TORONTO -- Facing a barrage of questions from the prosecution on Tuesday, the man accused of sexually assaulting and choking Tess Richey to death in 2017 denied forcing himself on the 22-year-old and killing her when he didn’t get what he wanted from her.
Kalen Schlatter, 23, returned to the witness stand at his murder trial on Tuesday to be cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Beverley Richards, who rejected his account of what occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 25, 2017, the last day Richey was seen alive.
On Monday, Schlatter, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, told the court that hours after meeting Richey and her friend outside a bar in the city’s gay village, Richey led him to a dark driveway to go fool around in the outdoor stairwell of a building that was being renovated near Church and Dundonald streets.
Schlatter said that while the two were down in the stairwell, they “made out” and were “feeling each other’s bodies.”
He told the court that after “grinding” with her and kissing her breasts, he ejaculated in his pants and the sexual encounter came to an end.
Schlatter told the court that when he went to leave, he offered to stick around to keep Richey company but she told him he could go.
He said he hailed a cab but had to get out because he felt sick. He told the jury that he then ordered an Uber to take him the rest of the way home.
He maintained that Richey was alive when he left that morning.
Schlatter said in the days that followed, he did not see the news stories and media releases about Richey’s disappearance and death, adding that he didn’t realize she had died until Dec.10 when his photo was released by police, who were looking for a person of interest in the case. He said that is when he contacted police.
During cross-examination on Tuesday, Richards questioned many aspects of Schlatter’s story, including his assertion that Richey was the one who took him to the stairwell.
Richards asked Schlatter why Richey would lead him up a driveway to go fool around moments after she called an Uber to go home.
“I didn’t see her order an Uber,” Schlatter said.
The ride was cancelled by the driver when Richey did not show up, the court previously heard.
Richards told the jury that she believes it was Schlatter’s idea to go into the stairwell and noted that it was likely him who chose the secluded construction site because he was the one who was familiar with the area.
“You took her down there because you wanted to have sex with her,” Richards said to Schlatter, who responded “No.”
“She was not going to give you sex, was she Mr. Schlatter,” Richards asked.
The Crown prosecutor pressed on, telling the jury that when Schlatter didn’t get what he wanted, he forced himself on Richey, who “fought” him off.
“I did not force myself on her,” Schlatter replied.
"I'm going to suggest...you strangled Ms. Richey to death, didn't you?" Richards said.
"No I did not," Schlatter responded.
Richards then held up crime scene photos of Richey’s lifeless body at the bottom of the stairwell.
"I'm going to suggest to you, Mr. Schlatter, that you weren't feeling well in the cab because this...this is what you left behind,” Richards said.
“You knew very well what you had done and you left her there.”
During the day-long cross-examination, Richards also suggested that before meeting Richey, Schlatter had unsuccessfully attempted to pick up other women at Crews and Tangos, the downtown bar Richey and Schlatter had been at that night.
Video surveillance footage presented in court Tuesday showed Schlatter lingering outside the bar for several minutes while trying to strike up conversations with women.
Schlatter said he was hanging out outside the bar because he was trying to decide whether to get pizza.
“You were looking to score but it wasn’t (for) pizza, was it,” Richards said.
Richards also accused Schlatter of preventing Richey from going home earlier that morning.
Security video viewed by jurors on Tuesday showed Richey hailing a cab on Wellesley Street while standing next to her friend, who she had just hugged goodbye.
As her friend is walking away, Schlatter waives off the cab.
“I’m going to suggest to you that Ms. Richey wants to go home at this point,” Richards said.
Schlatter told the court that he didn’t know who Richey had hailed the cab for and said he was unaware of her intention to go home.
“I wasn’t stopping anyone from getting into that cab,” he said, adding that he waived the taxi off because it was holding up traffic and other cars were honking.
Several of Richards’ questions centred on lies Schlatter told to various people about his sexual encounter with Richey and other sexual exploits.
While on the stand, Schlatter admitted to lying to his friend in a text message when he bragged about taking Richey home. Richards pointed out that Schlatter omitted that he ejaculated in his pants in a stairwell and never took her home.
“You lie to cover up embarrassment,” Richards asked Schlatter.
“No I just use different words in different contexts,” Schlatter replied.
Schlatter also admitted lying to undercover officers about “making out” with Richey on the dance floor inside the bar that night.
He said he did this to cover up the fact that he was actually with a male inside the bar and was trying to hide the fact that he was bisexual.
Schlatter once again confirmed that he lied to the officers when he was boasting about his sexual exploits.
One of the lies Schlatter told was that he had slept with 40 women.
“You lie to friends? You lie to strangers,” Richards asked.
“Only sometimes,” Schlatter responded.
The defence is expected to call its next witness on Thursday morning.
- With files from The Canadian Press
Here are updates from inside the courtroom.
