‘He was supposed to save lives, not take them,’ said best friend of Ashley Milnes at a sentencing hearing for James Schwalm, convicted in his wife’s killing
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The family of a woman who was killed by her husband, a former Brampton fire captain, told the judge at a sentencing hearing this week they were still “shattered” about the “monstrous” murder.
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James Schwalm pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was convicted in June, a year and a half after the body of his wife Ashley Milnes was discovered by authorities in a vehicle that was on fire at the side of a road in the Collingwood area, Global News reported.
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Family and friends of Milnes attended Schwalm’s sentencing hearing on Monday in Barrie, Ont., telling the judge they couldn’t understand why he committed such a crime.
“To say this was a senseless and elaborate plan would be a gross understatement. Why not get a divorce? It could have been so simple. … He was head of the fire department. He was supposed to save lives, not take them,” said one of Milnes’ best friends Christan Bosley, per Global News.
Schwalm was a fire captain and worked part-time in Collingwood, Collingwood Today reported. The couple was married in 2012 and had two children.
An agreed statement of facts read in the courtroom in June, when Schwalm was convicted, detailed “actions taken by James to make his wife’s death look like a tragic accident and to falsify an alibi for himself,” according to the publication. Per the statement, Milnes was having an affair, which caused “fissures” within the marriage when Schwalm found out.
Around the same time, Schwalm was texting the ex-wife of the man with whom Milnes had an affair. Schwalm and the man’s ex-wife both said they had “feelings” for one another.
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On the evening Jan. 25, 2023, Schwalm and Milnes got into a fight. Milnes’ was strangled to death, the court heard, per the publication. After Milnes died, she was dressed in hiking clothes and put into her vehicle, a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander. The vehicle was driven to the side of Arrowhead Road in The Blue Mountains, doused in gasoline, and set on fire, prosecutors told the court.
Milnes’ body was “burned beyond recognition” and authorities had to use dental records to identify her when she was discovered on Jan. 26, 2023, Crown attorney Lynn Saunders said, reading from the agreed statement of facts.
Authorities at the time reported the incident as “a fatal single-vehicle collision,” per an Ontario Provincial Police news release.
Leading up to the murder, the court heard that Schwalm had searched online about alimony, car fires and iPhone history, Global News and Collingwood Today reported.
On Monday, many victim impact statements were read while Schwalm sat in the prisoner’s box, per Global News.
“James took Ashley’s life in the most brutal, senseless way, leaving all of us shattered. James deceived us saying she died in a car accident. We sat there broken and grieving while consoling him even though he knew he was the one who killed her,” said Milnes’ sister-in-law Tia, who is married to her brother David. David and Tia share custody of the two children Milnes had with Schwalm.
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“No amount of justice will be enough for the monstrous act he committed.”
Milnes’ father, Ian, called Schwalm a narcissist and said that the murder was a “calculated act” by someone who “only thought of himself and did the opposite of what he trained to do” as a first responder.
One of Milnes’ friends, Carrie Dyson, told the court she was “lost,” CBC News reported.
“I used to be a relatively care-free, happy and social person. I am no longer that person,” she said. “He has taken my carefreeness away from me. I don’t feel safe. I am always on edge.”
Schwalm was given the chance to address the court, CTV News reported. He said that he despised his actions and he was “haunted.”
“This is where I need to be. Where I deserve to be because of my terrible awful actions,” he said.
His sentence is expected to be delivered by the judge on Feb. 10.
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