The manhunt continues for a convicted murderer that escaped from a prison near Montreal last week.
Denis Bégin was reported missing from the minimum security Federal Training Centre after the 12:15 p.m. head count on Friday.
Quebec provincial police, who are investigating the disappearance, believe the 58-year-old was likely heading to Gatineau or the surrounding Outaouais region in western Quebec.
He’s described as 5’7” and 180 lbs with a surgical scar on his left arm.
Bégin was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2003 for killing 19-year-old Ricardo Gizzi on Oct. 31, 1993.
Many thought it was a Halloween joke when Bégin walked into a bar wearing a hockey mask and fatally shot Gizzi.
Initially, he was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in 1997, but the conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered when it was found that a statement Bégin gave to police after his arrest wasn’t voluntary.
The judgment found that he had confessed while agreeing to become an informant for Quebec’s anti-biker unit.
In 1998, Bégin testified that he had a long history with gangs and had information that could help solve numerous crimes, including the 1995 bombing that killed an 11-year-old.
Anyone with information on Bégin’s whereabouts is asked to contact the police immediately.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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