'Jail is as bad as it gets': Canadian fugitive remains active on social media

Sebastien Jack Pierre Normandin, whose name is sometimes spelled Sebastian, stopped checking in with authorities in October 2017 while on bail for attempted murder.

A Quebec man wanted by Interpol isn’t allowing his fugitive status to keep him from updating his Facebook status or Twitter feed.

Former university instructor Sebastien Normandin, 47, is wanted on attempted murder charges stemming from an incident in B.C., where it’s alleged he drove his car into a vehicle occupied by his ex-girlfriend and her new partner.

Normandin was arrested for the incident on Dec. 27, 2016, in Victoria, and released on $5,000 bail last May. The conditions of his bail permitted him to live in Montreal so long as he checked into a parole centre twice a week, called in each day and underwent behavioural therapy.

He disappeared in October and is believed to have fled the country.

Nevertheless, the fugitive with a PhD in history has remained active on social media, tweeting about philosophy and listing the reasons he doesn’t want to go to jail.

On Dec. 27, for instance, he posted a list of 25 things he’s learned about being in jail.

“Other than incurable diseases and war, jail is as bad as it gets. Avoid at all costs,” he wrote as entry No. 1 on the list, which he posted on Facebook. Other lessons on the list include “the state is not your friend,” “we’re all doing time” and advice to “be present. Like, for real. Actually here now.”

Interpol recently added Normandin to its wanted list, which is designed to help police agencies around the world co-ordinate their efforts to apprehend wanted individuals.

He is charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm, criminal harassment, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assault and failure to comply with conditions, according to Interpol. Some of the charges appear to be linked to an early case of alleged domestic violence, which police cited following his arrest in Victoria.

The bilingual native of Schefferville, Que., is described as standing six-foot-five and weighing 205 pounds, with greying hair and green eyes.