Ex-Ontario firefighter pleads guilty to wife’s murder after body found in flaming car

a former Bramton fire captain charged with murdering his wife and staging her death in a car accident has pleaded guilty in a Barry courtroom the crown prosecutor read out how the former Bramton fire captain had an elaborate plan to kill his wife and how he tried to cover it up he dressed her in hiking clothes while the couple’s two young children slept he drove her from the family home and Callingwood to a nearby ski area before driving the vehicle down a hill and setting it on fire with his wife inside it was just before 6:00 a.m. on January 26th 2023 when Blue Mountain Fire Services responded to a vehicle that had left Arrowhead Road and was fully on fire when police arrived they found a body inside the Mitsubishi burned beyond recognition dental records confirmed it was 40-Year-Old Ashley schwam a mother of two who was married to Bramton fire Captain James schwam schwam pleaded guilty Thursday to the second degree murder of his wife the cause of death neck compress question s not related to the crash the autopsy revealed Ashley was dead before her exposure to the fire he tried his best to fool the police that would be investigating her death family and friends sat in disbelief as the facts of the case were read out and a marriage in disrepair cour heard Ashley began having an affair with her boss in early 2022 by April when it was discovered the couple tried to fix their marriage they went for counseling and Ashley got a new job but by Christmas James told her that it wasn’t working out turns out that he was nurturing a relationship with the ex-wife of the man that Ashley had been having an affair with and just days before he killed his wife James told the other woman that he had feelings for her Court her the night before Ashley was found in the burnt out car the couple had a fight in the family’s Callingwood home and their children who were six and nine woke up to hear their parents fighting according to the facts the mother asked one of the children to call police what happened after that the child was asked to go to bed go back to his bedroom and and that’s what he did by the father Yes cour James schwam lied to police say his wife had gone for a hike early that morning after he had taken the dog for a walk he even sent text messages to himself from Ashley’s phone all in an attempt to cover his tracks then you looked at his phone and you looked at video surveillance how important was that to this case well was very important obviously it uh contradicted what was uh what was said to us and Court her that Ashley had two life insurance policies one for $250,000 for the children and one for a million dollars in which James was the sole beneficiary uh also on the cell phone police found that James schwam had done searches about the financial implications of divorce he also searched up ways to start a fire without uh being detected without evidence of starting a fire this from a Brampton fire captain police also found a lighter at the scene with the initials jws on it James schwam middle name was William a sentencing hearing has been set for September at which time Victim Impact statements will be read out back to you the details are chilling in this case thank you for that Katherine

A Collingwood man has pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife after her body was found inside a burning SUV more than a year ago.

In a Barrie courtroom Thursday afternoon, James Schwalm pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Ashley Schwalm.

On Jan. 26, 2023, Ontario Provincial Police found a wrecked SUV on Arrowhead Road in Collingwood, which was on fire. Police found Ashley’s body inside the vehicle, and later alleged James – a former Brampton fire captain – murdered her and staged her death.

On Feb. 3 police charged him with second-degree murder and indignity to a dead body. On Feb. 17, the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.

In court Thursday, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

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