mountains in January 2023.

Schwalm strangled his wife inside their Collingwood home, then attempted to make it look like she had been involved in a crash, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted in the case.

The packed court heard several emotional victim impact statements from Ashley's friends and family, who spoke about their trauma, loss and feelings of betrayal in the wake of her killing.

Among those to speak Monday was Ashley's brother David Milnes, who told the court Ashley was his best friend and a great mother who would go above and beyond for her children. 

"All she ever wanted was for them to be safe and have a wonderful life. That was all taken away on January 26 because of greed, narcissism, lack of empathy and selfish behaviour," Milnes said at the hearing before Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst. 

Milnes and his wife, Tia, told the court they are now the legal guardians of Schwalm's children, who are stilling struggling to cope with the "unimaginable" trauma of losing their mother and how she died. 

"How does a father kill their children's mother and do it with them in the house? I hope her screaming haunts him constantly," Milnes said. 

Others told the court about how the murder made them fearful and anxious to this day. 

Carrie Dyson, said her life had "changed forever" because of her friend Ashley's death. 

"I am lost. I used to be a relatively care-free, happy and social person. I am no longer that person," she said. 

Dyson said she has nightmares about her friend's murder and lives with constant anxiety. 

"He has taken my carefreeness away from me. I don't feel safe. I am always on edge." 

Murder made to look like car crash 

According to the statement of facts in the case, Schwalm strangled his wife then dressed her in hiking clothes and placed her body in the SUV she regularly used to drive to work.

In the early morning of Jan. 26, while the couple's children were still asleep, Schwalm then drove the SUV with his wife's body inside from their Collingwood home to the area of the Alpine Ski club, according to court documents.

Schwalm proceeded to drive the car off the road to make it look like it had been involved in a crash, the court documents say, before covering the inside of the vehicle and his dead wife's body with gas and lighting it, then taking off.

Schwalm was arrested about a week later. 

A forensic pathologist's investigation later revealed that she was not alive at the time of the fire, but instead had died of neck compressions.

Crown asking for at least 21 years in prison 

Following the victim impact statements, lawyers in the case presented their arguments for how long Schwalm should spend behind bars before he has a chance at parole.

The minimum sentence for second-degree murder in Canada is life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years, but sentences can be as long as life in prison without parole for 25 years.

Crown prosecutor Lynne Saunders argued Schwalm should serve 21 to 22 years in prison before he is eligible for parole because of the brutal nature of the murder. 

By contrast, Schwalm's defence counsel, Joelle Klein, asked for parole eligibility after 13 to 14 years in prison, arguing his client is remorseful and has taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty. 

During the hearing, Schwalm told the judge he's "haunted" by what he's done and the fact that it continues to hurt people he loves.

"This is where I need to be, deserve to be, because of my terrible, awful actions," he told the court. 

Justice Fuerst is scheduled to deliver Schwalm's sentence on Feb. 10, 2025.