Renee Sweeney murder trial rescheduled to next year, here is why
After being in jail for more than three years, the man accused of the brutal murder of a Sudbury woman in 1998 will stand trial next year.
Renee Sweeney was a 23-year-old student at Laurentian University who worked as a part-time clerk at Adults Only Video. She was stabbed to death while working at the store sometime between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, 1998. (File)
The trial for the man accused of killing Renee Sweeney, Robert Steven Wright, was originally scheduled for May 2021 but was postponed to that fall due to the pandemic. Two weeks before his trial was to begin in October 2021, Wright's lawyer, Berk Keaney, declared a conflict of interest, leading him to hire Michael Lacy as his new lead counsel.
For Lacy to get up to speed on the case, the trial was tentatively postponed again until September 2022.
Lacy confirmed to CTV News in an email the trial is now scheduled to begin Feb. 21, 2023, just after the 25th anniversary of Sweeney's murder.
The new adjournment is due to Lacy's availability, as the court heard he is scheduled to represent someone else in another matter elsewhere.
Robert Steven Wright was arrested in December 2018 while he was at work in North Bay and has been in jail ever since after being denied bail several times.
The original charge of first-degree murder was changed to second-degree murder in August 2019.
Wright was an 18-year-old high school senior when 23-year-old Sweeney was brutally stabbed to death at Adults Only Video on Paris Street, where she worked as a clerk.
Robert Steven WrightDue to a publication ban, CTV News is not able to report any of the details of the case.
Robert Steven Wright was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the murder of Renee Sweeney
The trial has not yet begun and none of the charges has been proven in court.
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