Estranged nephew of Dezi Freeman breaks silence after cop killer gunned down in Victoria’s northeast. The estranged nephew of Dezi Freeman has broken his silence after the cop killer was gunned down by police, revealing his uncle was consumed by “fear”.
The estranged nephew of double cop killer Dezi Freeman has broken his silence, after Victoria’s most wanted man was shot dead following a standoff with police.
Freeman was forced out of his hiding place with a BearCat “claw” in a tense three-hour stand-off in Victoria’s northeast on Monday morning.
He was then shot dead after producing a firearm, believed to be the police-issued pistol taken from one of the officers he shot in Porepunkah.
Police received a tip-off about Freeman’s whereabouts about 5.30am on Monday in Thologolong on the Victoria-NSW border – about 150km from where the wanted man was last seen in Porepunkah.
The tip to police led to a tense three-hour stand-off with the cop killer, who was hiding inside a shipping container surrounded by cars.
Luke Filby, who is Dezi’s nephew, said learning of his estranged uncle’s death was a “shock”, but also a relief.
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 Report on Tuesday, Luke Filby said his mother – Dezi’s sister – was taking the news of her brother’s death badly.
“He isolated himself, but he was still very group-orientated, and outspoken. Kind of more of a leader,” Mr Filby said, adding his uncle was “petrified” of police.
“He couldn’t appreciate the things he could have loved, like even his family.
“Fighting the government and all these conspiracies … became more important (to him).
Mr Filby said his uncle “ended up losing” the values of his life over “paranoia and fear”.
Neil Sutherland, who lives on a nearby property where Freeman made his last stand, recounted the moment the police operation turned deadly.
“I was woken up about five in the morning with the helicopters doing circle work,” he told the broadcaster.
“I got up then, wondering what was going on, and I heard the police siren and a woman’s voice on loudspeaker.
“I could only make two words out, which was ‘come out’.”
Neil’s brother, Richard, owns the property where Dezi was found but he told the ABC his brother was “not aware” Victoria’s most wanted man was living there.
“There seems to be more questions than answers, really, about how it all came about,” Neil said.
“It was a bit of a shock. I really thought Dezi would have been decomposing up in the alps somewhere, because I thought we’d heard the last of Dezi.”
The Herald Sun reports Freeman sent a final message to his wife, Mali, after he shot Detective Leading Constable Neal Thompson and Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart dead, reading: “I will see you in heaven.”
Speaking to Nova on Tuesday, Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said there was a pivotal moment they knew they had the right guy.
“We appealed for nigh on three hours for him to come up, come out and give himself up,” he said.
Mr Bush said Freeman spoke to police in the three-hour stand-off but refused to co-operate with officers.
“He said enough during that conversation to confirm he was the person we were looking for,” he said.
Mr Bush explained the officers who received the tip-off on Monday morning were “very calm” and methodical in their approach to reaching Freeman.
“The early hours when we began the negotiation with them, and he told us enough to identify himself, that’s when we really believed we were in the right place with the right person,” he said.
“No one wanted to have any doubt about where the person responsible for this brutal killing of two police officers was and seriously injuring one of our other fine officers.
Freeman refused opportunity to surrender
Heavily armed officers from the Special Operations Group swarmed the remote location on Monday morning, surrounding the structure in Bearcats as they attempted to get Freeman to surrender.
Mr Bush said Freeman was offered the opportunity to exit the shipping container peacefully but refused to do so.
“It’s quite clear to us now that the deceased was given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully and did not take that option,” he told reporters on Monday.
“We tried everything possible, every tactical option that we have, to encourage the deceased to end this in a safe and peaceful manner. They weren’t taken.”
After three hours of trying to persuade Freeman to exit, officers in a BearCat used a “claw” – located at the front of the tactical vehicle – to pierce the side of the shipping container and filled the area with a gas or capsicum spray to coax him out.
‘Good’: PM responds
Anthony Albanese summed up his response to Freeman’s death with one word.
“Good, in a word,” he told ABC Melbourne, calling Freeman a “reprehensible criminal”.
Asked if it was “really good when anyone is killed despite their crime”, the Prime Minister said: “I just don’t have any sympathy for him. That’s my position.”
He said Freeman “always was going to be brought to justice and it’s clear that he was always going to fight it out”.
“So he made the decision to murder these police officers, and he made the decision to try to fight it out and to not give himself up or go through a legal process,” Mr Albanese said.
“That’s a decision that rests solely with Dezi Freeman, and he’s (got) the mentality of the sovereign citizens.
“The head of ASIO made very clear warnings about what this ideology represents. They don’t respect any processes. They regard the police and government and our entire society as not being legitimate, and they place themselves outside it, and they represent a risk to others.
“And Dezi Freeman’s ideology led him to murder in cold blood two police officers.”
Cop killer draped in blanket, armed when killed
Freeman then exited the container in nothing but a blanket and a gun he stole from one of the officers he murdered in August.
“I have seen video of the deceased leaving the building and presenting a firearm at our officers,” Mr Bush said on Monday.
“That action took away any discretion our officers had to resolve this peacefully, of course, having said that the independent investigation will look at all aspects.”
Freeman was shot dead by police at 8.30am, ending a seven-month saga that gripped the nation.
Fugitive killed seven months after cop m**ders
The fugitive’s death comes more than seven months after he fatally shot two police officers and seriously injured a third in Porepunkah in Victoria’s high country.
Freeman, formerly known as Filby, ki**ed Detective Leading Constable Neal Thompson and Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart and injured a third officer who were trying to complete a search warrant on August 2025.
The 56-year-old fled into the bushland while armed with guns and had not been seen since.
Police received more than 2000 pieces of information in the 216-day hunt for the cop ki**er.
A $1m reward was offered to anyone who provided information that led to his arrest.