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Police investigating how Dezi Freeman eluded capture after shooting dead two officers have swooped on properties in Victoria and New South Wales and arrested two people.
Officers investigating Freeman believe he travelled between the two states and had several people helping him in the seven months he was a fugitive.
On Tuesday morning, police in both states executed search warrants: in Victoria, officers converged on properties in Buckland, Stanley and Lucyvale, and in NSW they searched properties at Greenwich Park, Tarlo, Wombeyan Caves and Umina Beach on the Central Coast.
“Police have seized a range of electronic devices from the addresses,” Victoria Police said in a statement about the ongoing Taskforce Summit investigation.
“A 64-year-old Lucyvale man was arrested in Wodonga and will be interviewed by police. A 47-year-old Wombeyan Caves man was also arrested in Greenwich Park on unrelated outstanding warrants.
“There are no further arrests at this time, however police are speaking with a number of occupants at the various premises.”
Officers confirmed the raids formed part of their investigation into Freeman’s movements in the 216 days he was on the run.
“It is believed he travelled between Victoria and NSW and received assistance from a number of different people during that time,” police said.
Freeman was shot dead after an hours-long standoff with police on March 30 at a rural property in Thologolong, Victoria, on the Murray River.
His death came after he shot and killed police officers Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson in Porepunkah on August 26 last year. Freeman also seriously wounded a third officer before retreating into bushland at Mount Buffalo, which borders the property where he and his family were living at the time.
Ten police officers showed up to the Porepunkah property on August 26 to execute a search warrant as part of an investigation by the Wangaratta Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.
The seven months between that shooting and Freeman’s last stand in Thologolong involved the largest manhunt in Victoria Police’s history, with eight different police squads as well as the Australian Defence Force deployed to find him.
After the shootings, Freeman became arguably the most high-profile Australian to identify with the sovereign citizen movement, a loosely-connected group of individuals who believe the laws of the state do not apply to them.
It has previously been reported the current police investigation is looking at whether other members of that community helped him evade capture.
This is not the first time since Freeman’s death that police have made arrests in connection with his case. On April 4, two of his suspected associates were arrested and released without charge. A further two men were cuffed and released on May 26.
Both the Porepunkah and Thologolong incidents are subject to coronial investigation, and officers remain interested in speaking to anyone with information.
“The investigation does not stop simply because Freeman was located,” Taskforce Summit Detective Inspector Anthony Gasparini said.
“We said from the outset that if alive, Freeman would likely need significant support to leave the area and survive over the following months. To that end, we are looking to identify and hold to account those people who provided that support to harbour a wanted fugitive and have potentially committed serious offences themselves.”
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