A man who fled to France two years ago after being charged with two counts of attempted murder was arrested by VicPD last week and extradited to Canada.
In December 2016, Sebastien Normandin was arrested for attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to hit a former girlfriend and her partner with his vehicle.
In May 2017, Normandin was released on $5,000 bail but was not allowed to remain in Victoria. He was facing a number of charges including attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm and criminal harassment.
Normandin, who is from Quebec, was told to return to Montreal. Five months later in late October, security camera footage captured him at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport boarding a flight for Britain.
Interpol issued a Red Notice for Normandin in February 2018. A Red Notice is issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
At the time, Normandin appeared to still be active on social media.
VicPD said Normandin fled Canada and went to France. VicPD, with assistance from sever Regional Domestic Violence Unit, used warrants and tracking software to find Normandin’s location in France in 2018.
VicPD then worked with Interpol, the Canadian Department of Justice and an RCMP officer stationed in France to request Normandin’s extradition back to Canada to stand trial.This included court proceedings in France and authorization from the Prime Minister of France.
VicPD detectives then flew to Paris last week following the 12-month extradition process. Normandin returned to Victoria with police on Oct. 18 and is now in custody pending a bail hearing.
“This has been a very lengthy process and I’m really proud of our entire team for being dedicated to this file to ensure our community knows that we take these files very seriously,” VicPD Detective Sgt. Shawn Robson said in a statement. “Without the amazing efforts from our community partners here on Vancouver Island as well as in France, Mr. Normandin would still be at large.”
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