TORONTO -- Warning: This story includes graphic content that may be disturbing to some readers.
The man accused of murdering Tess Richey in November 2017 allegedly strangled her to death and left semen and saliva on her clothing before abandoning her body in the exterior stairwell of a building under construction in the city’s Church-Wellesley Village, a court heard Thursday.
In her opening statements to the jury during the first day of the trial for Kalen Schlatter, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, Crown prosecutor Beverley Richards outlined the case against the accused and summarized 22-year-old Tess Richey’s movements on the last day she was seen alive.
Richards told the jury that Richey, who had recently gone through a painful breakup, spent the day of Nov. 24, 2017 with her sister before deciding to meet up with an old friend for a night out in the city’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood.
Jurors heard that Richey told her sister she wanted to go drinking to forget the “pain and humiliation” of the breakup.
Richey ended up messaging an old friend and the two agreed to meet at a club on Church Street that evening, Richards said.
Shortly after midnight, Richey met up with her friend at Crews & Tangos and the pair had several drinks while at the bar, Richards stated.
The prosecutor told the jury that the two women became “quite intoxicated” and were eventually asked by security to leave the bar.
The Crown alleged that video surveillance footage from Crews & Tangos clearly shows that the accused was also at the bar that night. The cameras, Richards said, did not capture any interaction between Schlatter and Richey.
When Richey and her friend left the bar at around 2:15 a.m., the Crown told the jury that Schlatter followed them. Richards said that at some point, Richey’s friend remembered a “tall blond” male walking with them.
The jurors heard that Richey and her friend ended up making stops at a hot dog stand and later a home on Dundonald Street, where Richey and her friend spoke to a man and woman outside the residence.
The accused was with the women during both stops, Richards said, and paid for the hot dogs.
Richards told the jury that Richey parted ways with her friend shortly after 4 a.m. and the 22-year-old was later captured on video surveillance footage walking alone toward Church Street. Schlatter, Richards said, could be seen trailing behind her.
In the video surveillance footage captured throughout the night, Richards said, there was never any physical contact made between Richey and Schlatter.
“No hands being held, no arm-in-arm walking, no kisses. No sign of affection,” Richards said.
An Uber ordered by Richey was cancelled at 4:17 a.m. after the driver labelled Richey a “no-show,” the prosecutor told the jury.
The Crown said video surveillance footage captured at 4:14 a.m. shows Schlatter leading Richey up the gravel driveway of a construction site near Church and Dundonald streets.
“Tess Richey is never seen alive again. Kalen Schlatter is the male seen on the surveillance footage leaving the crime scene alone, 45 minutes after Tess Richey had followed him in,” Richards told the jury.
Later that morning, Richards said Richey, the youngest of five girls, did not respond to her sister’s text messages, causing her sibling to grow concerned.
The Crown prosecutor said that in the days following her disappearance, Richey’s sisters and mother, who flew from her home in North Bay to Toronto to frantically search for her daughter, went door-to-door in the city’s Church-Wellesley Village to try to find the missing 22-year-old.
Richey’s body was ultimately discovered the day before her 23rd birthday by her mother. She was found in an exterior stairwell at the construction site where she was last seen with Schlatter, the Crown said.
Richey’s autopsy was carried out by a forensic pathologist, who Richards said will also provide testimony during the trial.
The Crown said the post-mortem examination showed bruising on Richey’s lower arms, the back of her hand, and the back of her left wrist. Richey was found with a scrapes on her finger and hand and had a fresh injury on her forehead, Richards added, suggesting that the wounds Richey sustained could be “defensive injuries.”
The Crown alleged that semen found on Richey’s pant leg and saliva found on the inside of her bra matched Schlatter “to a statistical certainty.”
Following his arrest in February 2018, Richards told the jury that Schlatter was held in a cell where two undercover officers were also lodged. During that time, Richards told the jury that the accused bragged to the undercover officers about his sexual exploits.
Richards told the jury that Schlatter, then 21, told the officers that he had slept with more than 40 girls and often had threesomes and foursomes.
According to Richards, Schlatter told the officers that women “beg him to sleep with them” because they like his “charm and looks.”
The prosecutor said Schlatter told the undercover cops that he “likes a challenge” and told them that “sometimes you have to push the boundaries with women to see where it goes.”
The Crown alleged that Schlatter also described his interaction with Richey to the undercover officers.
According to Richards, Schlatter told the officers that after meeting Richey in the village, the two went to an alley near a big house that was being renovated. The Crown said Schlatter told the officers that he fooled around with Richey and ejaculated in his pants, which is why his DNA was found on her clothes.
The jurors also heard that Schlatter disclosed to the officers that he wanted to have sex with Richey but was upset when she refused.
The trial will resume on Friday morning.
