Sovereign Citizen Killer Shot Dead After Manhunt

0:00A seven-month manhunt for Desi Freeman, the 56-year-old sovereign citizen who killed two Victorian police officers, has finally ended. Back in late August, Freeman allegedly shot dead detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson and senior constable Vadim DeWart near Porpanka. While they served a search warrant on historical sex offenses, a third officer got injured and Freeman bolted into the rugged bushland. This launched Australia's biggest tactical operation ever, pulling in hundreds of officers from Victoria, Interstate, Federal Forces, and even New. Zeeland. They offered a $1 million reward, the largest in Victoria's history, and used cadaver dogs in December searches. Freeman's wife from the Philippines publicly begged him to surrender, as cops suspected supporters were hiding him. The tiny Porpanka community locked down for weeks amid cave and mine shaft hunts, knowing Freeman's bushcraft skills. Local split on him. Summer called his photography and fire brigade fundraising, others saw scary, aggressive

1:01guy with neighbor disputes in law. Run-ins. Friends blamed sovereign citizen ideas for radicalizing him into anti-police rants. Freeman's past showed decades of clashes by trying to arrest the magistrate, pushing trees and charges against ex-primeer Daniel Andrews, and losing. Firearms after refusing a drug test. A former buddy called him, unemployable, with a hot timber and an arsenal of rifles for bush-target practice. Now with Freeman shot dead by police at a Northeast Victoria property this week, the focus shifts to healing for the officers' families, and Porpanka, folks still reeling from the trauma. This has been Sydney News Today, powered by AI, I'm Corey with The Story.