Oct 26 2023
Denis Bégin, 63, had been on the run for four years and was impersonating an unhoused man.
torontosun.com
''Suspect in fatal Old Montreal fire was escaped murderer: report
Denis Bégin, 63, had been on the run for four years and was impersonating a homeless man when he was arrested last spring.''
Bégin was sentenced to life in prison after committing a murder in Montreal in 1993. He escaped from prison in February 2019 and was considered
one of the 10 most wanted fugitives in Quebec.
According to the report, Bégin, who had been on the run for four years, assumed the identity of an unhoused man and was questioned by Montreal police as part of their probe into the fatal fire in Old Montreal on March 16. However, a uniformed patrol officer well acquainted with the neighbourhood’s unhoused population told detectives Bégin was not who he seemed.
Bégin was eventually arrested for being illegally at large, but not in connection with the fire, which police determined had been deliberately set. He has been returned to prison.''
Denis Bégin walked away from a minimum-security penitentiary in 2019.
montrealgazette.com
Published May 18, 2023
Denis Bégin was sought by the Sûreté du Québec after he disappeared from a minimum-security penitentiary in Laval on Feb. 15, 2019. PHOTO BY SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC
''Bégin’s escape in 2019 was aided by a repeat sex offender named Claude Beaulieu. He was living in Dollard-des-Ormeaux at the time and Beaulieu drove Bégin away from the minimum-security penitentiary before the convicted killer disappeared.
Beaulieu was convicted of helping Bégin escape and his sentence was served while he was still considered to be a long-term offender. He received the designation for having sexually assaulted four girls between the ages of six and 11 between 1996 and 2000.''
