Former fire captain accused in wife's death bypasses preliminary hearing, heads to Superior Court
A former Brampton fire captain accused of murdering his wife last year appeared alongside his lawyer inside the Collingwood, Ont., courthouse Tuesday and waived his right to a preliminary hearing, opting instead to move directly to Superior Court.
James Schwalm was arrested on February 2, 2023, and later charged with first-degree murder and indignity to a body following the death of his wife, Ashley Milnes. He has been behind bars since his arrest.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
Schwalm was arrested after his wife's body was discovered on January 26, 2023, inside her burned SUV, which had crashed down an embankment off Arrowhead Road near Highway 26 in The Blue Mountains.
Court documents obtained by CTV News allege he killed his wife inside their Collingwood home sometime between January 25 and 26, then moved and burned her body before it was found burned in the fiery wreck.
The couple had been married for more than a decade and had two children.
A first-degree murder conviction comes with a life sentence and no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
Schwalm's next court appearance is scheduled for May .
The allegations against him have not been tested in court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.