A change of defence counsel is delaying the murder trial for the man accused in the killing of Renee Sweeney in 1998.
Court heard this morning Robert Steven Wright’s trial has been postponed as Toronto-based lawyer Michael Lacy takes over the case from Sudbury attorney Berk Keaney.
The trial was originally scheduled for March this year, but was delayed due to the pandemic. It was scheduled to begin Oct. 25.
Lacy told Sudbury.com in an email that he is not able to provide any details beyond what was discussed in open court.
The case will now return to court Nov. 2.
Dec. 11 will mark three years since Wright was arrested while working as a medical laboratory technician at a hospital in North Bay.
He was charged with first-degree murder, but that has since been downgraded to second-degree murder.
On Jan. 27, 1998, Sweeney, 23, was brutally attacked at her workplace, a video store on Paris Street, where she sustained multiple stab wounds and succumbed to her injuries.
Wright was 18 years old at the time of Sweeney's murder and was a resident of Sudbury and a student at Lockerby Composite School.
