Ashley Schwalm case on Dateline – A complete timeline of events

In Collingwood, Ontario, 40-year-old Ashley Schwalm’s charred remains were found on January 26, 2023, in a burning SUV off a remote road. The tragedy was initially believed to be an accident, but she had been strangled by her husband, former fire captain James Schwalm. He staged the scene to cover his tracks and attempt to claim a $1 million life insurance payout.

The case became one of betrayal and deception within the community and exposed that his marriage to Ashley involved mutual affairs and mounting debt.

The case was explored in NBC Dateline‘s two-hour special Running Man, aired on November 14, 2025, on NBC. It is available for streaming on Peacock, with replays on NBC.com.

Dateline: Background of Ashley Schwalm and James Schwalm (Pre-2023)

Ashley Milnes Schwalm was a Toronto girl who attended Dalhousie University and then pursued a career in interior design and project management. She founded her home-staging company, which was launched in 2011, and later started working as a construction coordinator. Athletic and outgoing, she loved tennis, running, and cheering for the Green Bay Packers, as per Toronto Life.

James Schwalm was from one of Toronto’s best-known families. He was enlisted in the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, where he rose to the rank of captain while focusing on community programs such as smoke alarm checks.

They met via a ski club and got married in 2012. The couple settled in Collingwood with their two small children, a son and a daughter, and their dog, Rocco, in a Tudor-style, red-brick house that overlooked hiking trails, as reported by Toronto Life.

Tensions began to develop in 2021 when Ashley Schwalm initiated an affair with her boss, and their marriage underwent counseling. More than two weeks before the murder, James researched how much divorce costs and what type of alimony he would be saddled with, plus car fires, before deleting his history.

Ashley Schwalm had $1 million in life insurance, with James as beneficiary. These were among the frictions that led to this tragedy; however, to the outside world, everything seemed fine in the family, according to Toronto Life.

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The night of the murder (January 25-26, 2023)

On January 25, 2023, Ashley Schwalm managed school drop-offs and work, while James ran errands after a night shift and scouted a ski club parking lot. That evening, he took the kids to activities before returning home for dinner. Shortly after bedtime, the couple had a fight upstairs while the kids slept.

Their nine-year-old son woke up hearing the shouting, got Ashley’s phone at her request, probably to call 911. However, James sent the boy to bed, proceeding to strangle Ashley Schwalm in the hallway for about five minutes with neck compression until she was no longer breathing, according to Toronto Life.

At approximately 3 am, the boy saw James crying and getting ready to leave, saying something about walking a dog, yet the dog was not taken along. James dressed Ashley in hiking gear, loaded her body into her Mitsubishi Outlander SUV, and drove to Arrowhead Road near the Alpine Ski Club.

He poured gasoline into the car, faked texts from her phone about a hike and vertigo, rolled the vehicle into a ditch, tossed in a lighter, and lit it at around 5:45 a.m. to simulate an accident. James used his knowledge of firefighting to ensure a quick burn, according to Toronto Life.

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Discovery of the body (January 26, 2023)

At approximately 6 a.m. on January 26, 2023, a driver spotted flames emanating from the ditch on Arrowhead Road and called 911, reporting a strong gasoline smell and the sound of burning rubber. Blue Mountain firefighters extinguished the blaze on the black Mitsubishi Outlander, wedged against rocks. Inside the passenger footwell, they found a charred human body, too damaged for immediate identification.

Police noted the license plate linked to James and Ashley Schwalm of Collingwood. Snow footprints from the driver’s door led away from the scene, mismatched to Ashley’s boot size, suggesting someone else was present at the scene. No skid marks or collision damage appeared on the vehicle, as per Toronto Life.

James, meanwhile, had hiked two kilometers to a pre-arranged spot and got into a Hyundai Kona, which he had borrowed from his mother earlier. He parked it at the children’s school and ran home. He showered, made breakfast, told the children their mother was hiking, walked them to school, and went to his part-time auto repair job.

Later that morning, colleagues from Brampton Fire informed him of the crash via voicemail. According to Toronto Life, police visited his workplace around 2 p.m., and he faked shock upon learning of the body.

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Initial investigation and deception (Late January 2023)

James told police Ashley Schwalm had left for an early hike after an argument over gas cans and schedules, showing staged texts from her phone about vertigo and open windows due to fumes. He claimed a dog walk via doorbell footage, though the dog wasn’t taken. Officers canvassed the home, finding no signs of distress, and James joined friends in apparent grief.

The body, sent to Toronto’s Centre of Forensic Sciences for autopsy, was confirmed as Ashley Schwalm via dental records two days later. Results showed death by strangulation before the fire, with neck bruising and no crash injuries, ruling out an accident. Burn patterns indicated arson with accelerant. James deceived his family, taking the children to his in-laws and repeating the hike story.

Doubts about his claims grew as Ashley Schwalm rarely hiked alone in storms or left kids unattended. A local doctor recalled James asking days earlier if snapping a neck could kill, citing a movie debate.

Surveillance from the ski club captured a figure matching James opening the SUV trunk at 5 a.m., then running away as flames rose. His mother’s Kona GPS logged the route home at 6:01 a.m., according to Toronto Life.

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Breakthroughs and arrest (February 2023)

By January 28, 2023, investigators seized James’s phone, revealing deleted searches for alimony, road flares, and iPhone history recovery, along with calls to the person he was having an affair with. Doorbell footage contradicted the timeline in his story, showing him snowblowing before work, and not walking the dog.

The lighter at the crime scene was monogrammed “JWS,” the initials of James. Cell data indicated that his phone was placed near the fire.

During interviews, James’s story shifted. On February 2, 2023, one week after the discovery, Ontario Provincial Police arrested him at home for first-degree murder, indignity to a body, and arson. Charges stemmed from evidence of premeditation, including his scouting trip and his expertise with fire. James was denied bail and attempted suicide while in custody, as per Toronto Life.

Prosecutors highlighted financial motives tied to concerns about divorce. Ashley Schwalm’s brother,

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Trial, plea, and sentencing (2023-2024)

James’s first-degree murder charge held until June 2024, when he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to Global News. He admitted to strangling Ashley during the argument and staging the murder to avoid alimony while securing insurance. This spared a full trial.

The sentencing in Barrie, Ontario, on November 25, 2024, included 21 victim impact statements from Ashley’s family, as per Toronto Life. Ashley Schwalm’s father, Ian Milnes, noted missed family milestones due to greed. Her brother, David, and his wife, Tia, who are now the guardians of James and Ashley’s children, were traumatized after hearing the sentence, per Global News.

Crown prosecutor Lynne Saunders sought a 21- to 22-year parole ineligibility. Meanwhile, defense lawyer Joelle Klein requested 13 to 14 years, citing the defendant’s remorse and rehabilitation efforts, including counseling, as reported by Global News.

Justice Michelle Fuerst sentenced James to life imprisonment with a 20-year term without parole on February 10, 2025. The judge described James’s actions after murdering Ashley Schwalm as “an astonishingly heartless performance,” as per the outlet. A no-contact order was issued, preventing him from having contact with the children until they reached the age of 18.

James expressed shame in court, saying he “despised” his actions, reported Global News.

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Watch Dateline‘s episode Running Man available to stream on NBC.