Ashley Milnes had her dream wedding at the picturesque Craigleith Ski Club in the Blue Mountains of Ontario, Canada. She arrived at the private resort in a horse and carriage, and married James Schwalm, a respected local firefighter.
After the fairy-tale day in 2012, Ashley told Wedding bells magazine, “I’ve been picturing that moment since I was a little girl. I truly felt like a princess and isn’t that how you’re supposed to feel on your wedding day?”
By the start of 2023, Ashley, 40, and her husband had two children, aged six and nine, and were living in Collingwood, Ontario. Ashley was working as a project manager at a construction company while Schwalm had been promoted to captain at the Brampton fire department. But their decade-long marriage was in trouble and they were heading for divorce.
Ashley had grown unhappy in the relationship and in 2022 she had an affair with her boss. When Schwalm found out, she changed jobs and they had counselling to try to repair their marriage. But Schwalm was secretly talking to the ex-wife of the man Ashley had had the affair with. He sent her a message saying he had strong feelings for her and she replied that she felt the same way.
Schwalm confided in friends that he and Ashley were likely heading for a divorce, but he was concerned about the cost and expressed a worry about climbing back up the property ladder. He searched for both “alimony” and “divorce” on his phone.
Just before 6am on 26 January, Blue Mountain Fire Services responded to a call about a vehicle that had left the road up in the Blue Mountains outside Collingwood. When they arrived, the car was down an embankment and was on fire. After the flames were put out, they found a body inside that was burned beyond recognition.
It was later officially identified through dental records as Ashley, and the car washer 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. It appeared that Ashley had lost control of her vehicle on the snow covered road and plunged down a steep embankment before being trapped when the car had burst into flames.
When Schwalm was told, he was distraught. He said Ashley had left that morning to go for an early morning hike and that he’d gone to walk their dog just before she’d left. Schwalm was left a widow with two young children. The community, and Ashley’s heartbroken family, rushed to support him following the tragedy.
But there were unanswered questions. First responders noted the smell of gasoline at the scene and the driver’s window was open – despite it being snowy and freezing. The oxygen had fuelled the fire. Added to that, Ashley didn’t usually go hiking in that area during the week, especially in the dark when there was fresh snow.
Then the autopsy revealed something disturbing. Ashley hadn’t been alive at the time of the fire and hadn’t died in the crash. The cause of her death was physical trauma to her neck, or neck compression. She’d been strangled.
Schwalm shared text messages with the investigators that seemed to back up his story. Ashley had messaged him at 5.23am to say she was going to “zip out” for a hike and that the kids were asleep, so they’d be fine. Schwalm asked her to fill up the gas cans for the snow blower while she was out.
She later messaged saying, “Eww I left the gas cans in my car, and it smells.” Another message at 5.46am read, “Oh, I have vertigo. I’m going to rush home.” Was that why she lost control of her car? Had the vehicle ignited because of the gasoline she’d bought? Detectives weren’t so sure.
Surveillance footage showed a dark figure with a large backpack fleeing the scene of the crash and the police believed it was Schwalm. Records showed that as well as looking up “alimony” on his phone, he had also searched “does a road flare completely burn” and “can you see iPhone history after deleted”.
Ashley had a $1 million life insurance policy and Schwalm was the sole beneficiary. There was also a $250,000 policy for her two children. That would solve Schwalm’s concerns about a costly divorce.
Ashley’s son told the police he’d woken up to hear his parents arguing on 26 January. He’d gone to his mum who had asked him to get her mobile phone – but his dad had told him to go back to bed, which he did. Had Ashley been trying to call for help?
At around 3am, the son had woken up again and saw his dad crying. He saw his dad putting on his coat and said he was going to walk the dog, but the dog was still in the sunroom.
It was revealed that before Ashley’s death, Schwalm asked someone if it was possible to kill someone by snapping their neck. He said he was settling a debate about Steven Seagal movies.
A week after the death, Schwalm was arrested and charged with Ashley’s murder. The investigators determined that Schwalm had strangled Ashley at their home while the children were asleep.
He then put an elaborate plan in motion to stage her “accident”. Schwalm had dressed his wife in hiking gear and put her body in the passenger well of her car until the early hours. After sending fake text messages between him and his wife, to justify the gasoline in the car and why the window was open, and why Ashley had “lost control” rushing, he’d then left the children alone and driven her body, in her car, to the “crash site”.
Schwalm doused the car in gasoline, with his wife’s body inside, leaving a window down to fuel the flames. He set it on fire with a lighter that was later found at the scene– and which had his initials, JWS, on it.
Schwalm had borrowed his mum’s car the day before and parked it near the luxury ski resort of Craigleith Ski Club, where he’d married his wife a decade earlier. He dropped the car off where he told his mum he would, then went back home, where he got the kids ready for school and lied about their mum being on a hike, while knowing her body was in flames in a ditch.
In June 2024, Schwalm pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder but guilty to second-degree murder. At the sentencing hearing in November, friends gave their impact statements.
They lovingly referred to Ashley as “AJ” and called her a role model and an incredible mother. Her sister described how she’d welcomed Schwalm into their home after Ashley’s death to support him and he’d deceived them.
“No amount of justice will ever be enough for the monstrous act he has committed,” she said. “He sat there broken and grieving while we consoled him, even though he knew what he’d done.”
Ashley’s dad, Ian Milnes, called Schwalma “pure narcissist”. “AJ will miss the kids growing, bandaging their cuts, consoling their break-ups, cheering them on to victory,” he said.
Ashley’s brother, David Milnes, questioned how a father could do such a thing to his own children’s mother. “He left them alone in the home for hours after they had heard their mother screaming for them… How could a father kill their children’s mother and do it with them in the house? I hope that screaming haunts him constantly,” he said.
David and his wife are now legal guardians of Ashley’s two children. Schwalm’s statement said, “I despise my actions and am haunted that they continue to hurt the people I loved and cared for the most. I am ashamed. This is where I need to be, deserve to be.”
In February this year, Schwalm, 40, was given the automatic life sentence, and the judge told him he’d have the chance of parole in 20 years.