- 11 hours ago
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00:00:13It's an early morning in January. It's windy, it's dark, it's icy and snowy. It's honestly a
00:00:22pretty miserable winter morning, and a car is traveling down a road called Arrowhead.
00:00:30It was blustery, it was a snowstorm, and that's typical for that area. It is in ski country.
00:00:36This driver, a staff member of the Alpine Ski Club, knows the lay of the land. As he's driving
00:00:43south, it's pretty alarming for him to see a bit of an orange glow in the distance. This
00:00:52is really unusual. He realizes, okay, something's going on, stops the car, opens his door, starts
00:01:02walking towards this light, leans over the guardrail, and in the ditch is a car on fire.
00:01:16The 911 call came in at 5.54 in the morning.
00:01:20Hi, there's a fire on top of Arrowhead Road. It looks like a car went off the road. It
00:01:26seems fully engulfed. I'm not sure if there's passengers inside.
00:01:29One of the concerns was, though, is that it's a car fire, and if there was a body in the
00:01:34vehicle.
00:01:34And what kind of vehicle is it?
00:01:36I can't tell. It's fully engulfed. It's down in the ditch, about 75 feet down.
00:01:40And you don't know if there's anybody around?
00:01:41I have no idea.
00:01:43The person who called 911 was also a part-time volunteer firefighter. And he took some pictures
00:01:49of the scene.
00:01:51It's like a minivan. I don't know if there's anybody in it. It looks like there's footprints
00:01:57in the snow.
00:01:58Okay.
00:01:59It looks like they must have come up and got out of the vehicle in time.
00:02:03One of the things that he said was that it looked like there were tracks leading from
00:02:08the vehicle up out to the road.
00:02:11Footprints.
00:02:12Footprints.
00:02:12In the snow.
00:02:13In the snow.
00:02:14Like a little trench.
00:02:16There were some track marks in the snow.
00:02:17As if somebody had walked out of the snow.
00:02:20Yes.
00:02:35My name's Ryan Martin. I'm captain with the Collingwood Fire Department.
00:02:50We were dispatched at 613 and we were on scene at 622.
00:02:57Within a matter of minutes, all of a sudden this quiet country road starts transforming
00:03:04into a scene of intense action.
00:03:08Emergency responders dealing with a very sort of weird and unusual event.
00:03:17By the time Captain Martin and his firefighters arrived on the scene,
00:03:21they estimated that the fire had been going for at least 20 minutes, if not more.
00:03:25We were fully expecting to find a vehicle that had self extinguished.
00:03:29Realistically, there probably wouldn't be a lot left of a vehicle that was in a free burning state.
00:03:34After 20 minutes.
00:03:35So it was surprising to turn the corner to see it still fully involved in fire.
00:03:41The fire behavior wasn't characteristic of a typical vehicle fire.
00:03:47They had begun to attack the fire from approximately the top of this hill.
00:03:55It was difficult to advance the hose line just because of the slope of the hill.
00:03:59And they were dragging it through fairly deep snow at the time.
00:04:03Every time that we applied water to the fire, we would blacken the fire down.
00:04:06And as soon as we stopped our extinguishing efforts, it would flare back up as if we hadn't made any
00:04:11progress at all.
00:04:13It was a very stubborn fire to extinguish.
00:04:15We had both Town of Blue and Collingwood fighting the fire at this point in time.
00:04:19And the flames just continued to flare back up.
00:04:22We did deplete our entire water tank in the process of extinguishing the fire, which is very uncommon.
00:04:28The fire characteristics were not normal.
00:04:31The visibility was poor around the vehicle.
00:04:34We were contending with thick black smoke and we were applying water to the vehicle.
00:04:40We were generating a lot of steam, which impaired our ability to get a good look inside the vehicle.
00:04:46Firefighter Parks pried open the driver's side door and was able to sweep the driver's seat with his arm.
00:04:53He scanned the car with the thermal imaging camera, as well swept the driver's seat with his arm, which appeared
00:04:59to be empty at the time.
00:05:00That's as far as he could get into the vehicle.
00:05:01At that point, there was a lot of things running through our mind.
00:05:05We were confused about the driver's seat being empty.
00:05:08We had checked with the drone in the immediately surrounding area and we couldn't locate anybody else in the area.
00:05:14When they extinguished the fire, that's when everything changed.
00:05:24Approximately 7.09am, the radio call went out over the air that there was a patient inside the vehicle.
00:05:31From that point on, the scene was turned over to the OPP, the Ontario Provincial Police.
00:05:37When they extinguished the fire, they found a human body.
00:05:40It was in the front passenger footwell.
00:05:44They believed at that time to be a child.
00:05:46One of the fears that ran through our mind was that if a parent was driving and left the scene
00:05:52to go get help,
00:05:52while the vehicle was still relatively intact, and then the vehicle took fire with somebody inside,
00:05:58and that was very scary to us.
00:06:00My first thought might have been that there could have been a drunk driver that went off the road,
00:06:04the vehicle got stuck on the side of a mountain, and it caught fire, and somebody may have left,
00:06:09but we just at that point, we didn't really know what we had.
00:06:11You could see that there were track marks, there were road crews there, police were there,
00:06:16they closed off the road for several hours to figure out exactly what the path of the vehicle was,
00:06:21how it ended up down the embankment.
00:06:25At the end of our shift that day, our accident reconstructionist experts were there still processing the scene.
00:06:30There was a lot of questions that we had and a lot of answers we didn't have yet.
00:06:35After the body was found in the car, it becomes a more serious traffic investigation.
00:06:39I don't normally get involved in fatal crashes.
00:06:42When I do get involved, I'm going to treat that death like a homicide until I can prove that it's
00:06:49not.
00:06:49In this case, we're going to use everything at our disposal.
00:06:52All our very skilled traffic investigators and our detectives to canvas the area.
00:06:57When the reconstructionists are there walking in the snow and they step on the license plate,
00:07:02which got clipped off the vehicle, it gave us the order.
00:07:05That's when we went to his house.
00:07:08What happened when you knocked on the door?
00:07:24In the Blue Mountains, you've got mountains to the west, you've got water to the north,
00:07:28you've got farmland to the east, and it's honestly beautiful.
00:07:34It's a four-season wonderland.
00:07:36In the autumn, the colors are beautiful.
00:07:39The skiing in the winter is fabulous.
00:07:42The summer, we're on the Georgian Bay, and you can swim anywhere.
00:07:46The Blue Mountains, which is mostly sort of a resort town,
00:07:49and then right next to it is Collingwood.
00:07:52And Collingwood is more of sort of an actual place to live.
00:07:55It's a really nice place to raise a family,
00:07:58and you have that small-town feel of kind of everyone knows everyone.
00:08:03This is small-town Collingwood.
00:08:07Word travels real quickly about a death.
00:08:10Police are now putting together the pieces after a fatal crash in Blue Mountains.
00:08:14When they extinguished the fire, they found a human body.
00:08:18There was only one body in the car, and they couldn't figure out who was that person.
00:08:24When the reconstructionists are there, walking in the snow,
00:08:27and they step on the license plate, which got clipped off the vehicle,
00:08:30it gave us the owner, James Schwamm.
00:08:35Right at the beginning when they find that license plate,
00:08:38it's entirely conceivable that that's James Schwamm in that car.
00:08:43James Schwamm was a firefighter with Brampton Fire and Emergency Services.
00:08:46He was 38 years old.
00:08:47He lived in Collingwood.
00:08:49James Schwamm had a beautiful family.
00:08:52He was married to Ashley Milnes.
00:08:54They had two wonderful children.
00:08:58So we got in his address.
00:09:01That's when we went to his house.
00:09:07What happened when you knocked on the door?
00:09:09Nothing. No one was there.
00:09:10It's a normal Thursday, work day.
00:09:13So after we left, we went to do a little more digging.
00:09:16I knew somebody who worked for the same fire department.
00:09:19So I called her.
00:09:21And I asked, what can you tell me about this guy?
00:09:24We've got a fatal collision.
00:09:25We're looking for a next of kin.
00:09:27The colleague says, let me see if I can reach him.
00:09:31When she calls, she doesn't get an answer.
00:09:33And so she's starting to worry.
00:09:36And her next response is, well, I should tell Ashley.
00:09:41She calls Ashley's work and learns she didn't show up for work that morning.
00:09:46So now she's thinking, okay, what the hell is going on?
00:09:51They were a popular family.
00:09:53Absolutely.
00:09:54They did a lot of things together as a family.
00:09:56They were all both very present in their kids' life.
00:10:00Everyone seemed, everyone seemed happy.
00:10:04They call it a million-dollar family, I guess, where you have your boy and your girl.
00:10:08And they both have great jobs.
00:10:10They live in a beautiful area in the community.
00:10:13James Schwalm and Ashley Milnes, who people called AJ, were both born and raised in Toronto.
00:10:21When I met Lindsay, Ashley's older sister, you realize this is a really genuinely tight-knit family.
00:10:28What was it like growing up one of four?
00:10:31It was fun.
00:10:31It was busy, I have to say.
00:10:33Kudos to my mom.
00:10:34And how did Ashley fit into all that?
00:10:36She was just a bubbly, blonde-haired, cute thing.
00:10:40She was just this spunky, funny kid, full of life.
00:10:45I know her nickname is Boob.
00:10:48Boob came from Yogi Bereth.
00:10:50Hey, boo-boo.
00:10:51How about that boo-boo? Hey, hey!
00:10:53And so my father would call her that.
00:10:55And then we just started calling her Boob.
00:10:58The Boob.
00:10:59Yeah.
00:11:00The Boob was always, she was always the center.
00:11:04The two older kids adored her.
00:11:06She was magnetic.
00:11:08Big time.
00:11:10She loved life.
00:11:11I rarely ever saw her without a smile.
00:11:14Anything she did, she was incredible at.
00:11:17She really took to hiking and tennis, golf, you name it.
00:11:21She was a phenomenal athlete.
00:11:24She was a fabulous dancer.
00:11:26Her favorite artist was Whitney Houston.
00:11:28So there was a lot of Whitney Houston blaring on the stereo.
00:11:31Yes.
00:11:32Was there a favorite song?
00:11:33Or How Will I Know?
00:11:35How will I know if he really loved me?
00:11:38She would just let loose on anything and would sing, would dance.
00:11:43I fall in love with me.
00:11:45A lot of people are described as the life of the party,
00:11:47but I get the sense that she was literally the life of the party.
00:11:50Absolutely.
00:11:56James Schwamm grew up in Toronto.
00:11:59James' family was well off.
00:12:01They certainly had money.
00:12:03He enjoyed the privileges of being able to go to a private ski club.
00:12:08Ashley and James belonged to the same ski club.
00:12:11Like Ashley, he would be going up to the Blue Mountains to ski every weekend.
00:12:16Where you met all your friends and families and everyone kind of congregated there.
00:12:21Social hub.
00:12:22Yes.
00:12:23That's how they met.
00:12:23You're at the ski club.
00:12:24Yes.
00:12:25Is it fair to say he swept her off her feet?
00:12:27Yes.
00:12:27She was young and in love.
00:12:33James was a handsome guy.
00:12:34He was a firefighter, so he was in great shape.
00:12:37He looks like Captain America.
00:12:38He's a firefighter.
00:12:39He's a hero.
00:12:40Look down.
00:12:41He would do demonstrations where he'd be hanging off a bungee cord from a building.
00:12:44He'd be smashing the door down with an axe.
00:12:47And he chronicled it all on his Twitter page.
00:12:50Very charming.
00:12:51Very polite.
00:12:52What you would hope a young man would be like in front of meeting new parents and a new family.
00:13:00What was your impression when you realized, oh, she really thinks he's the one?
00:13:03He was very nice.
00:13:05He's the kind of guy that sucks up to adults.
00:13:07He wants a good impression.
00:13:11Your parents were married for 30 plus years before your mom passed.
00:13:17Do you think your parents' marriage gave Ashley a sense of what marriage would be like?
00:13:22Absolutely.
00:13:23Unity.
00:13:24Best friends.
00:13:28Ashley's was a fairytale wedding.
00:13:29Oh my God, it was so beautiful.
00:13:31It was her dream wedding.
00:13:32Literally, she arrived in horse carriage.
00:13:34That's a Cinderella moment.
00:13:35And she looked like Cinderella.
00:13:37She was the most beautiful bride.
00:13:41You could just tell in her smile and her eyes that she was living everything she thought it would be,
00:13:49it was.
00:13:50The Brampton Fire Department posted a photo on their social media.
00:13:53It shows Ashley's growing family.
00:13:56First a boy, then a girl.
00:13:58She was making a name for herself as an interior designer.
00:14:02So she was a busy working mom.
00:14:04She was.
00:14:05She balanced it.
00:14:06She did.
00:14:07But her kids came first.
00:14:09Such a great mom.
00:14:11It just came naturally to her.
00:14:14But where is that mom now?
00:14:16Or their dad for that matter?
00:14:18On that cold January morning, investigators are desperate to find the parents.
00:14:23Either parent of the Schwamm children to learn whose body was in the car.
00:14:41As police are investigating the charred remains of this SUV that seems to have just driven off into the snowy
00:14:47ravine, they're trying to figure out whose body is inside.
00:14:52At this point, the Schwamm children are both accounted for, but the parents, James and Ashley, are not.
00:15:01We went to Ashley's office and they told us there that she didn't show up for work that morning.
00:15:08So that's an ominous sign.
00:15:10So we're like, okay, she's missing.
00:15:13He wasn't at home.
00:15:14We contacted his fire service and he wasn't working that day.
00:15:19He works for the Brampton Fire Department and they do get through to one of his colleagues.
00:15:25And so she, you know, rings him up and he's not picking up.
00:15:29And so she starts to worry, like, there's been a terrible accident.
00:15:32Like, maybe James is dead.
00:15:37The detectives need to answer that question.
00:15:41And they quickly find out that James has a part-time job on the side at a repair shop.
00:15:47So the police head on over there.
00:15:55And James was behind the desk when we showed up.
00:15:57Looked like a normal working day.
00:16:00When you contacted him, did you know it was Ashley in the car?
00:16:03We didn't know.
00:16:04But you presumed?
00:16:05But we presumed.
00:16:06When you broke the news to him that his wife was likely dead in a car crash, what was his
00:16:13reaction?
00:16:13He cried.
00:16:14He was emotional, distraught.
00:16:19Tears felt very bad for him.
00:16:25I got to travel down to the Bahamas, which is where Ashley's dad, Ian, now lives.
00:16:29It's also where he got a horrible phone call from his son-in-law, the kind no parent should ever
00:16:36have to take.
00:16:39The phone rings, and Jamie's at the other end, in tears, blubbering about, and I couldn't understand it.
00:16:48And I screamed and said, what are you saying?
00:16:51And then he said that AJ had passed away, she was in an accident.
00:16:55And I screamed into the phone and said, what are you talking about?
00:17:02That's a day that will be ingrained in my head forever.
00:17:07I looked at my phone and my dad was calling.
00:17:10And he said, well, we lost someone today.
00:17:13And I said, okay, who?
00:17:15And he said, boob.
00:17:18I mean, I don't know.
00:17:19It was the hardest thing I've ever heard in my life.
00:17:28At that point, we have a crash.
00:17:30We don't have a cause of death.
00:17:32We don't know if it really was just a terrible circumstance where the car left the road, the car caught
00:17:39fire, and she died as a result of the fire.
00:17:44Two days after the crash, the police ask Ashley's husband, James, to come into the station for an interview.
00:17:51These are Canadian investigators.
00:17:53They're going to treat you politely.
00:17:55They're going to ask you to come on in.
00:17:56Let's have a chat.
00:17:58Tell us what you know.
00:17:59What was going on.
00:18:01I got you coffee.
00:18:03Thank you very much.
00:18:06It was really a conversation to him.
00:18:08Like, James, tell me what happened.
00:18:10When you think about the day in the morning.
00:18:13Yeah.
00:18:14Is there anything that stands out?
00:18:17Well, I know in the morning, Ashley was upset then, so there was a little argument in the bedroom.
00:18:22He had an argument with Ashley because he wanted to go for a walk with the dog.
00:18:28And she wanted to do this hike at five in the morning.
00:18:32Would she normally hike at that time?
00:18:33She normally hikes at four.
00:18:37No, she hikes afterward, too.
00:18:39I don't know.
00:18:41It was a bit earlier than usual.
00:18:44And when she'd go on these hikes, was she normally with somebody?
00:18:50Sometime, but not all the time.
00:18:51He explained that he needed to take the dog for a long walk because the dog would be left alone
00:18:57all day because he was going to his part-time job.
00:18:59I don't know what time I left the house.
00:19:03I came back and Ashley's car was gone.
00:19:06He seems entirely distraught and emotional at the loss of his wife.
00:19:15So what I'm going to ask you to do now is go back another day.
00:19:18Okay.
00:19:19Take me through Wednesday.
00:19:22Okay.
00:19:24Woke up Wednesday at work.
00:19:25When you say work...
00:19:27Sorry, but I'm Brenton Fire Station.
00:19:30Okay.
00:19:30It was starting to snow.
00:19:32I ran out of gas for the snowblower.
00:19:36And I left the empty cans in the garage.
00:19:40I sent her a message just asking if she could fill them up.
00:19:43It would be great.
00:19:43He sent her a series of texts imploring her to go get gas for his snowblower.
00:19:49And there was weather coming.
00:19:50It seemed like such an old day.
00:19:54She was tired and she made a comment that she was getting a lot of text messages.
00:19:57She was on her phone through dinner and I just assumed it was work stuff.
00:20:04And overnight from Wednesday to Thursday morning, anything out of the ordinary?
00:20:11No, just the snowstorm that was it.
00:20:15Okay.
00:20:16Do you know if she was supposed to meet anybody that morning?
00:20:19I'm sorry, I don't.
00:20:20So she maybe set up a hike date in the text in the evening?
00:20:24You don't know?
00:20:26Yeah, she very well could have been.
00:20:32Was Ashley texting about a hike where she was going to meet up with somebody?
00:20:35In his explanation, she had plans to go on this hike.
00:20:39So whether that was with somebody or alone, I don't know how many people go out at 530 alone.
00:20:47So, remember those photos taken by the 911 caller at the scene?
00:20:52The ones that show footprints in the snow?
00:20:56They're going to tell their own story.
00:20:58One that police say confirmed that Ashley was not alone in that ravine.
00:21:21James is talking to police and he's telling this story.
00:21:25He had a text message that he sent to Ashley saying, I went for a walk this morning at 514.
00:21:31That seems pretty precise.
00:21:33Correct.
00:21:36How did he show it to you?
00:21:37It was on his phone.
00:21:40He had a video from his home surveillance system showing him leaving for his walk.
00:21:47Do you think you'd be able to draw your walk for me if I brought you a map just to
00:21:53show me the route that you took that day?
00:21:56It shouldn't be a problem, yeah.
00:21:57He was very cooperative.
00:21:58He told us where he was.
00:22:01He drew us a map of where he went during that walk.
00:22:05Next marks the spot.
00:22:06And so just walk me through the route and sort of just trace it, okay, if you can.
00:22:11So he draws a map for you.
00:22:13What does it show?
00:22:14It showed a pretty decent route through his neighborhood and around and then him coming back home.
00:22:23This is a family that is very outdoorsy.
00:22:28So where was Ashley going?
00:22:30He said, well, she was going for a hike.
00:22:32But with all this snow coming down, it being so early, that's kind of an odd decision to go for
00:22:38a hike so far from home on this particular morning.
00:22:41And he went back to the phone again.
00:22:44And he was able to show a text from her saying she was leaving and also to show a video
00:22:51of the car leaving.
00:22:56So she sent a text saying she was leaving several minutes after you left, right?
00:23:03Okay.
00:23:05James shows police a text from Ashley's phone.
00:23:08Okay, I'm going to zip out.
00:23:10I think the kids will be fine.
00:23:12They're sleeping.
00:23:15You left for a walk with the dog.
00:23:18And then afterwards she leaves.
00:23:21And that leaves your kids home.
00:23:24And that's to me as a parent.
00:23:26I was pretty upset.
00:23:28And I'm not judging her, right?
00:23:29I'm just saying it just seems to me out of character.
00:23:33So can you help me with that?
00:23:34It was a bad habit that we got into.
00:23:39A little bit for the early morning stuff.
00:23:42It's only happened maybe two or three times.
00:23:44That was really bizarre that she would leave her young kids in the house alone to go for a hike.
00:23:51Like that's just to me, that's not happening.
00:23:53In the dark, in a snowstorm.
00:23:55That didn't add up to me.
00:24:00Did you get that text when you were walking?
00:24:03No, I, um, I had to plug my phone out last night.
00:24:08So I plugged it in and just took Rocco for a walk.
00:24:12Okay, so your phone is turning you at home while you're out for a walk with the dog.
00:24:14Yeah.
00:24:15He said he left his phone at home, went for the walk.
00:24:20And when he got back, she wasn't there, but all these messages had shown up on the phone.
00:24:27So after he sent a text saying he was going for a walk, she sent a text saying that she
00:24:33was going for a hike.
00:24:34And a few minutes after that, she sent another text that said the inside of her car smelt like gasoline
00:24:43and she'd have to be driving with the windows down because she'd forgotten to take out some gas cans that
00:24:49she filled up.
00:24:50So the other, the other text, you know, when we look at them, it's, it's strange. Okay? And it's about
00:24:57the gas. Can you tell me about the gas?
00:25:01Yeah.
00:25:02Those are gas cans that he texted her to please pick up the day before, right?
00:25:08That's right.
00:25:09So I can't imagine driving with a gas can and the fumes that have been in the car all night
00:25:13with the windows open without taking those tanks out to sort of air the whole thing out.
00:25:19I don't know why she couldn't just take them out of the car.
00:25:21Okay.
00:25:23Um, will we go to that next text that she talks about having the vertigo?
00:25:32Another text from Ashley's phone says, quote,
00:25:35Oh, I have vertigo. I'm going to rush home and try to do it. Work out in the basement.
00:25:41Ashley had this inner ear problem.
00:25:44She would feel dizzy, off balance, sick to her stomach. She took medication for it and it would come and
00:25:49go.
00:25:50And her husband made a point of that.
00:25:53Oh, she had, you know, vertigo and that may be why she crashed.
00:25:57Could have been.
00:25:58The text continues.
00:26:00I feel like crap. I can't hike.
00:26:02And that she was going to come home. And when he got back, she wasn't there.
00:26:08After a two and a half hour interview, detectives are ready to send James home.
00:26:14He agreed to hand over his phone. He agreed to hand over the blink camera system from his house.
00:26:21And he agreed to allow us to come and do a walkthrough of his house.
00:26:24As a grieving husband would.
00:26:26Absolutely.
00:26:29At the end of that shift that day, we're left with, we have a, we have a body in a
00:26:34car that's been burned.
00:26:36We have a grieving husband.
00:26:40We have some interesting text messages and video as well on a phone that he showed us.
00:26:46All his messaging that he showed us from her phone tried to set up this.
00:26:50This hype was important for a reason.
00:26:53So it's almost like your spidey senses are up.
00:26:56Your gut is telling you something.
00:26:58Yeah, he had the answers to all the questions before they were asked.
00:27:04But Ashley's autopsy reveals even more questions.
00:27:11And the answers are frightening.
00:27:13How key is the forensics lab?
00:27:16It's extremely key. It's going to tell us how she died.
00:27:37We went to the site and got out.
00:27:41But we see black and all the trees and the pine.
00:27:47So like you go, how does a car get on fire when it's plowing through all fresh powders?
00:27:55No.
00:27:56For me, it didn't sit right.
00:27:58She would not have come out here this way at five in the morning to hike like after a snowstorm.
00:28:05But she loved hiking, right?
00:28:07So for me, it was like, hey, maybe I'm dead wrong.
00:28:11So this is Arrowhead Road.
00:28:12It basically runs north-south.
00:28:15You can see there's a curve up ahead.
00:28:17Navigated that curve.
00:28:19No problem.
00:28:20And then the car is driven off the road.
00:28:23But what this crash didn't show us, it didn't look like a horrible crash.
00:28:31There was fire damage and some burnt.
00:28:34And there was some divots in the trees.
00:28:37But it wasn't a terrible crash scene.
00:28:40If you walk a little bit down this way with me, guys, you can see there's still like branches broken.
00:28:45You can see the path of the car.
00:28:47Did you see the birch?
00:28:48And you can still see the burnt trees.
00:28:50Yeah.
00:28:51Yeah.
00:28:51Yeah, yeah.
00:28:53That's how hot it was.
00:28:55This whole mountainside was covered in snow.
00:28:57Were the skid marks evident when you were here?
00:29:00What did they look like?
00:29:01They weren't skid marks.
00:29:03They were tire tracks just leading off the road.
00:29:07When they said no skid marks, I thought, in an accident, isn't that suspicious?
00:29:12Well, police thought so, too.
00:29:13Once the emergency responders get that car out of the ditch, they send it to Toronto,
00:29:18where forensic pathologists can take a look at the body and try to figure out,
00:29:23you know, who is this and what happened to this car.
00:29:27How key is the forensics lab?
00:29:30It's extremely key.
00:29:31It's going to tell us how she died.
00:29:38The Centre of Forensic Sciences is a multidisciplinary forensic laboratory in the province of Ontario.
00:29:43We do numerous different types of analyses here.
00:29:46We have an amazing state-of-the-art building here, and we conduct approximately 6,500 autopsies a year
00:29:54for people that die suddenly and unexpectedly.
00:29:58The call came in to me to say that there was a vehicle that had been on fire, and there
00:30:03was a body inside.
00:30:05Badly burned bodies are one of the most difficult type of autopsy to conduct.
00:30:10And I said, bring the car here.
00:30:12We have to put it in the extrication bay to extricate the body.
00:30:15Because you have to remember, when a body comes from fire, the body can fracture from the fire.
00:30:20Heat effects.
00:30:21If the extrication happened at the scene, there would be the chance of, you know, an open environment,
00:30:26losing important pieces of evidence.
00:30:30When I first examined the remains, there was a body on the passenger side.
00:30:36When we removed a sock from her left foot, the sock smelled of gasoline.
00:30:43It was not clear what the circumstances of death were.
00:30:49However, the smell of gasoline was somewhat suspicious.
00:30:54I wanted to know if there was any evidence that she might have inhaled gasoline while she was alive,
00:31:01if there was any traces of gasoline in the lungs.
00:31:05So I was a scientific advisor that particular week.
00:31:08There were two separate submissions, fire debris that was collected from the car,
00:31:12and Dr. Bellis was requesting to submit the lungs of the deceased.
00:31:16So this is a mock-up of the evidence that we received,
00:31:19and Jasmine's going to show you here how we do the sampling.
00:31:24One of these items was a sock that was removed from one of the feet of the deceased.
00:31:28There was a glove that was found in the vehicle, which had an odor of gasoline.
00:31:32The testing is similar for debris items as it is for the lungs.
00:31:36If there are any ignitable liquid residues present in those debris items,
00:31:40they're also going to be present in that airspace above the debris item.
00:31:43Ignitable liquids are any liquids that are capable of fueling fire,
00:31:47and one example of which would be gasoline.
00:31:49After poking a small hole in the lid of the jar,
00:31:52essentially a sample of air is drawn from the item.
00:31:57And inside that hollow tube there is an adsorbent material.
00:32:01And any ignitable liquid residues present are trapped now on that adsorbent material.
00:32:07And so now this tube represents this particular item in the case.
00:32:13So we're now going to go put these onto the GCMS instrument for analysis.
00:32:23So this is the auto sampler.
00:32:25Essentially what the auto sampler is going to do is heat up each of these tubes.
00:32:28At that point it will be detected by the instrument and produce a chart called a chromatogram,
00:32:33which we use for identifying ignitable liquids like gasoline.
00:32:36You can see a gasoline pattern here, which has a very distinctive look to it.
00:32:40Essentially the results that I received is that the gasoline was identifiable in items that were recovered from the inside
00:32:46of the cab,
00:32:47the vehicle.
00:32:50So it makes you wonder, like, did the fuel in the gas tank of the car spill out into the
00:32:56vehicle during the accident?
00:32:58Typically if a gas tank is compromised, then gasoline can spill out over the road and there can be a
00:33:03significant fire.
00:33:04But assuming that the car is a fully sealed unit,
00:33:07I wouldn't anticipate that gasoline would enter the vehicle in that manner.
00:33:12The results were quite interesting.
00:33:13My role is not to determine what those results mean,
00:33:16but the lungs themselves came back negative.
00:33:20Just logically speaking, there's only one explanation for that.
00:33:26So while police are awaiting the final results of the autopsy,
00:33:30they get wind of another 911 call that came in the evening after the crash.
00:33:35And it's heartbreaking.
00:33:36It's from the teacher of one of the Schwamm children.
00:33:39Okay, and what did she tell you?
00:33:41Well, she said that her mom had fallen down the stairs.
00:33:45And what's the mom's name? Do we know?
00:33:47Her name is Ashley, A-S-H-L-E-Y.
00:34:04So, we came up here the next day.
00:34:08Obviously to, you know, be with Jamie and the kids.
00:34:12And it was a week of hell.
00:34:17What happened during that week?
00:34:20I mean, everyone was up here.
00:34:22It was a lot.
00:34:23A lot of police in and out.
00:34:26We're all blubbering around and trying to fear.
00:34:29Just, you know, like, what are we going to do and all this stuff?
00:34:34But it must have been total grief and shock and horror.
00:34:38I mean, I don't like vomiting.
00:34:41And that's what I was doing.
00:34:42At first, I was like, do I have the flu?
00:34:44And then, no, it's part of trauma.
00:34:46You know, and I'm going,
00:34:47Jamie, I just, I'm so sorry.
00:34:49You know, like, what can I do?
00:34:51And he had taken the kids to the Science Centre.
00:34:55He took all the grandkids to the Science Centre
00:34:58from Collingwood to Toronto for the day to have fun.
00:35:00But that's Jamie.
00:35:03Let's get away from that mourning house
00:35:05and let's have a fun day.
00:35:08It was bizarre because I didn't see him cry.
00:35:13At least not with tears.
00:35:19With the car now transported to the Forensic Science Centre,
00:35:23all police have is a charred body,
00:35:26a grieving family,
00:35:27and an ongoing investigation
00:35:29into what they're still calling an accident.
00:35:32At least for now.
00:35:34So I left work
00:35:36and I went out to one of my favourite restaurants,
00:35:39just enjoying a hamburger and a beer.
00:35:41And that's when the phone call came in.
00:35:44Ontario Provincial Police.
00:35:45Hi.
00:35:47I was just wanting to share some information
00:35:50that a student gave me.
00:35:51I'm a teacher in Collingwood this morning.
00:35:54It's not sitting well with me today.
00:35:55Okay.
00:35:56I don't know if there's any way
00:35:57that somebody can do a wellness check.
00:35:59And the Good Samaritan making that call
00:36:01is the elementary school teacher
00:36:03of the Schwam's six-year-old daughter.
00:36:05The night shift sergeant calls and says,
00:36:07Jare, something's changed.
00:36:11Okay.
00:36:11And what did she tell you?
00:36:13Well, she said that
00:36:14she didn't have a very good night last night.
00:36:16She was woken up to her parents fighting.
00:36:18And then she proceeded to tell me
00:36:20that her mom had fallen down the stairs.
00:36:23And then I said,
00:36:24well, could you see your mom in the morning?
00:36:25She said no.
00:36:27That her mom had gone for a long hike.
00:36:30And what's the mom's name? Do we know?
00:36:33Her name is Ashley, A-S-H-L-E-Y.
00:36:38And this is a mom who got her kids ready
00:36:40for school every morning?
00:36:42Yes.
00:36:42Who suddenly decides to take a 5.30 a.m. hike?
00:36:45In a snowstorm.
00:36:46In a snowstorm.
00:36:48Police were trying to figure out
00:36:49from friends and family,
00:36:51what was the situation like between James and Ashley?
00:36:55Were they happy? Were they loving?
00:36:57Was there infidelity?
00:36:59On the outside,
00:37:01they were a shiny, happy couple.
00:37:04It seemed like they had everything
00:37:05you could ever ask for.
00:37:07It's like the usual juggle of drives
00:37:11and extracurriculars and chores.
00:37:14The usual things.
00:37:16Police have discovered some secrets,
00:37:19that things weren't as great
00:37:20as they might have seemed from the outside.
00:37:23So you knew there were cracks?
00:37:25Yeah.
00:37:25In the facade.
00:37:27Yeah, I mean,
00:37:28but they were working through things
00:37:29and I thought it was okay.
00:37:33But then there's one thing
00:37:35that really sort of shakes their world up a little bit.
00:37:39In one of her messages on her phone
00:37:41to one of her sisters saying,
00:37:44I'm all out of love from Air Supply.
00:37:46I'm all out of love.
00:37:48What am I without you?
00:37:51I can't be too late
00:37:52to say that I was so wrong.
00:37:57Yeah, that was one of the last texts I got from her.
00:38:01It's very profound, those lyrics.
00:38:03What goes through your mind when you think that?
00:38:05Heartbreak.
00:38:07There was a lot of trouble in Paradise.
00:38:10Did she confide in you over that?
00:38:13No.
00:38:15Just as detectives are starting to piece together the Schwamm's past,
00:38:19a bombshell.
00:38:21And he came up and said,
00:38:25Did you know?
00:38:27It was hard to grasp and understand what we were hearing.
00:38:31How did Ashley Schwamm end up dead on the bottom of that embankment in her car charred beyond recognition?
00:38:37It was her body that yielded all those clues.
00:38:41It was part of the aha moment.
00:38:43And the information changed the whole dynamic of the investigation.
00:38:47My alarm bells go off.
00:38:49It's almost something you would see in a movie, to be honest with you.
00:39:07There's a fire on top of Arrowhead Road.
00:39:11It looks like the car went off the road.
00:39:13We didn't have a crime at the time.
00:39:15We had a death that was suspicious.
00:39:19There were some unanswered questions about it.
00:39:23One of those nagging questions was,
00:39:25why that early morning fire was so hard to put out?
00:39:29The fire behavior was extremely unusual.
00:39:31It was approximately a nine minute response for us.
00:39:34So when we arrived, we expected the fire to probably have self extinguished.
00:39:38But when we rounded the corner, we saw the orange glow.
00:39:41The intensity of the fire was not typical of a car fire that is already a half hour old.
00:39:47A typical fire, it's relatively easy to extinguish with your onboard water supply.
00:39:52But in this case, both Town of Blue Mountains and Collingwood
00:39:54exhausted their onboard water supply just extinguishing the fire.
00:39:57We lost the whole inside of that car.
00:40:00It really needed to be looked at under an expert's microscope.
00:40:04to see what was going on in there.
00:40:11A forensic pathologist takes a look at this body.
00:40:15And she's trying to figure out,
00:40:17okay, is this Ashley's dead body by fire?
00:40:21Or did something else happen?
00:40:25I took samples of lung so they could be examined for volatile substances, including gasoline.
00:40:33I was able to identify gasoline in all three of the samples that came from the vehicle,
00:40:39including the sock that came from the deceased, but the lungs themselves came back negative.
00:40:45Logically speaking, there's only one explanation for that.
00:40:48Perhaps the individual was not breathing at the time that the gasoline vapors were there.
00:40:53In addition to discovering that there was no gas found in Ashley's lungs,
00:40:58Dr. Bellis has another discovery that's telling.
00:41:01The alarm bells went off in my head.
00:41:04There was no soot in the airway, which indicated that she was dead before the fire started.
00:41:09The body is dead at the time of the fire.
00:41:11The next question is, how did they die?
00:41:13In this instance, there were no anti-mortem injuries to indicate that she died from a crash, from a car
00:41:19accident.
00:41:20There was no evidence of natural disease to indicate that she died from natural causes and was dead before the
00:41:26fire because of something naturally killing her.
00:41:29At the front of the neck, you have a windpipe, you have certain cartilages, and there were hemorrhagic fractures of
00:41:36those cartilages.
00:41:38So it indicated that she was alive at the time that there was pressure put on her neck.
00:41:43I attended the post-mortem autopsy.
00:41:46When we were done at the end of the day, the pathologist asked to speak with me in a side
00:41:51room.
00:41:51And she said to me, are you a homicide detective?
00:41:54And I'm like, okay, this is going to be interesting.
00:41:56And I said, yeah, I'm a homicide detective.
00:41:58And she said, well, based on all the information, I believe I have a homicide.
00:42:02Did the coroner have a theory as to what happened?
00:42:04Yeah, what was interesting is the whole aspect of the daughter saying that mom fell down the stairs.
00:42:20I immediately jumped to the conclusion that that's how she broke her neck.
00:42:23I actually said that to the pathologist.
00:42:25And the pathologist said, no, that's not how.
00:42:30She explained to me that there's two bones in the side of the neck that can be broken as a
00:42:34result of manual strangulation or legature strangulation.
00:42:37So you knew you've got a murder on your hands?
00:42:42100% at that point.
00:42:44That was really a defining moment for me.
00:42:47It was, I mean, I can't even describe what a loss that was.
00:42:54And then finding out how.
00:42:56I mean, you know, you think that she passed in a car accident.
00:42:59And then you find out that it wasn't that.
00:43:04It was gut-wrenching.
00:43:09And I miss her.
00:43:14Just her presence.
00:43:16It's not an accident.
00:43:18This is a homicide.
00:43:19That changes our focus.
00:43:21What happened to make it a homicide?
00:43:23What are the circumstances?
00:43:24That's what we have to figure out now.
00:43:27Now, detectives have to re-examine everything through the lens of a homicide,
00:43:32including those pictures taken with the crash.
00:43:34This is a daytime view.
00:43:36You can see the tire tracks.
00:43:39The track marks go directly down the hill.
00:43:42There's no swerving.
00:43:43It's a direct line.
00:43:44It's remarkable that this vehicle was able to precisely find itself between the guardrail and the rock face
00:43:52and go down the side of that mountain.
00:43:54They were able to plot the tires, the path of the vehicle.
00:43:58What they were able to determine eventually was the wheels were always moving.
00:44:02So no one hit the brakes.
00:44:04It wasn't skidding out of control.
00:44:05It was straight and into the embankment.
00:44:10That car just drove off the cliff.
00:44:12The key word there, it drove off the cliff.
00:44:14It didn't just spin out of control off the cliff.
00:44:18And then rode down the culvert.
00:44:19From the get-go, detectives were trying to figure out why the car burst into flames in the first place.
00:44:25Yeah, there were those gas cans in the back.
00:44:27But don't forget, James says he had asked Ashley to get the gas for the snowblower.
00:44:32There was a lot of accelerant in that car.
00:44:34Oh, it was super hot, yes.
00:44:37And conveniently, the one window, the driver's side window was down to add fuel to the fire.
00:44:42Meaning?
00:44:43Oxygen.
00:44:44In order for the vehicle to sustain combustion, they would have had to have an oxygen source.
00:44:49So had the vehicle's windows been closed, there is a good chance the fire would run out of oxygen before
00:44:55the fire was able to take over the entire vehicle.
00:44:58There are gas tanks in the back of the car, but you also recover a lighter.
00:45:04When they sift through the debris in the car, they come across a Zippo lighter.
00:45:09When it was cleaned off, it was telltale.
00:45:12It had its initials right on it.
00:45:14JWS, those are James Schwamm's initials.
00:45:19When you saw the monogram lighter, what was your reaction?
00:45:23Wow.
00:45:24Wow.
00:45:25Wow, for sure.
00:45:27A Zippo stays lit, you can throw it to the fumes and the gasoline.
00:45:31A great explanation for how that fire got started with him being able to have some distance.
00:45:37I know the lighter sounds like, wow, you know, this is like a hoot, this is a slam dunk case.
00:45:43Well, it is his car and it is his lighter.
00:45:45So his property in the car, that does not make it a slam dunk.
00:45:49You have an innocent explanation for why that would be there.
00:45:52And one of the text messages being sent back and forth talked about the gasoline in the car.
00:45:57In Ashley's text message, she says,
00:46:00Ooh, it stinks like gas, I gotta drive with the window down.
00:46:05Not only that, James also has that alibi.
00:46:08When Ashley's car drove off the mountain, he was on the other side of town walking the dog.
00:46:14And offered video to prove it.
00:46:17Police have discovered how Ashley died, but they don't know why.
00:46:22And so they start looking into her life and into her marriage and they discover some secrets.
00:46:29One other touchy subject to deal with.
00:46:31Sure.
00:46:32We've been told that there were some marital issues.
00:46:34Do you know who she was involved with?
00:46:53Police have discovered how Ashley died, but they don't know why.
00:46:59Police were trying to figure out from friends and family.
00:47:03What was the situation like between James and Ashley?
00:47:06Were they happy?
00:47:07Were they loving?
00:47:08And there were rumblings in the family that Ashley wasn't happy for years.
00:47:14Ashley's family members told me that she felt sad and lonely.
00:47:19After she and James and the kids moved to Collingwood full time.
00:47:23Which is two hours away from her loved ones in Toronto.
00:47:25We were all in the city, my older sister and myself.
00:47:30That, yeah, I think she kind of felt a bit isolated.
00:47:35Left out.
00:47:36AJ didn't like it because she loved all her friends in Toronto.
00:47:40There was something off I always felt about him.
00:47:44He was controlling in the sense, you know, he was very regimented.
00:47:49In what way?
00:47:50Just working out, everything he ate.
00:47:54Everything is about me.
00:47:56How I look.
00:47:57How everyone perceives me.
00:48:00Ashley's friends and family say she was unhappy in the marriage and she began to find affection elsewhere.
00:48:06It happens when Ashley starts a new job.
00:48:10And she has a boss.
00:48:12A guy named Steve.
00:48:14And, you know, there's an attraction there.
00:48:18She's married, of course, but they spend a lot of time together.
00:48:22Steve is married too.
00:48:23So it's not just Ashley.
00:48:25Steve is also cheating on his wife here.
00:48:28I asked her.
00:48:30After.
00:48:31And she said, Dad, I was just, I was unhappy with our, with the marriage.
00:48:38And it was a weak moment.
00:48:41And now that I look at it, it was just so stupid.
00:48:45This past affair was something the police were already aware of, even as they're interviewing James.
00:48:51We had some information, obviously, that there had been a, there had been an affair.
00:48:55And the troubles that that had caused.
00:48:57So we were aware of that.
00:48:59We had one other touchy subject to deal with.
00:49:02Sure.
00:49:03Okay.
00:49:03You've been told that there were some marital issues.
00:49:06Do you know who she was involved with?
00:49:11Okay.
00:49:12Her old boss.
00:49:13Her old boss.
00:49:14Okay.
00:49:16And.
00:49:18I understand that she, she was open with you about this affair.
00:49:23Or, she, she didn't tell you about it?
00:49:25She, she got caught.
00:49:27I know Steve's wife.
00:49:29My Steve's wife.
00:49:31Okay.
00:49:33Ashley was having an affair with her boss.
00:49:35And her boss's wife confronted Ashley and said, if you don't come clean to your husband.
00:49:41I will.
00:49:42I'm going to spill the beans here on this affair.
00:49:45If you don't.
00:49:47Ashley's loved ones say that ultimatum could not have come at a worse time.
00:49:52We celebrated our 40th birthdays in the Bahamas together.
00:49:57They were out in the boat two or three times and they're drinking and having a ball.
00:50:02She probably had the most fun week of her life.
00:50:05And she probably the next week had the worst week of her life.
00:50:10Because she got a horrible phone call.
00:50:12She got a phone call from a wife of, of a situation.
00:50:19It's while her husband is at the beach with their kids that Steve's wife calls Ashley with that demand.
00:50:26Tell James about the affair or else.
00:50:32And so Jamie comes with the kids and AJ told Jamie what had happened.
00:50:39And he went bonkers.
00:50:41I've never seen anything like it.
00:50:43I'll never forget that.
00:50:44His rage.
00:50:45It was a very cold, chilly week in Nassau Bahamas.
00:50:51James has a decision to make.
00:50:53You know, he's been cheated on.
00:50:55Is he going to say, that's it.
00:50:57This is the end.
00:50:58We're breaking up.
00:50:58We're getting divorced.
00:51:00No.
00:51:01He says, let's try to make this work.
00:51:03Let's try to patch things up.
00:51:04We'll go to therapy.
00:51:05We'll figure this out.
00:51:07What we heard really was that he could not get over the affair.
00:51:14And months and months later, as they're still working through it, he's telling people in social situations about what happened.
00:51:21Clearly he couldn't let it go.
00:51:24James's demeanor starts to shift.
00:51:26At work, he's a little more moody.
00:51:30He's sort of condescending to his juniors.
00:51:34And the same is sort of true at the ski club.
00:51:35He seems to be, like, drinking a little bit more.
00:51:39I don't know if James and Ashley talked about divorce, but they were talking to their own families and friends
00:51:49separately
00:51:52and disclosing that they didn't see a future for this relationship.
00:51:57They were thinking about the end.
00:51:59I said, so, you know, what's going on?
00:52:02I said, you just don't look happy.
00:52:04She said, it's tough.
00:52:06And I said, well,
00:52:08if it doesn't work, get a divorce and get on with it. Just get on with it.
00:52:14Did you think she should get on with it?
00:52:16100%.
00:52:17Why?
00:52:19Because I think they needed time away from each other for Jamie to cool down.
00:52:26He felt slighted.
00:52:29He felt embarrassed.
00:52:32And when you're a narcissist, there is nothing worse.
00:52:36A witness after witness said, James was all about James.
00:52:41He was always worried about his public perception, his persona, how he and his reputation stood in the community.
00:52:48As James and Ashley are trying to figure things out, James is secretly beginning to text Alexandra, Steve's ex-wife.
00:53:00And not just texting, but like texting, texting.
00:53:04And they're starting to flirt with one another and talk about, you know, the aftermath of what happened to both
00:53:11of them.
00:53:12They've both been cheated on. They have something in common.
00:53:14He confessed some feelings for her.
00:53:16And does Alex reciprocate?
00:53:18She had feelings, but she wanted him to sort out his situation.
00:53:25And he told her he had a plan to do what was going to make him happy.
00:53:32A friend would later quote Ashley saying, this year, I'm choosing me, my happiness and the safety of my children.
00:53:40It's going to be the year of Ashley and I can't wait.
00:53:43That conversation happened five days before her death.
00:53:48He Google searched alimony.
00:53:51You know, how much does it cost if you get separated from your wife?
00:53:54For James, maybe he wasn't so thrilled by this because maybe it meant divorce.
00:54:01He was telling firefighters, she's going to take half my money.
00:54:04I'm never going to see my kids as much as I used to.
00:54:07I'm going to lose my lifestyle.
00:54:08He's going to be falling way down that property ladder.
00:54:13They have this magnificent home that both worked and paid into it.
00:54:19Now that's going to have to be sold.
00:54:23Ashley had a life insurance policy.
00:54:24And if she died, he would receive a million dollars and an extra 250,000 for the kids, which would
00:54:32be under his control.
00:54:33A million dollars is a lot of money.
00:54:36And so police took that into account.
00:54:38One of the pieces of evidence that came out was that he was at a party one night and James
00:54:43was talking to a doctor in town.
00:54:45He said, I have some information I think he'd be interested in.
00:54:48He and James were both at a social event.
00:54:50And James came up to him and asked him, is it possible that you can kill somebody by snapping their
00:54:58neck like in a Steven Seagal movie?
00:54:59He was trying to figure out, would he get caught?
00:55:05How can I pull this off with limited evidence being traced back to me?
00:55:10The best tool that police have in solving crimes is the cell phone of a person because that is a
00:55:18window into their mind.
00:55:20He sent her a series of texts imploring her to go get gas because he was out of gas for
00:55:25his snowblower.
00:55:26But you have video suggesting otherwise.
00:55:29I don't think it's suggesting.
00:55:31I think it's showing absolutely otherwise.
00:55:49James thinks of his phone as part of his alibi, as this text message evidence in these videos.
00:55:55But when the police eventually get it and they look through it, they realize it's actually very damning for him.
00:56:02After the collision and the death initially, he was completely cooperative with us.
00:56:06He told us where he was. He agreed to hand over his phone.
00:56:11Do you mind if I take the call?
00:56:12Of course.
00:56:14He's got a pretty bad search history. He's searched, can a road flare completely burn?
00:56:22He who Google searched, can police see what's on your phone after it's been deleted?
00:56:28And he found out that the answer is yes.
00:56:32James had cameras all over his home. He had dash cam video. So it was pretty easy for investigators to
00:56:40figure out where he was, when he was there, how long he was there for, and where he had been
00:56:46in the days and hours surrounding Ashley's death.
00:56:51On the morning of January 25th, 2023, James finishes up one of his usual 24 hour firefighting shifts.
00:57:00At about eight o'clock in the morning, he sent her a series of texts imploring her to go get
00:57:05gas because he was out of gas for his snowblower and there was weather coming.
00:57:12Then in those text messages to Ashley, he said, I forgot to bring the gas can. Can you please go
00:57:17fill it up?
00:57:19But you have video suggesting otherwise.
00:57:23I don't think it's suggesting. I think it's showing absolutely otherwise.
00:57:28Jeremy ended up finding dash camera video from his motor vehicle that he had of what I call a recce
00:57:35of him driving the route that he was going to take.
00:57:40So on the 25th, he takes his daughter to a riding lesson.
00:57:44The police say he drives out to the Alpine Ski Club parking lot just to sort of scope it out.
00:57:52And he's got his son in the car with him.
00:57:55At first glance, the video seems innocent. James doing errands with his son in the backseat.
00:58:02But when the whole picture becomes clear, investigators realize that this is part of his elaborate plan to cover up
00:58:08a murder.
00:58:09Part of his planning was also that he needed a snowstorm. He needed a snowstorm to fit what he was
00:58:15doing.
00:58:16I think partly because you need to account for a car accident and if you've got slippery roads and the
00:58:21visibility is poor, that speaks to it.
00:58:23Also, part of the planning is not as many vehicles are out on the roadway when you have a big
00:58:28snowstorm.
00:58:30Which brings us to the early morning of that fateful day, January 26th.
00:58:35You can see James taking his dog out for a walk on his security camera, just like he told the
00:58:40police.
00:59:02So don't forget, James was asked by the police to draw a map of the route that he walked his
00:59:08dog.
00:59:10We thought, okay, let's find him walking the dog. That would be a great alibi for him.
00:59:14If he's out and about, whether we find people or a video of him, that would really say he's not
00:59:20out at the crash site.
00:59:22So we went in front of the house there and we walked his route.
00:59:26So basically this dog walk was James' entire alibi.
00:59:30Yes. We came out here and we walked the route that he gave us.
00:59:34You walked this walk.
00:59:35We walked this walk. Jeremy would walk on the sidewalk and I'd walk on the road just to be able
00:59:40to account for his possible whereabouts.
00:59:42So at this point police started asking homeowners, hey, can we see your security footage? Can we see your doorbell
00:59:48footage?
00:59:49And so you knew that there would be cameras on that route?
00:59:53There's cameras everywhere today.
00:59:55It's a typical thing that we do. Like that is one-on-one in policing is to do a canvas
01:00:00and talk to people and see if we can find video.
01:00:03Corroborate the alibi.
01:00:04Correct.
01:00:05And so how many cameras picked you up?
01:00:08So we got picked up on, I think, about eight cameras.
01:00:11Oh man, that's a lot.
01:00:12The officers retraced James' steps, but what they found was where James said he had walked, he never appeared on
01:00:21any of those cameras.
01:00:23Eight cameras that did not pick up James.
01:00:25Correct. Nobody picked him up.
01:00:27He's a ghost.
01:00:27He didn't exist here.
01:00:29We refer to it the walk that wasn't.
01:00:33Also absent on the security camera is any video of James returning from the dog walk.
01:00:37What is seen on the camera is Ashley's Mitsubishi SUV pulling out of the driveway.
01:00:44James was telling police that Ashley went on her hike and took their car.
01:00:49Making a right-hand turn and heading out to where it was going the right direction.
01:00:54You can't see the driver. You can't see who's in the passenger. You can't see what's in the back, which
01:00:58is perfect for him.
01:00:58What do you know to be happening in that video?
01:01:04He went for the dog walk. I think he just walked up the road, disarmed his camera, walked back in,
01:01:11reactivated his camera, and then drove the vehicle out of the garage and turned right and then headed his way
01:01:17up to the mountain.
01:01:18With his wife's body?
01:01:20With his wife's body in the car.
01:01:21The video evidence is damning to be sure, but cases tend to turn on first-person accounts from a witness.
01:01:29And now investigators are about to hear a story from the Schwalm's nine-year-old son about the last time
01:01:35he saw his mother.
01:01:36She asked for a phone from her son that night to call 911.
01:01:45Yeah. She knew she was in trouble then. 100%.
01:02:05It's a little bit snowy, but on the day it happened there was a lot more snow on the ground.
01:02:10Most of our region is under a snowfall warning tonight as 15 to 20 centimeters of snow...
01:02:15There was a lot of media giving people warning about this huge storm, and it came.
01:02:24It's still quiet in the early morning hours of January 26th, but not at the Schwalm House.
01:02:39So, explain to me where he was coming from and where he was going to.
01:02:43We left his house, he took a couple of rural roads to get out into the town of the Blue
01:02:48Mountains.
01:02:51He went and parked the car in the Alpine Ski Club where he prepared the car and Ashley's body with
01:02:58the gasoline.
01:03:02That's what we believe, yeah. That that's when he did it.
01:03:05Because it was just around the corner from where the crash site is.
01:03:10And then he drove a couple hundred meters down to this site here.
01:03:15After driving into the ditch, he got out, she's on the passenger side, and he lights the fire with that
01:03:26Zippo.
01:03:29And then he starts running this way, and we have him on video, 300 meters up the road, running.
01:03:37That's when he becomes the running man.
01:03:39The running man.
01:03:40Well, we referred to him as the running man. It's almost something you would see in a movie, to be
01:03:44honest with you.
01:03:45Detectives are now convinced that this shadowy figure, wearing a backpack and running across the frame, is James.
01:03:51And in the background, you see that eerie glow. It's the car on fire, with Ashley's body inside.
01:04:01It was a very large fire.
01:04:03So he knew how to build a hot fire.
01:04:06He's a firefighter.
01:04:08Given how destroyed the car is, this is a pretty good testament to how well Zippos perform under pressure.
01:04:16It was metal, and the metal is what survived this crash. So when it was cleaned up, it was a
01:04:23pointer in that direction.
01:04:25What is on the back of here? Do you know? It looks like a number.
01:04:27It looks like his badge number from work. He's, you know, using his own lighter with his own badge number
01:04:32from the fire department that he worked for.
01:04:34This is quite a calling card.
01:04:37Throughout this entire time, maybe an hour, James has left his kids entirely alone at home.
01:04:44The SUV that James drove into the ravine is now on fire, and home is 10 miles away, too far
01:04:52to get there on foot.
01:04:53That's why detectives say the day before, James had already come up with a plan that involved deceiving his own
01:05:00mother.
01:05:03He lied to his mother to facilitate the getaway vehicle for him to get from the crash scene to home.
01:05:12He told her he needed to borrow the car because he was going on a big hike, and he needed
01:05:16a ride home.
01:05:19And he made arrangements to get that car later that day.
01:05:25He borrows his mom's car, he takes it to the ski club, and he parks it at the parking lot
01:05:33there.
01:05:34He makes sure that mom's car's prepositioned for the next morning to take him back to Collingwood after he's staged
01:05:43the crash in the fire.
01:05:46James runs to the parking lot, gets in his mom's car, starts it up, and starts driving home.
01:05:55He doesn't park in his driveway because he knows that's going to invite some questions from the kids.
01:06:00Why do we have Graham's car?
01:06:02So he goes to the nearby school and parks it there, and goes the rest of the way home from
01:06:07there.
01:06:12How important was the video surveillance in helping you piece together this puzzle?
01:06:19It was crucial.
01:06:21It allowed us to track that car right back to the school.
01:06:25It allowed us to track him then leaving the school where he parked mom's car.
01:06:32Police also comb through James' social media, and they find a clue that's hiding in plain sight.
01:06:39We had seen on social media that he had participated in a number of charity events,
01:06:44and he would wear a bunker suit, which is the protective gear that firefighters wear.
01:06:49So you think he was wearing that as he drove himself off the cliff?
01:06:52And we think he wore that so he didn't get burned or hurt when he's crashing the car or setting
01:06:57the fire.
01:06:59While those pieces of evidence are great, that pales in comparison to the evidence given by a witness on the
01:07:07scene of a murder.
01:07:09Let's go back to the night of the murder. The son also was an ear witness to something.
01:07:16He was, and Ashley actually asked him to bring her a phone, and he did.
01:07:22She wanted to call the police because they had been fighting.
01:07:27He heard the commotion and them moving down the stairs.
01:07:32Fortunately, she was never able to make that call to police that she said she wanted to do.
01:07:39Later in the morning, he came down and James said that mom had gone for a walk.
01:07:46He had gone for a walk with the dog, but he actually, he could see the dog in the back
01:07:50room.
01:07:50His own father was lying.
01:07:52He knew that he was being lied to. It's horrific.
01:07:56He exposed them to something absolutely terrible that would affect them for the rest of their lives.
01:08:05So all those messages that you were reading on Ashley's phone, who actually sent those texts?
01:08:11So they were messages that James sent using Ashley's phone.
01:08:16But he wanted you to see them because he was laying those breadcrumbs for you.
01:08:20He needed us to see them. He needed Ashley to tell us what happened.
01:08:24It's far more compelling than him telling us what happened.
01:08:29Detectives are convinced they have enough evidence to arrest James for Ashley's murder.
01:08:35But they're afraid that tipping him off might cause even more harm.
01:08:39We had a lot of concerns about the safety of the children.
01:08:42If it becomes known that we're looking into him, what, what could he do?
01:08:56This story is about a man who had everything in his life handed to him.
01:09:03The perfect marriage, the perfect family, the perfect career, a hero in the community.
01:09:11And he burned it all to the ground.
01:09:15There was real concern that James might be dangerous, especially with regard to the kids.
01:09:21Absolutely.
01:09:23Until we had the evidence, the grounds to arrest him, he's out there.
01:09:29He has access to the children. He's driving around with the kids. It was a big concern.
01:09:37We made the right decision to protect the children.
01:09:39And we didn't want to show our hand in that moment that we were actually looking at him for the
01:09:43possibility of murder.
01:09:45We wanted everybody to believe we're still investigating this car crash.
01:09:48We knew he was out driving with some family members. We had surveillance on him.
01:09:55And as he returned home, he was stopped and I arrested him.
01:10:04And what was his reaction?
01:10:08Jeremy, how can I help you? What do you need?
01:10:11He was hoping, I think, that this would just somehow go away still.
01:10:17It took eight days for police to arrest James Schwamm.
01:10:21He is charged with first-degree murder.
01:10:23First-degree murder in Canada is 25 years.
01:10:28You cannot apply for parole until 25 years into your sentence.
01:10:33And there's no guarantee that you're going to get out at 25 years.
01:10:37The case now makes its way directly to the Superior Court of Justice.
01:10:41The allegations against James Schwamm have not been tested in court.
01:10:47How did it hit this community?
01:10:49I think it, you know, surprised and saddened an entire community.
01:10:56It can happen in your backyard.
01:11:00People were shocked.
01:11:02They were devastated.
01:11:04A lot of people knew her.
01:11:06And they knew us because we'd been there for 40, 50 years.
01:11:12But here's the thing.
01:11:13In order for prosecutors to be able to put out the strongest case,
01:11:16they're going to have to call as witnesses James and Ashley's young son and daughter.
01:11:22Is that something you wanted to avoid?
01:11:24It's not something we ever want.
01:11:26Sometimes it's unfortunately necessary.
01:11:35Were you worried about a drawn-out trial?
01:11:39If it was going to serve justice for my sister, I would have stayed on it for 20 years.
01:11:45Yeah.
01:11:45Why did you not want those kids to take the stand?
01:11:48Just their whole world in one evening was ripped away from them.
01:11:58No mom, no dad.
01:12:01And then having to go on the stand and stare at your dad?
01:12:05Who's killed your mom?
01:12:06Like, absolutely not.
01:12:11Two or three months later, James Schwamm is appearing from jail.
01:12:15And I'm watching his court appearance.
01:12:16And I hear that he is going to be in the Superior Court of Justice pleading guilty to second-degree
01:12:23murder.
01:12:24I asked his lawyer, do you have any comment right now?
01:12:28She said...
01:12:29I had a chill run down my spine.
01:12:36Because at that moment I realized, it's over.
01:12:42He was guilty. Guilty as sin.
01:12:47There was an agreed statement of fact, and he did agree that she was strangled.
01:12:54And they set her and the car on fire.
01:12:59He agreed that he dressed her in hiking clothing beforehand.
01:13:04This is a level of premeditation that really eliminates any idea that this was a crime of passion.
01:13:14100%.
01:13:17In order to decide what James' sentence should be, there was a hearing in the courthouses.
01:13:26And plenty of Ashley's family and friends showed up and submitted 21 victim impact statements.
01:13:35Talking about holes in their hearts, and how this crime had just shattered their community.
01:13:44I just wanted people to know that she's not a victim.
01:13:49She was my sister.
01:13:50She was a mom.
01:13:51She was an aunt.
01:13:53There were so many people that loved her.
01:13:57And...
01:13:59I just wanted that to be known.
01:14:06That courthouse was sad.
01:14:10That courthouse was somber.
01:14:12And I'm sure for some of them, it was a good feeling to be able to tell the courts and
01:14:17to tell the public just what they loved about Ashley.
01:14:20But I'm also sure for some of them, it was just another painful experience.
01:14:26What was your statement to him?
01:14:28That you tried to get away with something and we're not stupid. We caught you.
01:14:35The judge ultimately sentenced James to life in prison.
01:14:40He did not look at the crowd once.
01:14:45He gave a short statement.
01:14:46He said essentially, I'm sorry for my terrible actions and I want to return to the man that I once
01:14:53was.
01:14:53But this is the faith that I deserve.
01:14:58Do you think he had remorse? Did he express it?
01:15:01It was in court. I didn't really hear it.
01:15:04If somebody's remorseful, there's... you really don't question that.
01:15:08You see it and hear it.
01:15:09But you didn't see it.
01:15:11From my opinion, no.
01:15:14Obviously, he wasn't as smart as he thought he was.
01:15:17He made mistakes.
01:15:19And we had good police officers.
01:15:21Good detectives that made decisions and were meticulous in collecting evidence to show that he did what he did.
01:15:30One bright spot in this story is that Ashley's family wanted to honor her by partnering with a domestic violence
01:15:38shelter, which helps so many women.
01:15:40It's called My Friend's House.
01:15:44Obviously, because of the circumstances, she never had a proper funeral that was public.
01:15:53It became clear quickly, we need to do a hike.
01:16:00Ashley's celebration of life, they waited until a lot of the legal proceedings and things were done so that they
01:16:05could be on the other side of that to make it just about her, and it was beautiful.
01:16:13What do you want people to remember about Ashley?
01:16:16She had the kindest heart, and I hope everyone can get a sense of who she was.
01:16:27Her smile, her love for life was unmatched.
01:16:36She was so incredible.
01:16:39No one could replace her.
01:16:43I mean, am I happy now that I know she's with my mom? Yeah.
01:16:47But she is terribly missed.
01:16:57And we should point out that with James Schwalm taking that plea for second-degree murder, a judge has ruled
01:17:02that despite his life sentence, Schwalm would be eligible for parole after serving 20 years.
01:17:06David, meanwhile, Ashley's sister, Lindsay, has been working to raise funds in Ashley's name to prevent domestic violence.
01:17:14That's our program for tonight.
01:17:16Thanks so much for watching.
01:17:17I'm Deborah Roberts.
01:17:18And I'm David Muir from all of us here at ABC News in 2020.
01:17:21Good night.
01:17:46You
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