Chilliwack man charged with killing 37-year-old woman was convicted in replica pistol school shooting 20 years ago

David Dalton Knox, 38, is charged with manslaughter of Chantelle Ruhl in April 2025, has a history of domestic violence

A 38-year-old Chilliwack man, David Dalton Knox, has been charged with manslaughter and indignity to human remains in the April 2025 killing of 37-year-old Chantelle Ruhl.

Ruhl's body was found near the Southern Railway line behind the old Canadian Tire on Vedder Road after the Chilliwack RCMP responded to a report of a suspicious incident at approximately 11 a.m. on April 21.

Before a publication ban was put in place on Monday (Sept. 8, 2025), Knox’s file available online had an earlier date of offence on the manslaughter charge, which suggests the alleged killing took place earlier and elsewhere and the body was moved to the rail location.

On the day Ruhl’s body was found, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) was called out after an assessment by the Chilliwack RCMP Serious Crimes Unit in conjunction with the Integrated Forensic Identification Service (IFIS).

"Throughout the course of this investigation, IHIT has worked in close partnership with the Chilliwack RCMP and IFIS to identify a suspect, understand the circumstances around the homicide and recommend charges," according to an IHIT news release.

Police described Ruhl as being of no fixed address, and someone known to frequent the area where her body was found.

On Sept. 6, 2025, the BC Prosecution Service charged Knox with manslaughter and indignity to human remains for the death of Ruhl. He appeared briefly in Abbotsford provincial court, but the case was put over to Sept. 12 for a scheduled bail hearing. 

History of domestic assault

Knox has a lengthy criminal record spanning the entire two decades of his adult life, all in Chilliwack, including five ‘K’ files. K is the court designation referring to domestic violence.

He was convicted of domestic assault in July and December 2015 in separate cases, and convicted of a breach connected to one of those files in 2016. In 2021, he was convicted of domestic assault again. In 2022, he was convicted of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and in 2024 he was convicted of uttering threats to burn, destroy or damage, both K files.

Before the manslaughter charge this week, the most high profile case was the year he legally became an adult in 2006 and he shot up a classroom at Sardis Secondary with an airsoft pellet gun. 

Knox was a former student of SSS described as being “‘unsuccessful’ in his studies” in a newspaper article on March 28, 2006, which was not further explained. It was reported that he was dropping off books at the school for some reason on March 22 at lunch hour when he pulled out a replica pistol and fired five times, hitting three students with plastic pellets who suffered minor injuries.

The 18-year-old was arrested nearby a short time later after major crime and dog squad officers arrived on scene.

Assistant school superintendent Bob Patterson is quoted congratulating the response by school staff and students to the incident that was probably terrifying for some people.

“I want to commend staff and students at Sardis Secondary for how they conducted themselves,” he said, adding that he couldn’t say anything about a possible motive for Knox shooting in the school.

On Oct. 16, 2006, Knox was convicted of three counts of assault with a weapon and sentenced to one year probation. He was also convicted of a breach of probation connected to the case in 2008 for an incident from January 2007 and given 12 months more probation.

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Paul J. Henderson
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