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Andrea Canning is no stranger to the most heinous of crimes.
As an NBC Dateline correspondent, she has covered mind-boggling mysteries and the most gruesome murders.
But she never expected one of the cases would be in her own backyard: The idyllic ski resort of Blue Mountain, Canada, just a few miles from where she grew up.
During a blinding snowstorm on January 26, 2023, a car was engulfed in flames, and a man was seen running from the scene. The woman in the burnt-out vehicle was later identified as 40-year-old mother-of-two Ashley Schwalm.
Ashley’s husband James Schwalm, the captain of the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, had strangled Ashley in their home after a fight.
In a calculated move, he changed her clothes to make it seem as though she was going for a hike. Then he placed her body inside the vehicle and staged the scene to make it look like a car crash.
James pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and in February was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 20 years.
Canning spoke to Daily Mail reporter Ruth Bashinsky about covering a crime where she had a personal connection to the victim – and knew many of those involved in the investigation.
‘What kept me going was knowing Ashley’s story deserved to be told,’ she said.
To get the full interview and inside story on the case – and more – sign up here to The Crime Desk, the brand new newsletter from the Daily Mail delivered to your inbox on Wednesdays.
NBC Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning goes back to her hometown in the Blue Mountains of Ontario, Canada where the murder took place
Ashley Schwalm, 40, was a mother of two young children
Ashley and James Schwalm are pictured with their two young children – ages six and nine – at the firehouse where James served as captain of the Brampton Fire Department
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