'You left her there dead': Crown blasts Kalen Schlatter with questions at Richey murder trial

Crown attorney Bev Richards hammered accused killer Kalen Schlatter with questions in court Tuesday,duringcross-examinationat his trial for first-degree murder in connection with Tess Richey's death.

Over the course of several hours, Richards zeroed in on multiple "coincidences" within Schlatter's testimony where, she says,things didn't addup.

"You left her there dead, isn't that right, Mr. Schlatter?" Richards said. Schlatterflatly denied that, and said Richey was alive when he left her after they had madeout in an outdoor stairwell in the city's gay village in 2017.

"You knew very well what you had done, and you left her there," Richards said.

With her voice booming inside a packed courtroom, Richards pointed out several instances in which Schlatter said helied during his testimony both tofriends and to undercover police officers.

"Mr. Schlatter, you lie to strangers, fair?" Richards said.

"I lie for specific reasons," Schlatterresponded.

He appeared flushed through much of the cross-examination, and verbally stumbledat times. He told court Monday that he has a speech impediment that sometimes causes him to slur his words.

Schlatteralsosaid he lied while ina holding cell after his arrest with two undercover police officers hethought were criminals. Hetestifiedhe inflatedthe number of women he had slept with while talking to them in order tohide the fact that he is bisexual.

"I lied to protect myself," Schlatter said.

"Yes, you do that, don't you?" Richards shotback.

Schlatter's DNA found on Richey's clothing

For over five weeks, the jury has heard witnesstestimonyaboutthe 23-year-old Toronto man, who theCrown allegessexually assaulted and then strangled Richeybefore leaving her body at the bottom of theoutdoor stairwell.

Schlatter has pleaded not guilty in connection withthe 22-year-old's death.

Court hasheard Schlatter's semen was found on Richey's pants and his saliva was on the inside of her bra.

The jury has alsoseen security camera footageof Schlatter and Richey together in the early morning hours ofNov. 25.

Thatincludesvideo showing the pair walking up adriveway to the outdoor stairwell where her body was later discovered at 582 Church St.,before Schlatteremergesalone about 45 minutes later, headingback the way they came.

"You never look back, do you, Mr. Schlatter?" said Richards, after showing video of that moment in court.

"No, I don't," he said.

WATCH: Kalen Schlatter and Tess Richey walk up driveway

Security camera footage of Schlatter and Richey

5 years ago

Duration 0:24

This footage of Kalen Schlatter and Tess Richey was played at Schlatter's first-degree murder trial. The two can be seen walking together down an alleyway. Schlatter leaves on his own some time later.

SchlattersaidRicheywas the one who took the lead that morning, initially asked him to kiss her, and eventually toldhim to follow her up thedriveway.

Richards countered by sayingthe security footage doesn't back up that argument. Sheshowed videofrom earlier in the morning, where Richey appeared to try to hail a cab while with Schlatter and her friend Ryley Simard, after leaving drag club Crews and Tangos.

"She wanted to go home, didn't she?" Richards said. Schlatterresponded thathe didn't know if the cab was for Richeyor Simard, but he eventually waved it on because the driver was holding up traffic.

"I wasn't stopping anyone from getting in that cab," Schlatter said.

Richards also showed video of Schlatter milling about in the crowd outside the club after last call. She pointed to various interactions he had with women as indicative of him trying to pick someone up.

"That's what you do, Mr. Schlatter. You just hang on the outskirts, waiting, don't you?" Richards said.

Schlatter again denied that.

'She was alive when I left her'

Schlatter testified that once he and Richey were in the stairwell, theymade out for a while before he got down on his knees and she started "grinding" on him, before heeventually"came in his pants."

Schlatter said he laterasked Richey if she wanted to come back to his family's home, but she declined.

He testifiedRichey thenpulled out her phoneand told him he could leave, so he left her at the stairwell. Richards challenged Schlatter about exactlywhere he said Richey was when he left, and said he"can't get his story straight" because Richeyhad actually been "strangled to death at the bottom of the stairwell.

"That's where you left her, isn't it Mr. Schlatter?" Richards said.

"She was alive when I left her," he responded.

CBC Toronto reporter Adam Carter reportedlive from inside the courtroom Tuesday morning. You can read a recap here:

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adam.carter@cbc.ca