The 22-year-old man accused of the first degree murder of North Bay native Tess Richey appeared in court, Monday.
At that brief appearance in a Toronto courtroom, a date of January 17 was set for a judicial pre-trial for Kalen Schlatter in the death of Richey. A judicial pre-trial is a meeting involving the judge, Crown attorney and the lawyer representing the accused prior to the beginning of the trial itself.
Tess Richey, the youngest of five sisters with ties to North Bay, was found dead in the Village section of Toronto after a night out with a friend.
Richey was first reported missing by her family and later found by her own mother in the stairwell of a house under renovation nearby where witnesses had last seen her.
Two Toronto Police Service officers face misconduct charges in connection with the Richey missing person case for their lack of effort in attempting to locate the missing woman.
Schlatter was arrested in February of 2018 after TPS released photos from security video footage of a man police said was a person of interest in the Richey case.
Photo credit: Toronto Police Service
Schlatter, then 21, was originally charged with the second degree murder in the strangulation death of Richey, 22, a charge later upgraded to first degree murder.
Investigators have said they believe Richey and her accused killer met for the first time the early morning she was killed.
