Warning: This story contains graphic content and may be upsetting to some readers.

Kalen Schlatter told two undercover officers he was “pissed off” when Tess Richey refused to have sex with him but that when he left her in a Church Street stairwell in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2017, she was alive, court heard Wednesday.

“Mr. Schlatter said that when he left her, she was alive, so maybe she took her own life but he doesn’t know,” one of the Toronto police officers testified at Schlatter’s ongoing first-degree murder trial.

“Mr. Schlatter said he was drunk and something could have happened but he doesn’t remember and he doesn’t think he’s capable of doing it,” the officer recalled.

He testified that he and the other officer — their identities are covered by a publication ban — joined Schlatter in the holding cells of the 13 Division police station around 3 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2018, posing as two men who had been arrested. Schlatter had himself been arrested mere hours earlier, on the night of Feb. 4.

Investigators knew Schlatter, then 21, enjoyed board games from a photograph of his bedroom taken during a search warrant, the officer testified, explaining how he tried to get the suspected killer to open up by mentioning he and his co-accused were going to miss an appointment to learn about the fantasy card trading game “Magic: The Gathering.”

At this, the officer testified, Schlatter sat up off his bed and said he had a high ranking in the game. The conversation then turned to his sexual exploits, in which he described how he picked up women at gay bars and said, “sometimes you have to push the boundaries with women” to see where it goes. When the undercover officer asked why Schlatter had been arrested, he said he told him police were saying he’d killed Tess Richey, a 22-year-old aspiring flight attendant.

Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in her death. The Crown is arguing he sexually assaulted and strangled Richey before leaving her body in the stairwell of a house on Church Street where it was discovered four days later by her mother and a friend.

The conversation between Schlatter and the undercover officers was not recorded. The officer, who introduced himself to Schlatter as “Mike” and his co-accused as “Jesse,” testified he did a “brain dump” onto a notepad about three hours later. Only some parts of the conversation were Schlatter’s actual words, the officer said.

Schlatter told the officers he met Richey at the Crews and Tangos bar in the Gay Village. He said he met her at the club and that he was “dancing with her and kissing her and grinding with her,” the undercover officer said. Schlatter said he lost her inside the bar, but saw her with a friend outside the club and they continued to flirt while they were both very drunk. He said her friend then had to go and got on a streetcar, the officer said.

In its opening address, the Crown told the jury that security video from the bar shows no interaction between Schlatter and Richey that night inside or outside the club. The Crown also said there was no evidence Richey had any physical contact with Schlatter or displayed any signs of affection towards him around 4 a.m., as Richey’s friend Ryley Simard left.

On Tuesday, Simard testified that she gave Schlatter a kiss before she left.

The undercover officer testified that Schlatter said he saw an alleyway by a big house under renovation and took Richey in there so they could “hook up.” He said they went to the landing at the bottom of the stairwell for more privacy while they were “making out and grinding.” Schlatter explained that this made him ejaculate in his brown Eddie Bauer pants, and that the wet stain got onto her pants, the officer said, an explanation for how his DNA got on her clothing.

Schlatter said he wanted to have sex with her but she said she was on her period, the officer testified. Schlatter continued that Richey would not let him finger her, and said she was “falling over drunk,” the officer said. When they stopped kissing, Schlatter said Richey told him she wanted to stay at the bottom of the stairs but he wanted to leave. He said he asked her if he should stay and she said she didn’t want him to. He then said he left, the undercover officer testified.

Schlatter said he wouldn’t have taken Richey into the alley if he’d known there were cameras because he wanted privacy, the officer said. He also told the undercover officers that Richey’s mother found her at the bottom of the stairs, not the police and that the “police screwed up the search,” the officer said.

Two Toronto police officers are facing professional misconduct charges for allegedly failing to properly investigate Richey’s disappearance. Their hearing has been put off until Schlatter’s criminal trial is over.

Schlatter repeatedly said his lawyer had told him not to speak to anyone and that he had been silent when questioned by detectives, the undercover officer said. But he said trusted the two men whom he considered his brothers, and said they couldn’t tell anyone what he said or he’d be “screwed,” the undercover officer testified. The officer said he assured Schlatter he wouldn’t say anything.

Schlatter said the detectives showed him pictures “of the dead girl and it didn’t faze him at all ... they were trying to get a reaction out of him,” the undercover officer said. Schlatter said he pretended to cry but really felt nothing at all, the officer said.

Schlatter cried in court Tuesday when photos of Richey’s body were shown to the jury for the first time.

The officer said Schlatter said he’d win at trial. He also said that if you rolled the dice it was “50-50” that he’d spend the rest of his life in jail because he was the last person to see Richey alive, and there was video of them going into the alley and him coming out.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The jury has not yet seen this security video.

Schlatter told the undercover officer he’d had a few drinks the night he was arrested because he’d gone to watch the Superbowl with his family at a movie theatre. The officer said there was no indication that Schlatter was drunk, though he could not see Schlatter because of the cell wall between them.

The officer’s testimony is expected to continue Thursday.