A property owner who has been holidaying in Tasmania for months is reported to be “in shock” after learning fugitive Dezi Freeman was shot dead by police on his rural Victorian land.
Richard Sutherland had been away for around four months when police cornered Freeman on his 32-hectare Thologolong property on Monday morning.
Freeman was found hiding in a shipping container on the land, on Murray River Road near the Victorian-NSW border.
Sutherland’s brother Neil Sutherland told reporters the property owner had no connection to Freeman or the sovereign citizen movement.
“He’s never even met Dezi … he’s in shock,” he said, as reported by ACM. “He’s in more shock than I am.”
Neil Sutherland, who lives two properties away, said he was woken by helicopters circling overhead before the standoff ended around 8:30am.
He said he had not visited or checked the property recently as there was “nothing to keep an eye on”.
The property has at least three shipping containers and one, he said, that contained makeshift living quarters.
Richard Sutherland has owned the property for up to 20 years, according to his brother, and has been in Tasmania for the last four months.
Freeman had allegedly been on the run for seven months after the fatal shootings of Detective Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart at his Porepunkah home in late August.
The pair were among a team of officers serving a warrant at the time.
Freeman, a self-described sovereign citizen also known as Desmond Filby, allegedly fled into dense bushland and had not been seen until Monday.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said a standoff began around 5:30am and lasted around three hours.
Freeman exited the building but refused to surrender, Bush said.
“There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not,” he said.
“Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified.”
Bush said it would have been “very difficult” for Freeman to reach the property without assistance.
“If anyone was complicit they will be held to account,” he said.
Police are investigating how Freeman ended up at the property and whether anyone helped him evade capture.
Hundreds of officers searched for Freeman over seven months in extreme conditions.
Victoria Police had offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
