From the March 2025 issue of Toronto Life
Murder in the Blue Mountains
Ashley and James Schwalm had what seemed like a fairy tale life—two wonderful children, fulfilling careers and a gorgeous home close to the private ski club where they’d fallen in love. Then Ashley’s remains turned up in a burned-out car at the bottom of a ditch, and all signs pointed to her husband
On January 26, 2023, just before 6 a.m., a car travelling along the shore of Georgian Bay turned south onto Arrowhead Road, a two-lane street that gently curves and rises into the forested foot of the Blue Mountains. It was a high-beams kind of morning—dark and blustery, with wind whipping snow through the sub-zero air—so the driver, on his way to work at the nearby Alpine Ski Club, kept his eyes on the road. There wasn’t much to see: icy asphalt, hydro poles, the occasional driveway. Then, in the distance, he noticed an ominous orange glow lighting up the bare canopy.
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