Well of course he was. He was an Islamic terrorist. He hated non-Muslims. He liked Muslims and other Muslims liked him.
Abdel Malik Petitjean, 19, identified as the second attacker involved in the killing of a French priest, was described as perfectly normal by his incredulous family and friends.
And he was perfectly normal. Within the context of a religion which thinks that killing non-Muslims is a good thing.
He and Kermiche, also a Frenchman born to an Algerian family, slit the 86-year-old priest's throat at the altar. Another elderly worshipper was severely injured but several other hostages escaped unharmed.
Perfectly normal.
Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local mosque in the Aix-les-Bains suburb where Petitjean lived in social housing, said he recognised the young man in a video published by the Islamic State group in which the two pledged allegiance to the jihadist movement.
"I liked him a lot. We never had a problem with him at the mosque. No strange observations, he was always smiling... It's incredible," he said.
Now we know what he was smiling about.
"All the believers are shocked because he was known for his kindness, his calm. We never had any sign of radicalisation. What was going on inside his head?"
I'm going to go ahead and guess. Islam.
Unlike Kermiche and other jihadists carrying out recent attacks in Europe, there have been no indications that Petitjean suffered from psychological problems.
The psychological problems is a desperate attempt to whitewash Islamic terrorists by blaming anything and everything except Islam.