“We know who they are”: Police considering case against alleged associates of Freeman

Police are considering arrests of suspected associates who assisted Desmond Freeman in avoiding police capture in the seven months he went on the run. Speaking after a memorial service in Bright which marked one year since the tragic deaths of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said evidence regarding alleged associates to Freeman was being reviewed by police and the state prosecution office. “We know who they are, and we're working through the evidence to ensure that they are held to account,” he said. In the months following Freeman’s death on 30 March 2026, police made a number of arrests across North East and New South Wales properties in relation to the 56-year-old’s movements in the seven months he went undetected by authorities. All those arrested were interviewed and released. Giving a closing address at both Wangaratta and Bright memorial services, Chief Commissioner Bush referred to Freeman as an “alleged pedophile”. The execution of the search warrant at the Rayner Track property last year came after Wangaratta police obtained information of an alleged sexual assault of a child under 16 years old and the alleged possession of child abuse material. Chief Commissioner Bush said there had been further “technical” evidence gathered by detectives following the shooting which led to police considering Freeman as an alleged pedophile. “And I can't understand why anyone would want to support such a person,” he said. Following an emotional memorial service in Wangaratta on Tuesday, hundreds more gathered at the Bright police station on Wednesday for a second service, exactly one year after the deaths of Det Led Sen Const Thompson and Sen Const de Waart-Hottart. Permanent memorials were constructed at the front of both Wangaratta and Bright police stations to honour the policemen and their sacrifice in the line of duty. On 26 August 2025, Wangaratta and Bright police officers conducted a search of Freeman’s Porepunkah property on Rayner Track when he shot and killed the two police officers. A third officer was also seriously injured after being shot in the lower body. Freeman left the address following the fatal shooting and despite a number of large-scale searches undertaken in the Porepunkah area, he was not located for over seven months. He was later found on a Thologolong property where specialist police confronted him on 30 March, which resulted in the 56-year-old being shot and killed after he pulled a handgun on police. Both the deaths of the police officers and Freeman remain under separate coronial investigations. A Coroners Court spokesperson said there were currently no further hearing dates scheduled for the investigations. A directions hearing for both matters was held before State Coroner Liberty Sanger in May.

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