Kalen Schlatter expected to testify at his murder trial today

TORONTO — A Toronto man accused of sexually assaulting and strangling a young woman he had just met is expected to testify at his murder trial today.

Kalen Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Tess Richey, a 22-year-old woman whose body was discovered in a stairwell days after she went missing in November 2017.

Court has seen security footage that showed Schlatter and Richey walking down an alley together the night she disappeared, then Schlatter emerging alone about 45 minutes later.

The trial has also heard Schlatter’s DNA was on Richey’s pants and inside her bra.

Defence lawyers have raised questions about another man seen on security video from the area that night.

Jurors heard last week from Schlatter’s former cellmate, a longtime criminal who said Schlatter confessed to strangling Richey with a scarf after she refused to have sex with him.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 9, 2020.

The Canadian Press