Sweeney case remains unsolved after 13 years

Thirteen years have come and gone since Renée Sweeney was found on the floor of the store where she worked, dying from multiple stab wounds.

Police were called to Adults Only Video on Paris Street at 11:35 a.m. on Jan. 27, after customers entered the store and found Sweeney.

For the past seven years, Sgt. Dave Toffoli has been the lead inspector in the case. The day Sweeney died, Toffoli was one of the officers called in to help with the search for the suspect.

The stab wounds Sweeney suffered were "extremely violent," Toffoli said in an interview last year.

"I've never seen anything like it in 22 years, ever."

Despite eliminating 1,775 potential suspects, a majority through DNA testing, police continue the search for the murderer.

Last year, police took the time to update the public on the case and reveal more information about the murder, including the fact it appears someone may have been harassing or stalking Sweeney in the weeks leading up to her death.

“Renée had received a number of hang-up phone calls (at home) during the two weeks prior to her murder,” Toffoli said last year.

“She had a different behaviour. She used to park her car at work on the opposite side of the parking lot, but it was a dark area of the parking lot. In the week prior to the murder, she changed the location of her parking, and she parked directly in front of the store, which she had never done before.

“We’re assuming she did this because she was scared of someone, or something happening to her.

We’ve never found out what she was scared of. She never told her family, her friends, or her co-workers.”

Police also asked the public to remember that more than a decade had gone by since the murder, and the sketches provided to police as well as the suspect's description would not be the same now as it was in 1998.

An episode of Global Television's Cold Case Files detailing Sweeney's murder aired roughly four years ago, and is posted on the Sudbury Crime Stoppers website for people to watch.

“Everyone who has the opportunity should view the Cold Case episode” Greater Sudbury Police Insp. Todd Zimmerman stated in a press release. He is a member of the Criminal Investigations Division.

“(The episode) could jog the memory of someone who may have the missing piece that could help us solve this case.”

While the television program is called Cold Case Files, the Sweeney case has never been relegated to a cold case status. Since the murder 13 years ago, police have been actively working to solve the murder.

"We are convinced that (the case) will, one day, be solved," Zimmerman said.

A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest in Sweeney's murder.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to phone Greater Sudbury Police at 705-675-9171, or Sudbury Rainbow Crime Stoppers by phone at 705-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.sudburycrimestoppers.com, or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), starting with the word TIPSUD.

With files from Stacey Lavallie.