FRSC 4210 – Canadian Case Study: R v. Robert Steven Wright

Background & Case Overview

• Date & Location
  • Morning of January 27, 1998, Adults-Only Video store, Paris St., Sudbury, ON.
• Core event
  • Victim Renée Sweeney (23 yrs) working alone.
  • Robert Steven Wright (18 yrs) entered to rob; stabbed Sweeney ≈30 times; fled on foot.
• Primary investigative agencies
  • Sudbury Regional Police Service (SRPS)
  • Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
• Source caution
  • Lecture built mainly on open-source media; macro-timeline solid, micro-details may still need verification.

Parties Involved (Chronological / Functional)

• Victim: Renée Sweeney
  • 23\,\text{yrs}, 4th-year Laurentian Univ. student, Sudbury resident, working part-time.
• Accused: Robert Steven Wright
  • 18\,\text{yrs} in 1998; HS student; no criminal history.
  • Stole 178.25 cash + 3 porn magazines; seen with blue/green bag & white T-shirt.
• Original suspect: John Fetterly (mis-ID’d via fingerprint).
• Forensic personnel
  • Todd Zimmerman (former SRPS FIS) – 1st finger-print “match.”
  • Rick Waugh (SRPS FIS) – initially ruled Fetterly out.
  • Jeff Myatt (OPP I/Sgt.) – later objective print analysis.
  • Alison White (Reno, NV) – blind verifier.
  • PC MacRury & K-9 Oakey – snow track.

Immediate Crime Scene Details

• Time window for witness activity: ≈11:00–11:30 AM.
• Scene type: high-blood volume (multiple stab wounds → arterial spatter, transfer, footwear impressions).
• Cash drawer removed/handled → latent + bloody prints.

Eyewitness Accounts

• Couple inside store
  • Saw accused near victim; fled once spotted.
  • Gave description: white male, glasses, messy/larger hair.
• Motorist outside
  • Observed suspect sprinting with blue/green bag; clean-shaven, short hair.
• Discrepant hair length ⇒ police released two composite sketches to capture both possibilities.

Forensic Evidence Streams

1. Footwear Evidence
   • Heavy blood deposits → officers applied Leuco Malachite Green (LMG):
     • Catalytic presumptive blood test; turns blue-green in presence of hemoglobin.
     • Cheap & easy; downside: can degrade DNA in treated stains.
   • In bathroom: imprint showed brand name “Brooks.”
2. K-9 Snow Track (12 : 36 PM start)
   • Single runner’s prints 5{-}6\,\text{ft} stride → fast pace.
   • Led to bush area; located teal jacket + white gardening gloves (both blood-stained).
3. DNA
   • Profiles from jacket & victim’s fingernail scrapings.
   • Canada’s National DNA Data Bank only launched 2000 ⇒ no early hit.
   • Cold-case 2014 review (CFS); eventually solved via forensic genealogy + “cast-off” DNA sample from Wright.
   • Match probability > 1\text{ in }1\times10^{12} (finger-nail swab).
4. Fingerprints
   • Two latent/bloody prints on cash drawer (top & underside).
   • Enhanced with LMG → captured but complicated clarity.

Misidentification & ACE-V Failures

• Feb 10 1998 – John Fetterly arrested; Zimmerman claimed latent matched Fetterly’s left thumb.
• Issues uncovered
  • Incomplete Analysis stage (A of ACE-V).
  • Contextual bias: suspect name known; search for confirming points.
  • Confirmation bias: Zimmerman “re-examined” with colleague after no RCMP hit.
  • Verification stage either absent or perfunctory.
• Fetterly released within 48 h (solid alibi).
• Lessons / Preventives
  • Clarify examiner roles; blind verification; consider 2nd-service review; engage blood-stain pattern analyst; improve inter-team comms.

Courtroom Forensics (2019–2023)

• Jeff Myatt (OPP)
  • Received unknown prints Feb 2019; deemed suitable; compared to ≥4 exemplar sets blindly; ID’d Wright (set #4).
  • Demonstrated full ACE-V + documentation.
• Alison White provided independent blind verification (agreed statement read into record).
• Additional courtroom criticisms
  • PPE lapses (glove changes, Tyvek suits).
  • Hands of deceased not bagged → potential trace/DNA loss.
  • Third-party body removal (non-police) → chain-of-custody issues.
  • Rear-door lock unswabbed/un-printed; exhibits seized but unprocessed; continuity gaps (no precise time logs).

Sentencing & Outcome (Murder Conviction)

• Dec 2018 – Wright arrested (was hospital lab tech in North Bay).
• Feb 2023 – Jury convicts of Second-Degree Murder.
• Sentence
  • Life imprisonment; parole ineligibility =12\,\text{yrs}.
  • Judge considered COVID pre-trial conditions, precedent sentences, offender age/character.
  • Wright spoke; maintained innocence.

Post-Conviction Developments

• Currently incarcerated, Kingston, ON.
• Dec 2023 – Fresh North Bay Police charges: criminal harassment, forcible confinement, 2× sexual assault dating to 2015–2016.
• Trial scheduled Aug 2025.

Conceptual Connections & Real-World Relevance

• Demonstrates pitfalls of early-era forensics: limited DNA databanks, heavy reliance on subjective fingerprint calls.
• Highlights importance of:
  • Proper PPE & evidence continuity (minimize contamination & future admissibility attacks).
  • Presumptive blood reagents’ impact on downstream DNA analysis.
  • Bias control strategies within ACE-V (case info shielding, sequential unmasking, dual independent verifications).
• Forensic genealogy: modern tool converting cold cases → solvable (requires legal/ethical balancing: privacy, informed consent of database users).

Numerical / Statistical References & Formulas

• DNA match probability: > 1 \text{ in } 1{,}000{,}000{,}000{,}000.
• Footprint stride length: 5{-}6\,\text{ft} during flight.
• Stab wounds on victim: \approx 30.
• Cash stolen: \$178.25.
• Sentence parole eligibility: 12\,\text{yrs}.

FRSC 4210 Final Exam Logistics (Reminder from Slide)

• Course code: FRSC-4210H-A (2024FA: PTBO).
• Date & time: Sunday 27 July 2025, 7:00 PM.
• Location: ENW 106 (yellow building).
• Duration: 2 hours.
• Bring: student card, pen, pencil, eraser.

Exam Breakdown (90 marks)

• Part A (43 marks) – Multiple-choice; heavy on post-mid-term PPTs, but earlier concepts still testable.
• Part B (21 marks) – Two written Q’s (5 + 16 marks).
• Part C (26 marks) – One applied fingerprint problem (multi-part) → must master ACE-V methodology.