Confessed wife murderer, former Brampton firefighter faces lengthy jail term

A judge is expected to rule in February on how long a former Brampton firefighter will spend in jail for killing his wife.

After hearing victim impact statements earlier this week,  Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst said she would make her ruling in the case that shocked the community because of its casual brutality.

In June former Brampton Fire and Emergency Services Capt. James Schwalm pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife Ashley Milnes, whose lifeless body was discovered in a burned-out SUV in January 2023.

Milnes was found in The Blue Mountains after Schwalm strangled her to death at their Collingwood home on Jan. 26, the court heard. The couple’s two children were asleep inside the home at the time.

The Crown has argued that Schwalm should serve up to 22 years for the crime while the defence has asked for 13 years with parole eligibility.

A Brampton firefighter at the time of the murder, Schwalm was promoted to fire captain in February 2019, according to Brampton Fire and Emergency Services. He was let go once the service was made aware of the charges, the city said in a statement.

The couple’s 10-year marriage was on the rocks at the time of the murder, court heard, and Schwalm had reportedly learned of an affair Milnes had with her boss before starting an extra-marital relationship of his own.

After killing Milnes, Schwalm dressed her body in hiking clothes before putting her inside the SUV, according to an Agreed Statement of Fact. He then drove the vehicle and crashed it down an embankment before setting the SUV on fire.

Schwalm initially told investigators his wife took the SUV to go hiking, and the court heard he took steps to cover his tracks including sending text messages to himself from his dead wife’s phone and had researched how to start a fire without leaving evidence.

-with filed from Ryan Rumbolt