TORONTO – Prosecutors say a Toronto man “stalked and isolated”a young woman who had no interest in him, then lured her into an alleyway where he sexually assaulted and strangled her.
The Crown alleges Kalen Schlatter, 23, acted like a “predator” towards Tess Richey in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2017, trying to prevent the 22-year-old from going home because he wanted to have sex with her.
In her closing submissions Tuesday, prosecutor Bev Richards said Richey twice tried to get in a taxi that night and had already called an Uber when Schlatter led her into a dark alley in downtown Toronto.
Richards suggested Schlatter may have offered to walk Richey to her ride or to show her a shortcut, but instead sexually assaulted and killed her in an outdoor stairwell.
READ MORE: Kalen Schlatter testifies he did not kill or sexually assault 22-year-old Tess Richey
Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He testified last week that Richey wanted to “make out” in the stairwell and was alive when he left her.
Richey went missing after a night out with a friend and her body was found in a stairwell in downtown Toronto days later.