Man Arrested in Connection to the Murder of Renee Sweeney

This morning, Tuesday, December 11, 2018, at 11:14 a.m. Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division arrested and charged 39-year old, Robert Steven Wright with First Degree Murder in connection to the Renee Sweeney Homicide case. On January 27, 1998, Renee was brutally attacked at her workplace; a video store located on Paris Street in Greater Sudbury where she sustained multiple stab wounds and succumbed to her injuries at the scene.

Over the past two decades, the Greater Sudbury Police Service has made numerous public appeals, released evidentiary photos, and employed innovative investigation techniques as information and technology advanced. More than 2,000 tips were received and over 1,500 people were eliminated as suspects.

At the beginning of November, our Detectives identified a Person of Interest and through investigative techniques gathered forensic evidence leading to an arrest and search warrant that were carried out earlier today in North Bay.

Robert Steven Wright, also known as Steven “Steve” Wright will be attending Bail Court in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 to answer to the charge.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information related to this incident or the individual mentioned above is asked to contact Detectives in the Criminal Investigations Division at 705-675-9171 extension 2230.

We would like to thank members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Investigation Branch under the direction of Detective-Inspector Rob Matthews who have recently supported the investigation leading up to the arrest.

We understand that our community and the media have a vested interest in this case and we greatly appreciate your support and assistance over the years.

We are now at a stage where we must protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure that the court process is not jeopardized by what we release at this time.

In the past, we have released additional information because we were at a different stage; we were looking for assistance from the Public through the media to assist Investigators in identifying the person responsible for this Homicide. 

At this stage in the investigation, we are asking the Public for any new information given that we have identified the person believed to be responsible and who now stands charged in relation to this homicide. Robert “Steve” Wright was 18-years old, a resident of Sudbury and a student at Lockerby Composite School at the time of the incident.

We know that our community and the media have many questions about Robert “Steve” Wright, however this matter is still under investigation and in order to obtain unbiased and untainted statements, we cannot risk compromising the investigative process by providing additional details.

Once again, we would like to thank you for your continued support, assistance and cooperation.