Victoria Police and the AAP
There has been growing speculation about who will receive the $1 million reward for the tip-off that led to the end of the Dezi Freeman manhunt.
The sovereign citizen was allegedly shot by Victoria Police at about 8.30am on March 30, after more than seven months on the run in north-east Victoria.
After the news about his alleged death broke, reports suggested that the police received a tip-off about his whereabouts.
At the time of publication, the man shot is yet to be formally identified.
What did Dezi Freeman do?
Freeman was on the run for over seven months after he allegedly fatally shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 34, on August 26, and then fled into bushland.
At the time, officers were executing a search warrant at the 56-year-old’s property. It was alleged that a third police officer was also injured during the incident at a remote farm.
Before his death, he was last seen in the Mount Buffalo area.
After his disappearance, a $1 million reward was offered, and it became Victoria Police’s largest tactical operation.
Who is getting the Dezi Freeman reward?
Hours after a man’s death was confirmed, Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Mike Bush provided few details about the tip-off and $1 million reward, telling the media that those details would be kept confidential.
He also explained that the deceased man had the opportunity to come forward “peacefully” and did not.
Before his death, Bush said there were more than 2,000 leads about Freeman’s whereabouts, with some sightings, but none were verified.
He also said that the investigation was in its early days, and further updates would be provided in the future.
The investigation is ongoing, and a crime scene has also been established.
Bush also said that the police would be investigating whether he received any assistance and whether anybody helped him hide.
Where was Dezi Freeman found?
The Age confirmed that he was found and then shot dead at a large rural compound in the Walwa area, almost 200 kilometres from where he fled into bushland.
During the media conference, Bush said they were notified about the man’s whereabouts in an item that was a cross between a shipping container and a caravan.
