Pretrial motions began Monday in a downtown Toronto courtroom in the high-profile case of the man charged with the first-degree murder of 22-year-old Tess Richey.

Richey was reported missing to police by her family on Nov. 25, 2017. She was last seen in Toronto’s Gay Village that night.

Richey’s mother, who had driven to Toronto from North Bay to search for her daughter, found her body four days later in an alleyway outside an under-construction building near where she was last seen alive.

Kalen Schlatter, now 23, was arrested on Feb. 4, 2018. The tall, brown-haired man appeared in court Monday wearing a navy suit and tie.

Details presented during the pretrial motions are covered by a publication ban.

Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot will preside over the trial, which is expected to last between four and six weeks. Witnesses who showed up in court Monday were asked to return to court at the end of the month.

The Crown is scheduled to begin calling evidence on Jan. 30, after jury selection.

Richey’s case, along with other missing-persons investigations linked to the city’s Gay Village and the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur, prompted Toronto police to order an independent review into how the force handles missing-person reports. The review is ongoing and is expected to end next year.

Toronto police launched a new missing-persons unit in July 2018.