Defence in Schlatter trial to call man they say could be alternate suspect
Posted March 12, 2020 4:00 am.
Last Updated March 12, 2020 6:06 am.
Defence lawyers for a Toronto man accused of strangling a young woman are expected to call as a witness Thursday a man they suggest could be an alternate suspect.
Lawyers representing Kalen Schlatter have raised questions during trial about another man seen in the area the night Tess Richey went missing.
Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Richey, whose body was found in a stairwell in Toronto’s gay village days after she went missing in November 2017.
He testified earlier this week that he ran into Richey and her friend after they all left the same club, and that Richey made the first move on him after her friend left.
Schlatter, 23, told the court he and Richey made out in a stairwell, but she declined to have sex and they parted a bit later.
Court has seen security video that shows the pair walking together down a driveway shortly after 4 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2017, and Schlatter emerging alone roughly 45 minutes later.
Defence lawyers have repeatedly pointed to a man in a light pink baseball cap who was also captured on surveillance video in the area that night.
