‘Lure him out’: Tactic to find Dezi revealed as expert weighs in on how police may have enticed the fugitive cop killer out of hiding.
In February police declared they “strongly believed” Dezi Freeman was dead. An expert says the statement may have had one key objective.
In February, Victoria Police declared they “strongly believed” Dezi Freeman was dead, while continuing to search for the fugitive cop killer or his remains.
Criminologist and former detective Dr Terry Goldsworthy believes this may have been a tactic to lull Freeman into a false sense of security and get people in his orbit talking.
“I did think it was strange they were saying that,” Dr Goldsworthy told news.com.au about the February statement.
“It seemed a bit early, and in a case where two police officers were shot, you’d want very good confirmation of end of life.”
Dr Goldsworthy said it was “entirely viable” that police made the remarks to make Freeman “a bit more careless, a bit more free with his actions,” though he acknowledged the truth would not emerge until a coronial inquest was carried out.
“One way of moving from a low-information to a high-information state, is creating an environment that leads to people talking,” said Dr Goldsworthy, who had “no doubt” that someone in the community had helped Freeman to remain in hiding for seven months.
“If it (the tactic) was done, that’s designed simply to put offenders at ease and create the possibility of conversation.”
With regard to police using statements in the media to revive their investigations, Dr Goldsworthy said it was done “reasonably often”.
“For example, you’ll very often see police come out and bring a victim’s family forward for an anniversary.
“Often behind that there are covert methodologies taking place – police may have a suspect and insufficient evidence.
“The media is a very good invesigative tool, driving investigations and information.”
Shortly after officers had gunned down Freeman on a remote property in northeast Victoria on Monday morning, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said there had been “a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life, but … our investigators … keep their mind open to every possible outcome and every possible lead”.
In November last year, police said they were unsure if the fugitive was dead or alive after extensive searches of caves, mines and rivers in the dense bushland.
“Even though we’re getting information, we’ve had no positive sightings and we’re still no clearer as to whether he’s dead or alive,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said at the time.
A month later, the language shifted as police said their new focus was on “identifying and locating evidence or the body of Freeman”.
Criminologist and former detective Dr Vincent Hurley disagreed with Dr Goldsworthy’s view, telling news.com.au: “Police are not going to get up and say to the public we suspect he’s dead, while knowing that he’s not dead.”
“It would have sent a horrendous message to the community down there that the police have lied to them, and what would that do to the community in terms of confidence in what police are doing?” Dr Hurley said.
Hidden message in Monday’s police statement
Chief Commissioner Bush was tight-lipped on the details of Freeman’s seven months on the run when he spoke to reporters on Monday.
Dr Hurley believed police were withholding information at the press conference because they were still probing other suspects who may have helped Freeman to evade the law.
“They’ve obviously been very careful how they word it, and I suspect that’s because there are other people involved, and they don’t want to give too much away,” he said.
“The investigation would not be concluding (on Monday) – it would still be ongoing, because they would have dozens if not hundreds of other leads to follow up.”
Police confirmed a man had been shot about 8.30am on Monday at a property in northeast Victoria as part of the seven-month operation to locate Freeman, with no officers injured during the incident.
Cops were tipped off that Freeman was hiding in a container on a property near the isolated town of Walwa, 188km (or a two-and-a-half hour drive) northeast of Porepunkah, where he was last seen on August 26.
Police have a “strong theory” on Freeman’s movements in the days after shooting dead two police officers in August, Chief Commissioner Bush said, but he did not share that information with reporters, although he suggested it would have been “very difficult” for the fugitive cop killer to travel alone almost 200 kilometres to the property where he was found.
Dr Hurley suspected at least one person had helped Freeman while he was in hiding.
“I think it would be reasonable to assume, for someone to live out in that environment through winter and summer for that length of time, there would have been some type of assistance or material help,” he said.
Sources told the Herald Sun that a couple had been hiding Freeman at the property, but Chief Commissioner Bush said on Monday morning police had yet to speak to people in the area and “to my knowledge, no one else was in the immediate vicinity” when Freeman was found.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the afternoon, Mr Bush said police believed no one else had been at the property apart from Freeman over the past 24 hours.
“That doesn’t mean there haven’t been in the past, that too will form part of our inquiry,” he said.
“We’re still trying to locate (the property owner) and speak with that person. We know who that person is.
“It is very important for us to understand how long he’s been here and who else was complicit in getting him here and then caring for him or providing him with food and other things to this point.”
Freeman emerged from the container wrapped in a blanket after a three-hour siege, and was gunned down while firing a hand gun he stole from Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson in August, according to the Herald Sun.
Thompson was one of two police officers who Freeman allegedly shot before going on the run for seven months.
As far as the container, Dr Hurley said it may have been stocked with food and other supplies by an accomplice, or Freeman may have simply stumbled across it.
“It could be that it’s a weekender,” Dr Hurley said of the container.
“It could be that the people that own it don’t live on the property. The owner may not necessarily know or have any connection with him.”
After confirming that Freeman was living there, possibly after receiving a tip-off from a local, police could have watched him for up to a week before moving in, he said.
“That’s for a few reasons. Police would want to know if he had weapons, if someone was with him, and they’d want to know what his daily routine was.
“There are risks that the police can reduce simply by watching and waiting.”