Robert Steven Wright stared silently at the floor Wednesday morning in a Sudbury courtroom as he was denied bail on first-degree murder charges in the 1998 killing of Renée Sweeney.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward E. Gareau took about an hour to read his decision, most of which cannot be made public because of a publication ban on evidence ahead of a possible murder trial.
But Gareau ruled the Crown had met the conditions required to deny Wright bail, and he expressed concerns about the adequacy of monitoring devices and the ability of his surety to keep a close enough eye on him should he be released.
Wright's friends and family gathered in the courtroom were upset when the decision was announced, with one woman sobbing and trying to get his attention as he was led out by police.
Security was beefed up outside the Elm Street courtroom, with those entering being searched before being allowed in. Wright was escorted into court by two heavily armed police, and one officer sat directly behind him for the entire hearing.
He wore a dark blue button-up shirt, dark grey pants. His hair, close-cropped when he was arrested last December, is growing out, as is his increasingly bushy beard.
Gareau handed down his decision following a three-day bail hearing Feb. 19-21. Wright was arrested Dec. 11 in North Bay where he was living and charged with first-degree murder.
Sweeney, 23, was brutally attacked at her workplace, an adult video store on Paris Street, where she sustained multiple stab wounds and succumbed to her injuries. Wright was 18 at the time of Sweeney's murder and was a student at Lockerby Composite School.
Greater Sudbury Police Services received more than 2,000 tips and eliminated more than 1,500 people as suspects over the course of the investigation. Police made numerous public appeals, released crime scene photos, and released high-tech sketches of the suspect based on witnesses who saw someone leaving the crime scene.
Wright returns to court Thursday for a video remand related to a child pornography charge laid weeks after his arrest.
