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The dramatic end to the hunt for Dezi Freeman · The Morning Edition

• 0:01
  S1: In an abrupt conclusion to Australia s most intensive manhunt,
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  S1: self-described sovereign citizen Desi Freeman was shot dead by police
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  S1: on Monday morning. For more than 200 days, Freeman evaded
• 0:14
  S1: police after killing two police officers at a rural property
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  S1: in Victoria's high country on August 26th last year. I'm
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  S1: Samantha Selinger Morris, and you're listening to The Morning Edition
• 0:26
  S1: from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Today, reporter
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  S1: Melissa Cunningham on how the deadly saga of Daisy Freeman
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  S1: came to an end. Welcome, Melissa, to the podcast.
• 0:41
  S2: Thanks so much for having me, Sam.
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  S1: Okay, well, let's start at the beginning because this manhunt
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  S1: for Daisy Freeman, it ended on Monday morning. Can you
• 0:49
  S1: tell us what happened?
• 0:51
  S2: It did. So police shot Daisy Freeman dead about 8:30 a.m.
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  S2: this morning. They said Freeman had been living at a
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  S2: property on the Victorian side of the Murray River. Um,
• 1:02
  S2: limited details have been given about what unfolded. But what
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  S2: we do know is that police arrived at the property
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  S2: about 5:30 a.m. this morning, and they attempted to negotiate
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  S2: with Desi Freeman, and he was killed following a three
• 1:15
  S2: hour standoff with police.
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  S3: Good evening. The biggest manhunt in Victoria's history is over
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  S3: after Desmond Freeman was shot dead by police.
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  S4: The property he was discovered on at Tulungagung is more
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  S4: than 160km from where the deadly shootout in Papanca unfolded.
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  S5: It's quite clear to us now that the deceased was
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  S5: given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully and did not
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  S5: take that option.
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  S2: We know that he has come out of the shipping
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  S2: container where he is believed to have been living, and
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  S2: that he was wrapped in a doona. He's dropped that
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  S2: doona and police have seen that he's holding a gun. Um,
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  S2: they've tried to negotiate with him. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner
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  S2: Mike Bush said that police on the scene did everything possible,
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  S2: every possible tactical option that they could to try and
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  S2: end the standoff in a peaceful manner. Um, but those
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  S2: options were not taken.
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  S5: I have seen video of the deceased leaving the building
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  S5: and presenting a firearm at our offices. That action took
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  S5: away any discretion our officers had.
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  S2: And he told reporters late today that he was very
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  S2: comfortable with the actions that had been taken by police
• 2:34
  S2: at the scene. And he also revealed that there was
• 2:37
  S2: now an independent investigation around what unfolded today, and also
• 2:41
  S2: an independent investigation into how Desi Freeman came to be
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  S2: at this property. We do know that the state Victorian
• 2:48
  S2: coroner has also visited the scene today, and she will
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  S2: lead that independent investigation.
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  S1: Okay. And so for those who don't know, can you
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  S1: just quickly bring us up to speed with who Desi
• 3:00
  S1: Freeman was and why this case is so significant?
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  S2: So Desi Freeman, who's previously known as Desmond Philby, was
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  S2: a self proclaimed sovereign citizen. He allegedly shot dead two
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  S2: police and injured another officer when they were executing a
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  S2: search warrant. So he was living on a bus at
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  S2: a property in Papanca, which is a small sort of
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  S2: Victorian town. Um, in August last year. And why it's
• 3:26
  S2: sort of, I suppose, I mean, obviously the fact that
• 3:29
  S2: he has killed two police officers and injured another is,
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  S2: is a huge story in itself. But he was also
• 3:35
  S2: quite well known in this sovereign citizen movement. And he
• 3:37
  S2: had many previous run ins with police. He's also for
• 3:40
  S2: years displayed contempt for police and the justice system, and
• 3:45
  S2: he's known among Anti-authority extremist groups for his public stunts.
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  S2: He's described police as terrorist thugs and Nazis. And in
• 3:53
  S2: the days before the police killings. I remember this at
• 3:55
  S2: the time because I was down in pop punk. And
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  S2: when this happened, his wife Molly, actually confided in a
• 4:00
  S2: neighbour that she was really fearful about his mental health.
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  S1: And can you describe this very tiny and remote community
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  S1: where this standoff took place early this morning, and the
• 4:11
  S1: property there where he was holed up? You know, what
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  S1: is that like there?
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  S2: Uh, so the property owner is apparently away and hasn't
• 4:19
  S2: been at the property for several months. His brother, Neil Sutherland,
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  S2: is a local farmer in the area and he's spoken
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  S2: to ABC radio and the Border Mail, which is the
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  S2: local daily paper for that area. He claims his family
• 4:33
  S2: has never met Desi Freeman. Um, they have nothing to
• 4:36
  S2: do with the sovereign citizen movement. He says his family
• 4:39
  S2: are in shock that Desi Freeman has been living there,
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  S2: and that his brother had no idea, and they aren't
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  S2: sure for how long he was living there.
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  S4: Property where Freeman had been hiding littered with rubbish in
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  S4: a scene reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic movie. Cars, tractors, three caravans,
• 4:54
  S4: even a boat and a canoe.
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  S2: Late today, Victorian Police Commissioner Mike Bush said in the
• 4:59
  S2: last 24 hours, as far as police can tell, there
• 5:02
  S2: has been no one else at the property. But this
• 5:05
  S2: doesn't mean that there hasn't been people in the property. Um,
• 5:07
  S2: in the past, because it's strongly believed that he was
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  S2: obviously getting help from somebody and they have not been
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  S2: able to yet get hold of the owner of the property.
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  S2: So Neil Sutherland's brother, they haven't been able to talk
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  S2: to him directly yet. So I think there'll be more
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  S2: details to come about that in the coming days.
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  S1: And do we know anything about why he was there
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  S1: in Walwa and whether he'd actually been assisted by anyone else?
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  S1: Because there have been a lot of questions that the
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  S1: police press conferences today about how he was able to
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  S1: travel so far to Walwa from Papunya, which is some
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  S1: 200km away, you know, without being detected.
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  S2: Yes. I mean, it's pretty extraordinary. And there was such
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  S2: a massive police hunt that was underway. I mean, the
• 5:48
  S2: hours and days after, after this occurred. So last year,
• 5:52
  S2: police offered a $1 million reward for any information that
• 5:56
  S2: led up to his arrest. What we've been told is
• 6:00
  S2: that from police sources is that the information came from
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  S2: a tip off last week. And so, obviously, police became
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  S2: aware that he could potentially be at this property and
• 6:10
  S2: they've swarmed the property. Um this morning they haven't said
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  S2: much about who was helping him, but they have said
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  S2: that it would have been extremely difficult for him to
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  S2: get where he was and to have survived this long
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  S2: without any assistance. So there is a strong suggestion that
• 6:26
  S2: there have been people helping him along the way.
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  S1: And so I guess the big question that I'm sure
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  S1: is on everyone's minds right now is how did he
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  S1: evade police for so long? Yeah. I mean, how did
• 6:38
  S1: he do it? Because we know there's been rumors locally, right,
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  S1: that he had a getaway car park at the at
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  S1: the airfield, and others are saying he was helped through
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  S1: the bushland. So what do we know?
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  S2: We don't know much about how he was assisted. But
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  S2: you're right, there was there's so many rumours actually, in
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  S2: the local area. And one of those rumours is that
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  S2: he had parked a car at the airfield and that
• 7:01
  S2: he'd somehow got into that car and then driven his
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  S2: way there. Others are saying, you know that, and this
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  S2: is all rumours at this point, and nothing's been confirmed that,
• 7:09
  S2: you know, he somehow was able to go from Papanca
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  S2: to another town called Omeo. And then there's like a
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  S2: trail that leads directly to near where this property is.
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  S2: So we somehow kind of walked there. But again, we
• 7:22
  S2: really don't know what's what occurred. We do know that
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  S2: he had strong links to this sovereign citizen movement and
• 7:29
  S2: that there is potential for people within that movement to
• 7:32
  S2: have assisted him, potentially. But Mike Bush has also said that, yeah,
• 7:38
  S2: police have a very good idea of what did occur. Um,
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  S2: but some of it will be subject to different interpretations.
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  S2: And this will all play out in a coronial hearing.
• 7:50
  S1: Thank you so much for your time.
• 7:52
  S2: Thank you so much, Sam.
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  S1: Today's episode of The Morning Edition was produced by Tammy Mills.
• 8:00
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  S1: are in the show notes. I'm Samantha Selinger Morris, thanks
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  S1: for listening.