Wanted man serving time for manslaughter arrested in Thunder Bay after alleged statutory release breach
Police apprehended a wanted man who is currently serving time for manslaughter for a fatal stabbing in Thunder Bay and is now accused of breaching his statutory release.
Denis Bernard, 40, pleaded guilty to stabbing Paul Vivier of Victoria, B.C., in 2020 over a drug debt, TBnewsWatch.com said in an April 6, 2022, article.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in April 2022 and given 1,200 days credit for spending 600 days in pre-sentence custody.
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Bernard is currently serving a two-year, eight-month and 15-day sentence for that crime, however, the repeat offender parole enforcement squad said Nov. 5 he is "wanted on a Canada-wide warrant as a result of a breach of their statutory release."
He is known to frequent the Thunder Bay area in northern Ontario, which is where is where he was last seen, Det. Sgt. Morley McGuire told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an email Tuesday morning.
The federal offender allegedly went "lawfully at large" on Oct. 23 and was taken into custody Nov. 6.
Bernard is described as five-foot-11, 150 pounds, with black hair he wears in braids and brown eyes.
He has several tattoos:
- Front of Neck - "Jazz"
- Left and Right Arm - Bear paws
- Left Upper Arm - Skull
- Right Arm - Tribal Art Skull
- Right Forearm - "One, Nish" + Skull w/ Safety Pin Through it
- Right and Left Forearm - Feathers
- Right Upper Arm - Denis
- Right Thumb - "NS"
- Abdomen - "Merciless"
"Anyone having contact with this offender or information in regards to their whereabouts is asked to contact the Provincial R.O.P.E. Squad at 416-808-5900 or toll-free at 1-866-870-7673 (ROPE) or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or call 911," OPP said.
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