The family of the alleged cop killer, Dezi Freeman, has expressed that ‘he won’t go to jail’ if the reportedly twice-accused cop killer is eventually located by the 450-member search team currently on his trail.
Freeman, 56, went missing into the wilderness last Tuesday after allegedly firing shots at police officers—resulting in two deaths—when they arrived at his property in Porepunkah, roughly 300km northeast of Melbourne, to execute a warrant.
For a week now, police helicopters and drones have been sweeping the skies, combing through the challenging terrain in hopes of finding even a hint of the gunman’s location.
Now a family member, speaking exclusively to Daily Mail on the condition of anonymity, has revealed they fear what he is capable of if cornered.
‘He won’t go to jail. Never. Ever,’ the family member said.
‘He knows there is a life sentence waiting for him and he won’t serve a single day of it.
‘There are no favorable outcomes; however, he would choose to live in the wilderness, end his own life, or face a potential confrontation with police—otherwise known as suicide by cop.’
Freeman’s family distances themselves from his extreme anti-authoritarian beliefs, expressing that their ‘hearts’ are aligned with the police, and have accepted the notion that they might never reunite with the father-of-three.
Dezi Freeman, 56, fled into the bush on Tuesday after a bloody ambush at his property in Porepunkah
Freeman was living in this bus when the ambush took place
‘We are not defending him, simply providing some insight into the tortured soul that is Dezi Freeman,’ the family member explained.
‘Dezi does not have employment and has become estranged from societal norms and expectations, fostering the perception that the police were constantly targeting him.’
The family had watched him drift away from mainstream society, becoming a loner convinced the systems set up to protect him were doing the opposite.
‘He’s not technically a Sovereign Citizen, although the shoe fits,’ they said.
‘He sees the Australian government as a corporation rather than as per the constitution. The change of coat of arms etcetera.
‘This is not the family’s belief, we just want to explain it.’
The family has been assisting detectives in the investigation, and noted the police had been ‘so kind to us’ despite having lost two colleagues: Detective Neal Thompson, 49, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35.
Freeman, who has survival training and years of experience in the bush, was last seen wearing dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, Blundstone boots and reading glasses.
The Freeman family said they were grateful that the police have shown kindness during the investigation
Search efforts have been hampered by wintry conditions which Freeman’s family said the fugitive would be embracing
Search efforts have been hampered by wintry conditions, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail battering the search area in northeast Victoria.
But Freeman’s family member warned he will be relishing the conditions knowing they will aid his ability to remain at large, and noted he had been exploring the country around Mount Buffalo since the 1980s.
‘He has been prepping for doomsday all his life. A comet, WW3, whatever that might be,’ the relative said.
‘And when that day was to come he would live in the mountains.
‘He believes the police bully him and he just wants to be left alone.
‘Of course the police are holding him accountable, however, he has a way of poking the bear unfortunately, and brings much of this on himself.
‘He has always been more about ideals of living a natural life like American Indians. So I guess this all just evolved over time.’
On Monday afternoon Victoria Police Superintendent Brett Kahan said Freeman is being helped by people who know where he is, and are choosing not to speak up.
Freeman’s wife Amalia
‘Last time I spoke in front of you, I appealed directly to Dezi Freeman to ring triple-0,’ Superintendent Kahan said.
‘I’m going to change tack a little bit.
‘I extend that to anyone who is harbouring Dezi Freeman.’
He said that a surrender plan is also available for anyone harbouring or assisting Mr Freeman.
‘People know the whereabouts of the person who has killed two cops,’ he says.
‘People have chosen for whatever reason, not to come forward.
‘Take up that offer, by whichever means you like, whether it be triple-0 or otherwise.
‘We will formulate a surrender plan.’
Superintendent Brett Kahan said people are helping Dezi Freeman evade capture
A police chopper searches for Freeman
Police remain in touch with Freeman’s wife, Amalia, but Supt. Kahan said she was not necessarily helping with the inquiry.
‘It’s two different things to be speaking with police and co-operating with police,’ he said.
When pressed, Supt. Kahan repeated ‘it’s two different things’.
His comments come after Amalia made a public appeal for her husband to surrender.
Through her lawyers on Sunday she begged him to lay down his weapons and offered her condolences to the families of the slain officers.
‘We echo the requests of the Victoria Police for the swift and safe conclusion of this tragedy,’ Ms Freeman said.
‘I lend my full support to Victoria Police in their search for my husband and will co-operate with Victoria Police in any way that I can.
‘Please Dezi, if you see or hear this, call 000 and arrange a surrender plan with the police.’
On Saturday, Victoria Police confirmed they had moved their forward command post from Feathertop Winery outside Porepunkah to a government office in the town of Ovens, about 12km away.
‘The new site is a fit-for-purpose facility and will best support Victoria Police’s operational activity moving forward,’ the statement said.
‘We would like to reassure the community that police are not leaving the area.’
The two fallen officers will be farewelled with full police honours at Melbourne’s Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley.
Senior Constable De Waart’s service will be held on September 5. Detective Thompson will be laid to rest on September 8.
A third officer shot in the thigh remains in hospital.
