Defence lawyer Lydia Riva is seen questioning Kalen Schlatter in a March 9, 2020, court sketch.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
A man defence lawyers suggest could be an alternate suspect in the killing of a young woman acknowledged he saw her several times on the night she disappeared.
The man, who can only be identified as J.G. due to a publication ban, was called by the defence to testify at the murder trial of Kalen Schlatter, the 23-year-old accused of sexually assaulting and strangling Tess Richey.
Mr. Schlatter’s lawyers have raised questions about J.G., who can be seen wearing a light pink trucker hat and dark parka in some security footage from the area the night Ms. Richey went missing.
On the stand today, J.G. was repeatedly asked if he had left his apartment in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 25, 2017, because he was “looking for sex,” which he eventually agreed was the case.
The short, muscular man said he saw Ms. Richey on a few occasions that night, first coming across her and two companions shortly after 3 a.m. near the ATM where he had gone to withdraw money.
He said Ms. Richey, a woman he had never met, called out to him and tried to start a conversation but was held back and “coerced or led away” by the two others.
J.G. testified he walked a loop in the neighbourhood hoping to see Ms. Richey again. He did see the group a second time and Ms. Richey tried to talk to him but was dissuaded by one of the others, he said.
He noted Ms. Richey did not seem “romantically involved” with either of her companions, who court has previously heard were Mr. Schlatter and her friend Ryley Simard.
Mr. Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Ms. Richey’s death, testifying earlier this week that the young woman was alive when he left her following a consensual sexual encounter.
He told the court he met Ms. Richey and her friend after they all left the same club, and that Ms. Richey made the first move after Ms. Simard went home.
Mr. Schlatter said he and Ms. 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 Mr. Schlatter emerging alone roughly 45 minutes later.
Ms. Richey’s body was found a few days later, discovered in a stairwell by her mother and a family friend.
J.G., who lived nearby, recalled Thursday seeing posters about a missing person in the neighbourhood, but said he did not immediately recognize Ms. Richey because she wore sunglasses in the photo.
He went to the police station to talk to investigators after reading a news story on Ms. Richey’s body being found, he said.
The article said it was expected her death would be ruled to be from “misadventure,” and he believed there had been foul play since he had seen her with a group, he said.
Defence lawyer Lydia Riva suggested J.G. only spoke to police after Ms. Richey’s body was discovered because he believed an autopsy would show she died by homicide, an argument he rejected.
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