The trial of a Collingwood man accused of killing his wife moved forward in the Superior Court in Barrie today with the start of the judicial pre-trial.
James Schwalm, who is accused of killing his wife, Ashley Schwalm, already waived his right to a preliminary hearing, via his lawyer Joelle Klein, in a Collingwood courtroom last month, which pushed his case into the Superior Courts and toward a trial.
James Schwalm is charged with first-degree murder and indignity to a dead body. The charges were laid last year after the body of Ashley Schwalm, 40, was discovered inside a Mitsubishi Outlander sport utility vehicle on Jan. 26, 2023 at 5:55 a.m. The vehicle had careened down an embankment on Arrowhead Road and caught fire after landing.
On Feb. 3, OPP announced Schwalm's death was the subject of a homicide investigation and that her 38-year-old husband, James Schwalm, had been charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a dead body. On Feb. 17, police announced they had upgraded the charges to first-degree murder.
James Schwalm was a captain with Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, but has since been fired.
The judicial pre-trial will continue on May 28 in Barrie.
None of the charges against James Schwalm have been proven in court.
