Sudbury murderer charged with two counts of sexual assault in North Bay

Murderer charged with sexual assault in North Bay The man convicted of murdering a Sudbury woman in 1998 is facing new charges of sexual assault in North Bay.

The man convicted of murdering Renee Sweeney in Sudbury is facing new charges in North Bay.

Criminal investigators with the North Bay police have charged Robert Steven Wright, 44, with two counts of sexual assault and one count each of criminal harassment and forcible confinement.

He was charged in the penitentiary in Kingston, where he is serving his murder sentence.

“Criminal investigators from the North Bay Police Service received information from the Greater Sudbury Police Service in regards to a historical sexual assault that had occurred in North Bay between 2015 and 2016,” North Bay police said in a news release Thursday.

“The accused, who is currently serving a life sentence in Kingston, Ont., was informed of the new charges, and remains in custody ... The North Bay Police Service would like to thank the Greater Sudbury Police Service for their assistance in this investigation.”

Wright was convicted in Sudbury last spring for the brutal murder of Renee Sweeney, who was stabbed to death while working at a video store in the city in January 1998.

The case was unsolved for two decades until Wright was arrested in December 2018 while he was working as a lab tech at the hospital in North Bay.

Wright’s murder conviction has an automatic life sentence, but Justice Robbie Gordon was tasked in June with determining when Wright will be eligible for parole.

Gordon ruled he will be eligible for parole after serving 12 years.