Dateline: Running Man - 5 harrowing details about Ashley Schwalm's murder, revisited

Dateline features a chilling case of the murder of 40-year-old Ashley Schwalm, a mother of two kids living in the Collingwood area.

She was discovered dead inside her burnt SUV on January 26, 2023. The scene that looked like an accident initially turned out to be a murder, shocking the residents of the society. She was killed by her husband, James Schwalm, a former Brampton fire captain.

The way the crime scene was staged made the officers confused, as only someone with knowledge could be so precise in inventing a deliberate car fire.

Read on to know 5 harrowing details about Ashley Schwalm's murder, as shown on Dateline.

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Dateline: Running Man - 5 harrowing details about Ashley Schwalm's murder

James had strangled Ashley

Investigation revealed that James strangled Ashley inside the home and then dressed her in hiking clothes, placed her in the car and drove it to a remote road. He rolled the car into a ditch and set it on fire to make her death look accidental. When the authorities went through the digital evidence, they found that James had looked for alimony and information on deleting browser history and fire-starting methods.

Behind the facade of a respected Brampton fire captain, James was hiding some financial problems along with a marriage that was failing. It was revealed that Ashley died from strangulation when she was home and not in the car fire.

The footprints in the snow signalled James' involvement

On January 26, 2023, police found a burnt SUV in a ditch near The Blue Mountains. When the body was identified, it was that of Ashley Schwalm. James clearly used his firefighting knowledge to stage the most precise scene the investigators have seen. He made the SUV look like an accident and portrayed that it was the fuel tank that had led to the fire. The burn also destroyed the evidence, making it easy for him to pass the death off as a tragic hiking accident.

But footprints in the snow and burn patterns told investigators the scene was manipulated.

Surveillance Footage and Forensics Dismantled James’s Alibi

When James was interrogated, he had a strong alibi arranged. He told the police that he was home the morning Ashley went hiking. However, when the footprints were revealed around the burned SUV, the investigators checked the CCTV footage and saw a man carrying a backpack near a ski run parking lot.

When James was interrogated further, his claims were inconsistent, covered in Dateline interviews. Even the cell-phone data placed him in the area at the time of the crime. All this evidence dismantled his alibi.

James pleaded guilty to second-degree murder

During the trials, prosecutors detailed the couple's strained marriage along with financial frustration. James' motives became clear when they quoted the insurance sum James would have gotten after Ashley's death. The amount was $1 million in the policy, with James being the only beneficiary.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, as per Dateline.

James received life in prison

The Supreme Court Justice Michelle Fuerst stated while announcing James' punishment,

"His actions on the morning of Jan. 26, 2023, … were completely at odds of his responsibility as a firefighter to save lives, not take them,”

“Ashley Schwalm’s murder was an act of egregious selfishness; it was cold, callous and in many respects, calculated.”

James received life in prison with no parole for 20 years, and their two young children were ordered to have no contact with him, as shown on Dateline.