Chilliwack man with history of domestic abuse charged with murder, interference with a dead body, may be released on bail Friday
David Dalton Knox allegedly killed 37-year-old Chantelle Ruhl in gruesome circumstances, dumped her body in bushes by train tracks in 2025
July 30, 2026
Last week, Chantelle Ruhl’s mother was forced to listen to some of the brutal details of her daughter’s murder, allegedly at the hands of David Dalton Knox who is charged with second-degree murder, interference with a dead body, and two counts of attempting to obstruct justice.
On Friday (July 31, 2026), Ruhl’s mother will find out if Knox will be released on bail in advance of a trial that won’t start until January 2027, giving him at least six months out of custody.
Knox had a bail hearing two weeks ago. Justice Ian Caldwell is scheduled to decide on whether or not to release Knox on July 31 in BC Supreme Court in Abbotsford.
Evidence and other information about cases or release plans shared at a bail hearings are subject to publication bans so cannot be reported on.
Knox was originally charged with manslaughter for killing Ruhl whose body was found among blackberry bushes by the Southern Rail line behind the old Canadian Tire in Chilliwack on Vedder Road on April 21, 2025.
That charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder. He is also charged with interference with a dead body, and two counts of attempting to pervert/defeat/obstruct justice, one of which involved something he allegedly did while in police custody.
In January, 2026, Knox opted for a trial in BC Supreme Court with judge and jury.
Chantelle Ruhl (left) in a high-school graduation photo, and David Knox in 2006 after he was arrested for shooting up a classroom at Sardis Secondary School with an airsoft gun, and a cross erected where Ruhl's body was found in 2025 (bottom right). (Facebook, Progress archives, Paul J. Henderson)
The 38-year-old 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.
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 that year over the 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.
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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Will he be released?
Typically, in a serious case such as a homicide, an accused would need to have a detailed plan for release as to where he will live, who will supervise him. There may be electronic monitoring ordered along with other orders to abstain from substances, curfews, attend rehab, etc.
To be granted bail, a judge has to consider three grounds on whether to detain or release: will the accused show up to court, is the accused at risk to re-offend while on release, and would release undermine public trust in the justice system.
The four-day preliminary inquiry in advance of the murder trial is scheduled for Jan. 19, 20, 21, and 22, 2027.
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Paul J. Henderson
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