GUILTY Canada - Renee Sweeney, 23, murdered, Sudbury, Ont, 27 Jan 1998 *arrest in 2018*

[Cedars]

Yeah, where is the Crown's closing remarks?

I agree, the Sudbury Star is using a lot of space to give exhaustive detail to the defence arguments.

The crown case is summarized in the headline. It's not complicated, there aren't lots of details, it's just science, just facts. There's no drama in DNA matches, no heart-rending uncertainty or melodrama about fingerprints or blood samples

I used to be cynical about the publisher of media outlets like that, but now I think, they're just trying to survive, and they know what sells.

JMO

 

[Cedars]

The defence said that if Wright stole from the cash tray, that there would be prints on the springy things that hold the money in place, but, from the photos here, there are no springy things. And it sure looks like the person who murdered Renee is the same person who cleaned out the cash tray.

Here is why the defence says Wright should be found not guilty of 1998 Sudbury murder

Closing arguments are being heard at the Sudbury courthouse Monday in the trial for the man accused of killing Renee Sweeney in 1998 with the defence saying there is plenty of reasonable doubt to support an acquittal.

northernontario.ctvnews.ca

But he had gloves, right?

 

[JuneBug67]

But he had gloves, right?

If he is guilty, I think he took them off to clean out the cash tray. Only thing worse than blood on springy things is blood all over the money you're trying to steal.

 

[Cedars]

If he is guilty, I think he took them off to clean out the cash tray. Only thing worse than blood on springy things is blood all over the money you're trying to steal.

True.

Thinking about my days with cash trays, easy to pull the whole wad of cash out from the bottom. You'd only flip up the springs if you wanted to carefully count out the exact number of bills.

 

[JuneBug67]

True.

Thinking about my days with cash trays, easy to pull the whole wad of cash out from the bottom. You'd only flip up the springs if you wanted to carefully count out the exact number of bills.

I had made that suggestion above as well, but just realized that was kind of dumb because if the springs were not flipped up during the robbery they'd likely still be down in the photos.

 

[Cedars]

I cannot understand minutiae, like who would steal $.25 from the till after a murder? $178.25 was taken, but why the $.25, unless that happens to be the amount needed to make a call from a payphone at the mall. A teenager might not take any money to school, especially if the cafeteria was closed that day.

He likely grabbed a handful of quarters, or swept them all into his jacket/bag. Eg, 41 quarters would equal $10.25

 

[JuneBug67]

He likely grabbed a handful of quarters, or swept them all into his jacket/bag. Eg, 41 quarters would equal $10.25

The amount imples that at the very least 3.25 had to be in coins.

 

[Cedars]

The amount imples that at the very least 3.25 had to be in coins.

Ha, I'm not following you into counting currency, I've had enough of that.

 

[musicaljoke]

They're likely out of view, but do you even need to flip them up to pull the cash out? Could Renee have flipped them up in a move to signal cooperation at some point?

Didn't we read somewhere that there wasn't an actual cash register, but just a tray where money was kept?

 

[musicaljoke]

Ha, I'm not following you into counting currency, I've had enough of that.

$3.25 had to be in coins because we have quarters, loonies and toonies. We don't use $1.00 or $2.00 bills in Canada.

 

[Cedars]

Didn't we read somewhere that there wasn't an actual cash register, but just a tray where money was kept?

I suspect the killer waited until Renee had rung the transaction properly through (using inventory and amount codes). That would make the tray spring out...

JMO

 

[zerotohero]

The defence said that if Wright stole from the cash tray, that there would be prints on the springy things that hold the money in place, but, from the photos here, there are no springy things. And it sure looks like the person who murdered Renee is the same person who cleaned out the cash tray.

Here is why the defence says Wright should be found not guilty of 1998 Sudbury murder

Closing arguments are being heard at the Sudbury courthouse Monday in the trial for the man accused of killing Renee Sweeney in 1998 with the defence saying there is plenty of reasonable doubt to support an acquittal.

northernontario.ctvnews.ca

Also, the prints they have from the cash were in Sweeney's blood, no? Why would we expect the robber/killer to get his victim's blood all over *every single thing* he touched, instead of accidentally smearing blood in spots? By this logic, no one did the murder and robbery if there weren't prints found in blood on the springs. Imho, the mere presence of the print on the cash is close to a smoking gun. It's very hard to explain, even harder if you ran and hid for 20+ years, and the story he gave to account for it -- I was feeling faint and braced myself against the cash that happened to be robbed -- sounds goofy and convenient.

 

[JuneBug67]

Also, the prints they have from the cash were in Sweeney's blood, no? Why would we expect the robber/killer to get his victim's blood all over *every single thing* he touched, instead of accidentally smearing blood in spots? By this logic, no one did the murder and robbery if there weren't prints found in blood on the springs. Imho, the mere presence of the print on the cash is close to a smoking gun. It's very hard to explain, even harder if you ran and hid for 20+ years, and the story he gave to account for it -- I was feeling faint and braced myself against the cash that happened to be robbed -- sounds goofy and convenient.

The brevity of the Crown's case and closing may be almost strategic. A version of "Come on. None of this looks or sounds like this if the defendent is innocent. End of."

I think a LOT will depend on Wright's credibility on the stand. Quite a bit of crying was reported, and if it felt genuine, that may be a problem for the Crown.

 

[JuneBug67]

Evidence against Sudbury murder suspect ‘overwhelming,’ Crown tells jury

The Crown prosecutor in Sudbury made his pitch to the jury Monday afternoon in the Robert Steven Wright murder trial, arguing evidence against him is “overwhelming.”

northernontario.ctvnews.ca

More details on the Crown's close.

“Panic is a useful fiction by Robert Steven Wright to explain why he didn’t do what anybody would do in that situation unless they are guilty.”

 

[Gina20]

$3.25 had to be in coins because we have quarters, loonies and toonies. We don't use $1.00 or $2.00 bills in Canada.

At one point it was stated that no coins were taken, just bills. Coins were visible in the cash drawer, which was not part of a cash register. But of course coins were taken. The $.25: the cost of a phone call in 1998 when payphones were around. Maybe $3.00 was the cost of a bus ride somewhere?

 

[Gina20]

Evidence against Sudbury murder suspect ‘overwhelming,’ Crown tells jury

The Crown prosecutor in Sudbury made his pitch to the jury Monday afternoon in the Robert Steven Wright murder trial, arguing evidence against him is “overwhelming.”

northernontario.ctvnews.ca

More details on the Crown's close.

“Panic is a useful fiction by Robert Steven Wright to explain why he didn’t do what anybody would do in that situation unless they are guilty.”

There's so much here that I learned about for the first time.

Also, there was a fingerprint on the coin drawer.

 

[musicaljoke]

They've never shown the gloves in a news article, have they?

 

[zerotohero]

They've never shown the gloves in a news article, have they?

I remember a photo from the time with the jacket, the diaper pin, and the white gloves -- can't remember if it's come up in the media coverage since the trial but CTV News has a file image here:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/....jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_1020/image.jpg

 

[JuneBug67]

At one point it was stated that no coins were taken, just bills. Coins were visible in the cash drawer, which was not part of a cash register. But of course coins were taken. The $.25: the cost of a phone call in 1998 when payphones were around. Maybe $3.00 was the cost of a bus ride somewhere?

The amount taken may have been a 100 dollar float + the large sale - the change he didn’t want. You might take some but not all of the quarters to avoid an absurdly stuffed pocket. Leave the dimes, nickels and pennies.

 

[JuneBug67]

Sweeney was alive when Wright encountered her: Crown

Witness testimony contradicts defendant’s story of finding her unresponsive, CA says in closing arguments

www.nugget.ca

Another summary.