Rick Waugh, a retired Sudbury police officer, told the court he drove to Mildway, Bruce County, on February 11 to search John Fetterly’s home.

Mr Fetterly was arrested and later charged with the murder of Renée Sweeney in January 1998, but was released a day later after his fingerprints were found not to match those at the scene.

He told the court that he remembered feelings Exhaust when he arrived at his hotel in Mildmay at the end of his working day.

During defense cross-examination, Mr Waugh testified that he had falsely attributed a fingerprint found at the adult video store where the victim was murdered to John Fetterly.

He claims he satisfied himself that the prints matched. The defense suggested Mr Waugh had makes mistakes due to peer pressure and suggested that he had falsified his records.

On Wednesday morning, during another cross-examination of Mr. Waugh, the defense questioned him further about the notes he had made during the investigation.

He was responsible for the forensic investigation into the murder of Renée Sweeney, but the court heard Wednesday he was released in February 1998.

Defense attorney Michael Lacy focused on the time it took the investigator to travel from Sudbury to Mildmay.

The police officer’s records show that the drive took seven and a half hours.

Referring to an image from Google Maps, the defender indicated that the journey only takes about four and a half hours. Mr. Lacy also asked Mr. Waugh if his notes included the route traveled, mileage, or the number of stops along the way.

Me Lacy asked the retired police officer if he agreed that the journey was much shorter than what your memories tell you.

Mr Waugh said he could not explain the timing discrepancy by saying that My memory tells me that we went straight there.

He later told the court he remembered returning to his home in Sudbury to pick up a duffel bag.

Another police officer testified in the afternoon

Sergeant Robert Weston, who has been the lead investigator in the case since October 2013, also testified.

Sergeant Weston claims he remembered being a college student in 1998 when Renee Sweeney was murdered. He told jurors he remembered going to grocery stores where police put up posters urging the public to get involved in the investigation.

He told the court he had been asked to take the case and was working on the case in the corner of his desk while juggling a variety of other tasks.

Crown Prosecutor Robert Parsons spent the afternoon walking Mr Weston through his recollections of the events leading up to Mr Wright’s arrest on December 11, 2018.

The prosecutor reviewed a series of 12 press releases issued by police since the day of the murder.

Mr Weston also shared with the court what prompted police to use Snapshot DNA analysis technology in the case and how it was used to arrest the accused.

This technology uses phenotyping, which uses unidentified DNA samples to predict physical appearance and familial ties.

Before the adjournment, Judge Robert Gordon asked the jury to consider the information provided by the Crown and Mr Weston’s testimony as an account to better understand the events unfolding and not as evidence of the innocence or guilt of the accused.

With information from CBC’s Sam Juric