Historic Sudbury murder trial scheduled to begin next week

On a cold day just more than 25 years ago, a Laurentian University student was killed in a knife attack while working at an adult video store in the south end of Sudbury.

The Jan. 27, 1998, murder of Renee Sweeney, 23, took place in an era when security cameras weren’t everywhere, as they are today.

The killer managed, in broad daylight, to commit the crime and leave the video store without being caught on tape.

Despite numerous appeals and high-profile media campaigns appealing for information, it was two decades before a suspect was identified and arrested in the case.

That was in December 2018, when Robert Steven Wright, then 39, was charged with first-degree murder. The charge was reduced to second-degree murder in 2019.

Since the arrest, the case has been delayed numerous times, including delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the trial is now set to begin Tuesday in Greater Sudbury.

With the trial so close, there are legal restrictions and publication bans on evidence limiting what we can say about the case.

However, CTV News Northern Ontario will be providing extensive coverage throughout the trial, both in our broadcasts and our website.

Coverage will begin once jury selection is completed, a process that begins Tuesday.