Testimony at Robert Steven Wright trial focuses on first murder suspect, canine track

The first person charged with the murder of Renee Sweeney in Sudbury was the spotlight Tuesday at the trial of Robert Steven Wright.

Wright is charged with second-degree murder in Sweeney’s Jan. 27, 1998, death. But a suspect named John Fetterly was charged first with the murder in February 1998 -- charges that were later dropped.

Testifying in the afternoon was Robert Keetch. The former chief of police in Sault Ste. Marie was a sergeant in Sudbury in 1998 and the lead investigator in the Sweeney case.

Defence attorney Michael Lacy asked Keetch about Ray Hutchison, who worked in a computer store at the Paris Street strip mall where the murder took place.

Hutchison told police he saw someone enter the adult video store where Sweeney worked at 11 a.m.

Court heard that Hutchison had been interviewed twice and picked someone out of a bunch of photos. Then a photo of Fetterly was shown taken the day of his arrest on Feb. 10, 1998.

Keetch confirmed it was him.

Lacy reviewed Fetterly’s criminal record, which included break and enters beginning in 1983, theft and extortion charges in 1986 and assault convictions, the last being in 1994 in Sudbury.

At the time, Fetterly was living with his mother on Riverside Drive, about 3.6 kilometres from where the murder took place. Police obtained a search warrant for the residence.

Lacy also referred to a community mental health worker named Pierre Rivers who had dealt with Fetterly in the past. In his interview with Sudbury police in 1998, Rivers told them Fetterly was interested in knives.

“He likes to talk about weapons,” Rivers said in his interview with police.

“Especially knives.”

Once when he came in, Rivers said Fetterly showed him and another social worker a knife he was carrying that had a four- to six-inch blade.

“I told him weapons are not allowed in the centre,” Rivers told police.

Crown attorney Rob Parsons asked Keetch whether there was any talk of Fetterly doing anything other than talking about knives.

Keetch said "no" and that he was unaware of Fetterly ever threatening to use a knife.

Former Sudbury Police officer Brian McRury led the canine track the morning of Sweeney’s murder, shown in this image from the trial. Mcrury said his dog, a German shepherd named ‘Oakey,’ was trained to track human scents. (Supplied)

The last witness of the day was Brian MacRury, who spent 27 years with the Sudbury police, much of that time as a canine track officer.

McRury led the canine track the morning of Sweeney’s murder. He said his dog, a German shepherd named ‘Oakey,’ was trained to track human scents.

It’s key to find tracks in less travelled areas, McRury said, so the scent isn’t mixed in with other humans, something that would confuse the dog.

He said it’s easiest to track people through places like forests, with asphalt areas the toughest because they are so busy and there are so many competing scents. It’s tougher in winter, too, he said, because the air is dry and people are bundled up.

However, McRury said he and Oakey had experience tracking in winter conditions.

“He was a very, very successful dog,” he said, of Oakey’s ability to track a specific human’s scent.

McRury and Oakey arrived at the crime scene at 12:17 p.m. that day. It was vital to find an area “where only the suspect would have been,” he said, so Oakey could zone in on the specific scent and then follow it along.

They were told the suspect headed north on Paris Street. At 12:36 p.m., the track began.

Eventually, McRury located a single set of footprints in the snow behind the mall leading into the bush.

This is photo of the stained teal jacket that Brian McRury and his canine Oakey discovered during the track on Jan. 27, 1998. (Supplied)

McRury said the footprints were five to six feet apart, indicating the person was running, and were headed northeast. The pair headed through deep, fresh snow and came to a fence where it looked like someone had climbed over.

Oakey had a strong hold on the scent, McRury said.

“He was pulling hard. Head down, no hesitation,” he said.

Eventually, they came across the stained teal jacket that police believe was connected to the case. It was stuffed into some rocks.

“It appeared to be a rolled up, crinkled-up nylon jacket,” McRury said. “It had been pushed in there.”

Another officer stayed behind to guard the evidence as McRury and Oakey continued the track, but soon the dog lost the scent.

Despite their best efforts, “we never, ever acquired the scent again,” he said.

The track ended at 1:08 p.m.

The trial resumes Wednesday morning when the defence is expected to cross-examine McRury.