{"id":21384,"date":"2025-09-14T06:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T06:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/21384\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T06:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T06:35:09","slug":"nz-police-join-manhunt-for-accused-victoria-cop-killer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/21384\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ police join manhunt for accused Victoria cop-killer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crawling through darkened caves and squeezing between narrow rock crevices in rugged terrain \u2013 police say nothing will stop them from bringing Australia’s most wanted man to justice. <\/p>\n

As the hunt for accused cop killer Dezi Freeman enters its third week, police have shared a rare glimpse into the manhunt. <\/p>\n

Victoria Police are conducting the largest tactical operation in Australia’s history, with more than 125 specialist police called in to join the search from interstate and New Zealand. <\/p>\n

Eleven New Zealand police staff from a specialist workgroup had been deployed to Victoria since Friday, acting Assistant Commissioner Penelope Gifford confirmed to 1News.<\/p>\n

“It is not unusual for us to support our Australian counterparts on occasion, where required.<\/p>\n

“As this is a live operation being undertaken by the Victoria Police, we will not be making any further comments at this stage.”<\/p>\n

Photos released by Victoria Police on Sunday show just how difficult and expansive the search area is for officers tasked with apprehending Freeman.<\/p>\n

Heavily armed specialist police are shown squeezing between narrow rock crevices, searching darkened caves and parachuting into remote parts of the bush in their bid to catch the self-described sovereign citizen<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Other images show camouflaged officers climbing a snow covered hill and another officer carrying a police dog over his shoulder as he and colleagues cross a waterway. <\/p>\n

Freeman, 56, is accused of shooting dead policemen Neal Thompson<\/a> and Vadim de Waart-Hottart<\/a> at a property at Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26 before escaping into bushland.<\/p>\n

\"Detective<\/p>\n

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, left, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

There have been no confirmed sightings of Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, in the 20 days since the incident.<\/p>\n

Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett described the search area as “incredibly, incredibly rugged” and applauded efforts from those who travelled from interstate and overseas to help the search. <\/p>\n

“The terrain is incredibly difficult,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The danger in terms of what we’re confronted with is incredibly difficult as well … we’re looking for a person who is armed, dangerous and has had a recent history of murdering two police officers.<\/p>\n

“So this is not something we can do a line search, like we often do when we search for someone who is missing in bushlands.”<\/p>\n

\"Victoria<\/p>\n

Victoria fugitive Dezi Freeman (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The search involved hundreds of properties, abandoned structures, mine shafts, plantations and gorges in an effort to find Freeman. <\/p>\n

Barrett refused to say whether the search uncovered any sign of Freeman himself, or evidence he had been in the area since the shootings. <\/p>\n

Victoria Police previously offered a $1 million reward for information<\/a> leading to his capture, the largest financial offer in the state’s history for aiding an arrest.<\/p>\n

More than 1100 tips have been submitted since the officers were killed, including nearly 200 pieces of information since the reward was offered.<\/p>\n

Police on Sunday lifted travel warnings for the Porepunkah area, allowing the community to return to normalcy ahead of school holidays, while maintaining a focus on the search. <\/p>\n

The decision was difficult to make but it was important to find a balance between the need to find Freeman and the needs of the local community, Barrett said.<\/p>\n

The fugitive allegedly killed two officers and injured a third in rural Victoria. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

He reminded anyone travelling into the area ahead of Victoria’s upcoming school holidays to remain vigilant. <\/p>\n

While the search may take a different shape over time, Barrett said police would not rest until Freeman was brought to justice.<\/p>\n

He said police were considering all possibilities, including he may still be in the area, was being harboured somewhere or may be dead. <\/p>\n

Barrett again urged Freeman to surrender peacefully.<\/p>\n

\"Dezi<\/p>\n

Dezi Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby. (Source: Victoria Police)<\/p>\n

Freeman’s wife Amalia<\/a> and a 15-year-old boy were previously arrested, with Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush alluding charges may be laid against them.<\/p>\n

While his immediate family have been interviewed by police, it’s understood they haven’t been overly co-operative.<\/p>\n

Freeman’s extended family has attempted to distance themselves from the alleged killer and anti-government fanatic. <\/p>\n

“It makes me sick knowing a family member has taken multiple lives,” one relative told the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n

– Additional reporting by 1News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crawling through darkened caves and squeezing between narrow rock crevices in rugged terrain \u2013 police say nothing will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-21384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-crime-and-justice","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}