Robert Steven Wright appears in court starting today (Feb. 19) for a three-day bail hearing.
Wright is charged with first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Renée Sweeney. He was arrested Dec. 12 and charged with murdering Sweeney, who was a 23-year-old LU music student.
She was working at an adult video store on Paris Street at 11 a.m. on Jan. 27, 1998, when she was attacked and stabbed to death.
Wright was an 18-year-old high school student at Lockerby Composite at the time Sweeney was killed.
He was arrested at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, where he worked as a laboratory technician.
He's being represented by Michael Venturi and Berk Keaney, who has handled several high-profile trials in the city in his career. Police have not said why they believe Wright is the killer, or how they found the evidence to arrest and charge him.
A publication ban on evidence related to the case has been imposed, although no evidence from either side has been presented in court as of yet.
Last week, Wright was also charged by Greater Sudbury Police with one count of possession of child pornography. His lawyers said the charge was based on a single typed document.
“We have no doubt this charge will be withdrawn,” the statement said.
Sudbury.com is covering the bail hearing, and we'll bring you a story later today about what happens.
