Inquiry to probe Dezi Freeman's long evasion and demise

Dezi Freeman's months on the run and the final moments before his death will form the basis of a much-anticipated inquest.

Freeman led police on one of the nation's largest manhunts after he killed two police officers serving a warrant at his home in rural Victoria in August 2025.

Questions still remain about the deaths of Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, and how Freeman was able to evade police for months after fleeing his Porepunkah property, 310km northwest of Melbourne.

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The officers were executing a warrant after disclosure of Freeman allegedly sexually assaulting a child, as well as attempting to involve a child in the production of child abuse material, a Coroners Court was told on Monday.

Seven months later, officers tracked the 56-year-old fugitive down to a shipping container in Victoria's remote northeast.

Lindsay Spence, the counsel assisting the state coroner, said police intelligence identified Freeman was living at Thologolong a week before his death.

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Police moved in at 5.30am on March 30, waking Freeman who was seen an hour later wrapped in a doona or blanket.

Over several hours, multiple attempts were made to negotiate to no avail.

At one point, Spence said Freeman appeared erratic, drank from a bottle and said "come have a beer with me and we'll talk about it".

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Freeman later emerged from a shipping container with a green bag covering his hands, before dropping the bag and revealing a firearm.

Special Operations Group officers believed Freeman fired at them.

Eight officers fired multiple rounds at Freeman, who fell to the ground.

His weapon was later confirmed as the police-issued handgun of de Waart-Hottart.

An inquiry will need to rely on police testimony and footage captured from a police Air Wing helicopter as a court heard officers were not equipped with body-worn cameras or similar recording devices at the time.

Freeman did activate the voice memos function on his mobile phone, capturing 23 minutes of audio from inside the shipping container.

State Coroner Liberty Sanger is holding separate inquests looking at the deaths of the two police officers and the final shootout involving Freeman.

A coronial brief related to the officers' deaths is set to be delivered by August 21.

Police are expected to provide a brief of evidence regarding the Freeman case to the coroner by October 30.

A formal inquest could be scheduled for March 2027.