Sudbury police look at possible link to NS murder

Police in Sudbury, Ont. are checking to see if evidence in the so-called Big Ben's murder in Sydney in 1992 might help them solve a four-year-old case in their city.

A 27-year-old man is in custody in Sydney for the murder of store clerk Lorraine Marie Dupe.

A number of elements of the Dupe murder seemed familiar to Sudbury police investigating the murder of 23-year-old Renee Sweeney.

Sergeant Loretta Ronchon says there have been few leads in the case until now.

"It was case where there was a young woman murdered at an adult video store. The incident was quite brutal, the suspect used an edged weapon, and despite all our efforts, we really don't have any good leads at this time."

Ronchon says Sudbury police are having DNA evidence recovered at the murder compared to DNA discovered in the Cape Breton investigation.

They have no evidence the Cape Breton suspect was ever in Sudbury, but he was living near Toronto at the time of the Sweeney murder. With his arrest, Rochon says Sudbury police are cautiously optimistic they may get a break.

Rochon says it may take some time to complete the DNA analysis. But she says the investigators who've retired since the Sweeney murder are hopeful it will soon be solved.