January 27 brings about two anniversaries for two Sudburians who are forever, tragically, linked. For Renée Sweeney, the 27th anniversary of her death.
For the man convicted of her murder, Robert Steven Wright, a biennial occasion as he again spends the month of March at trial: in 2023, for Sweeney’s murder — a conviction he is now appealing — and this year, facing charges including criminal harassment, forcible confinement and two counts of sexual assault.
Sweeney was a fourth-year music student at Laurentian University, an accomplished trombone player, when she was stabbed 27 times at her workplace in 1998 in a case that gripped the city.
The trial of Wright and his 2023 conviction for her murder was the culmination of two decades of police work.
In 2024, on the first anniversary of Sweeney’s death after Wright’s conviction, her sister Kim told Sudbury.com she has never stopped feeling the fear she felt the day of Renée’s murder.
That day, Kim drove to her mother’s house, but suddenly, paralyzed with fear, she said she was unable to move from her car to the house without an escort, a fear that continued until just last year. She said given the seemingly random nature of her sister’s murder, Kim was convinced she would be next.
At trial, the court heard that Sweeney’s stepfather, Bill Strachan, and her mother, Carol, saw their daughter's workplace and her car on the news, with police all over and police tape in place. Strachan immediately drove to the scene to learn his daughter’s fate.
Tragically, she had been stabbed 27 times, and left on the floor. Though attempts were made by a shop clerk and a doctor who happened to be nearby, they could not save Sweeney’s life.
As part of victim impact statements, the court learned Sweeney’s mother, Carol, who suffered from MS, never walked again beyond that day. Both Sweeney’s parents died without their daughter’s murder being solved.
In her interview with Sudbury.com, Kim spoke of the constant reminders of her sister’s murder, whether the posters of the jacket and gloves that were stained with her sister's blood, or her sister's face, a graduation photo staring up at her from a newspaper.
And while there was a community that cared for her, there were those who wanted to be a part of the spectacle, she said. Whether that came through a conversation that would inevitably lead to interrogation about the facts of the case, or what she said was the occasional point or stare as she tried to go about her day, it was tough, said Kim.
At the courthouse each day of his second-degree murder trial, and rising each time he was brought into the court, Wright’s family has yet to, and may not ever, speak to the media. At his trial for Sweeney’s murder, Wright’s defence counsel submitted 30 character references on Wright’s behalf.
But after an investigation by North Bay police regarding alleged incidents that pre-dated his Sudbury murder conviction, Wright is facing new charges
Currently serving his life sentence — though he is eligible for parole after 12 years — Wright will be back in court two years to the month he was convicted of the second degree murder, facing a North Bay judge on March 13, March 24 and April 4.
However, there will be no jury this time. The Crown will be proceeding summarily on the charges, meaning the court process will be more straightforward and will be judge-only. The consequences of offences when pursued summarily can also be lessened, though that varies significantly.
Additionally, all is not finished in the Sweeney case as Wright’s defence team has filed an appeal of the second-degree murder conviction, though the proceedings will likely not advance until after Wright is tried for his offences in North Bay.
But regardless of trials, at the heart of the case is Sweeney, the young woman whose life was tragically taken, and whether the court will find justice or not, she will forever be lost to her community.
Jenny Lamothe covers court for Sudbury.com.