Interpol is searching for a man, charged in Victoria with two counts of attempted murder, who jumped bail and fled to France three months ago.
Sebastien Jack Pierre Normandin’s photograph and physical details have been posted on Interpol’s red notice list. He is one of 50 people wanted by Canada for serious crimes.
A red notice is a request that alerts police around the world to locate and arrest an individual. It gives high international visibility to criminal cases and makes travel more difficult for suspects and criminals because they are flagged to border officials. A red notice also allows countries to request and share critical information linked to an investigation.
According to Interpol, police in member countries — such as Canada — must request a red notice and provide information on the case. However, Interpol cannot compel member countries to arrest a person who is the subject of a red notice.
Normandin, 47, was arrested in Victoria on Dec. 27, 2016, and charged with attempted murder after police were called to a two-car crash on Gillespie Place in the Rockland neighbourhood of Victoria. It’s alleged he tried to run over his former girlfriend and her boyfriend. Normandin is also charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, criminal harassment and two counts of assault.
Normandin remained in custody until May 30, 2017, when a provincial court judge agreed to release him on $5,000 bail with the condition that he fly to Montreal to live there. He was not required to surrender his passport.
Initially, Normandin was required to live at a specific address in Montreal and to report to police in person every day.
Those conditions were relaxed in July, and Normandin was allowed to report in person twice a week and by phone the remaining five days.
A Montreal psychologist treating Normandin as part of his bail conditions was the first to notice something was amiss. In mid-October, the psychologist notified the Saanich bail supervisor that Normandin had missed an appointment. The bail supervisor contacted Montreal police, who checked their logbook and found he had not signed in since Oct. 15.
Police obtained a still photograph of him going through customs at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Oct. 21 as he boarded a flight to England. He went to France the day he arrived in England.
In November, Victoria lawyer Michael Mulligan said it’s extremely rare for people to flee and the chance of Normandin being tracked down is exceedingly high.
Normandin’s ex-girlfriend has been living in fear since she learned he jumped bail, a source told the Times Colonist.
“She’s suffering. She’s living her life looking over her shoulder. She believes the court system should never have let someone out on two counts of attempted murder,” the source said.
“She wants to know why he was not required to surrender his passport and why it took victim services two weeks to tell her he fled the country.”
