Dezi Freeman yelled abuse at a dying constable during a shooting that killed two Victoria police officers investigating the alleged sexual assault of a child, a coroner has heard.
Details surrounding the August deaths of Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, were outlined in a coroner’s court directions hearing on Monday morning – including what Freeman said during the shooting. Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, was shot dead by police seven months later, after being discovered at a makeshift campsite about 150km away.
The incident began at 9.50am on 26 August, when five officers knocked at the door of a converted bus where Freeman was living with his family in Porepunkah, the counsel assisting, Lindsay Spence, said in his opening summary.
He told the court that the officers were there to execute a warrant after receiving disclosure of an alleged sexual assault involving a child under the age of 16, as well as an attempt to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.
Freeman had yelled and refused to come out, saying the police “could go to hell”, Spence said.
He was eventually shown a copy of the search warrant, which he described as “bullshit”. The court heard an officer climbed on to the bus roof but was unable to gain access, before Freeman said he was coming out.
After failing to exit, Thompson lifted himself through a window to gain access to the bus.
The court heard that as his feet touched the ground, Thompson was shot in the face and neck. A second officer yelled “gun” and ran, activating a duress alarm.
Freeman then shot Waart-Hottart as the other officers ran and sought cover behind a shipping container, the court heard, and had said: “I had no choice.”
The court heard Freeman returned to the bus after the shooting and swore over the bodies of both fallen officers.
“F***ing scum, die in hell,” he yelled at police, before firing Waart-Hottart’s firearm at Thompson again.
Freeman then stepped out of the bus with two guns and fired at a third officer, injuring them, Spence said.
“He was last sighted running down the hill towards the river,” he told the court.
He said Freeman later sent a message to his wife, which read: “Get a mile away and keep going. See you in heaven, love.”
Arrest was expected to be made
Spence also outlined the reasons for the police team to be at the Porepunkah property.
“The purpose of the search warrant was for the locating and seizure of electronic devices that were to be interrogated for the potential presence of child abuse material,” he told the court.
“It was also intended that the person of interest was to be arrested and subsequently interviewed.”
The seven-month search for the 56-year-old ended when he died after being shot by police on a remote property in Thologolong, near Walwa on the Victoria-New South Wales border, on 30 March.
The state coroner Liberty Sanger was holding directions hearings for the inquest into the deaths of the police officers on Monday morning, before turning her attention to Freeman’s death in the afternoon.
The dates and the scope of the inquests – and decisions on who would give evidence – were expected to be set on Monday.
Speculation has been rife over how Freeman came to be in Thologolong, about 150km from the Porepunkah site where he fatally shot the officers.
That could also form part of the investigation.
Timeline
The Porepunkah shooting and Dezi Freeman manhunt
Show
Ten police officers, including officers from the child abuse squad, attend a property at Rayner Track in Porepunkah at about 10.30am to execute a search warrant. Two officers are killed and another wounded. A heavily armed suspect escapes into the bush alone. Police deploy specialist resources, including air and ground, to find him.
Victoria police name the suspect as Dezi Freeman, 56. Officers killed are named as Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35.
Officers from the Australian federal police’s elite tactical team are deployed. Police urge alleged killer to ring triple zero and surrender. Police arrest wife of Dezi Freeman, 42, and another individual in a late-night raid at a Porepunkah address. They are questioned and released “pending further inquiries”.
Police announce “up to $1m” reward for information on Dezi Freeman, the largest ever offered in Victoria for an arrest, and warn public not to go looking for the “high-risk” fugitive.
More than 125 specialist officers conduct the country’s “largest ever tactical policing operation” in the inhospitable terrain around Freeman’s property, including officers seconded from all Australian states and New Zealand.
Authorities lift travel restrictions in the Porepunkah area to “allow the community to return to a state of normality”.
Police conduct firearms testing near Barrett Lane and Rayner Track in Porepunkah, triggered by reports of a gunshot in the vicinity on the day of the police shooting.
Police begin five-day search in Victorian high country for Freeman, and conduct further firearms testing as part of their investigation. Police say they are exploring three scenarios in relation to Freeman: that he died near Mount Buffalo by self-harm or misadventure; that he escaped the area and was being harboured; or that he escaped the area and had survived without help.
Victoria police say they do not have sufficient evidence to proceed with charges against three people (including Freeman’s wife) as part of the broader investigation into the fatal Porepunkah police shootings.
Police shoot Freeman dead after a seven-month manhunt.
Footage showed Freeman wrapped in a blanket when he emerged from the shipping container at Thologolong, which appeared to be a makeshift campsite, before pulling a gun from underneath and pointing it at police.
It was not known if he had fired the gun before multiple officers shot him dead, but the state’s police commissioner, Mike Bush, has maintained the shooting was justified.
