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Forensic pathologist who examined Tess Richey testifies at trial

TORONTO — A forensic pathologist who examined Tess Richey’s body says she quickly saw signs that suggested the young woman had been strangled.

Dr. Kona Williams is telling a Toronto court that broken blood vessels inside Richey’s eyelids and on her neck raised the possibility of manual or ligature strangulation.

Williams is testifying at the trial of Kalen Schlatter, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Richey’s death.

The Crown alleges Schlatter sexually assaulted and killed Richey in the hours after they met in November 2017.

The 22-year-old woman was reported missing after a night out with a friend.

Days later, her mother and a family friend discovered her body in a stairwell in Toronto’s gay village.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2020.

The Canadian Press