Porepunkah cop killer Dezi Freeman taunted elite officers then invited them for beer before being shot dead

Dezi Freeman called elite officers “cowards”, accused them of being corrupt thugs and then invited them to “come have a beer” with him during a bizarre two-hour standoff before being shot dead by police.

Extraordinary new details about Freeman’s final hours, including prolonged negotiations with specialist police and how officers threw him a mobile phone in an attempt to speak with him directly, have emerged in the Coroners Court of Victoria.

State Coroner Liberty Sanger is investigating the police operation that ended Freeman’s life seven months after he murdered Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart at Porepunkah.

Victoria Police Special Operations Group (SOG) operators shot Freeman dead at a Thologolong property near the NSW border on March 30 after the state’s largest manhunt.

During a coronial directions hearing on Monday, details of the hours-long tactical operation at the isolated property were revealed for the first time.

Counsel assisting Lindsay Spence described a prolonged and increasingly erratic standoff in which Freeman oscillated between hostility, pseudo-legal arguments and casual conversation with officers surrounding him.

Mr Spence said police obtained intelligence about the Thologolong property, 50km north-east of Albury, days before the fatal shooting.

Over the weekend of March 28 and 29, covert surveillance teams observed a man matching Freeman’s description near a white shipping container. By March 29, police confirmed the man was Freeman.

The SOG was then tasked with his “safe apprehension and arrest”.

At about 5.30am on March 30, elite operators moved in on the property and established a cordon around the modified 40-foot shipping container where Freeman was hiding.

The container featured a glass sliding door, flywire screen and a small veranda-like structure over the entrance.

Lights and sirens on the SOG BearCat armoured vehicle were activated while a negotiator attempted to communicate with Freeman over a loudspeaker as a police helicopter circled overhead.

At 5.43am, the BearCat struck the side of the shipping container in an attempt to wake Freeman and force a response but there was no visible movement inside.

Half an hour later, police fired multiple gas canisters at the container, with several penetrating through the glass doorway.

Two minutes later, Freeman – wrapped in a doona – was finally visible in the doorway.

Negotiators attempted to engage Freeman but he remained “non-compliant” and repeatedly accused police of being “thugs and bullies” who were there to hurt him.

‘Cowards, come and get me’

During one exchange, Freeman asked a nearby SOG officer: “Why are you here?”

The officer replied police were there because of the murder of two police officers at Porepunkah.

“That is self-defence under 322K of the Crimes Act, and they had come to murder me and my family,” responded Freeman.

He also repeatedly shouted that God would judge police, accused officers of corruption and claimed they were there to assault him.

At 6.29am, Freeman emerged from the container.

A SOG officer fired two less-than-lethal foam baton rounds at him, with one striking his leg, but Freeman quickly retreated back inside.

The court heard negotiations continued for almost two more hours as Freeman repeatedly moved in and out of the doorway.

At one stage, Freeman allegedly shouted: “Cowards, come and get me.”

Police then attempted to establish direct communication by throwing a mobile phone outside the container so negotiators could speak with him privately.

Mr Spence said Freeman refused to collect the phone and continued behaving erratically.

At another point, Freeman stood outside drinking from a bottle and told officers: “Come have a beer with me and we’ll talk about it.”

The court heard Freeman repeatedly refused to properly show officers his hands or prove he was unarmed.

Final confrontation

After more than two hours of negotiations, police gassed the container through a mechanism attached to the front of the BearCat.

About 20 seconds later, Freeman appeared in the doorway holding a green bag covering his hands.

He then stepped outside the container carrying the bag in front of his chest.

Freeman turned left and began walking away from the BearCat. As he reached the corner of the shipping container he spotted a second arrest team in front of him.

“He immediately lowered the green bag with his left hand and raised his right hand which was holding a black handgun and pointed it towards the arrest team members,” Mr Spence said.

“As the SOG canine handler released the tactical working dog, a number of SOG operatives stated they believed, either from what they heard or felt, that the deceased had discharged the handgun.

“Numerous SOG operatives then returned fire and the deceased was struck and immediately fell to the ground.”

The court heard eight SOG members each fired multiple rounds.

Police medics immediately moved in and attempted treatment, however Freeman’s injuries were deemed fatal.

Mr Spence said the handgun Freeman allegedly pointed and discharged at officers was later confirmed to be the police-issued weapon stolen from Senior Constable De Waart-Hottart at Porepunkah.

A spent cartridge case consistent with that weapon was found near Freeman’s body.

No SOG officers or the tactical working dog were injured.

Mr Spence said none of the SOG officers involved were outfitted with body-worn cameras.

However, PolAir footage captured the final confrontation, including the moment Freeman allegedly produced the handgun from beneath the green bag and pointed it toward officers.

The court also heard Freeman activated the voice memo function on his own mobile phone about 23 minutes before he was shot.

“That audio recording captures audio from inside the shipping container including the deceased talking, some of the negotiations throughout that time period, audio of the discharge of firearms and then SOG operatives clearing the shipping container afterwards,” Mr spence said.

The court heard the inquest into Freeman’s death, to be held on a date to be fixed, would remain separate from the inquest into the deaths of his murder victims.

Earlier on Monday, the court heard Freeman repeatedly claimed he “had no choice” after fatally shooting DLSC Thompson and SC De Waart-Hottart.

In August, the officers had attended a Porepunkah property to arrest Freeman – previously known as Desmond Christopher Filby – over allegations involving the sexual assault of a child under 16 and attempting to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.

The court heard 10 officers from the Wangaratta Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team, Wangaratta CIU and Bright police attended the isolated Rayner Track property on August 26 with a search warrant.

The court heard officers had by then been negotiating with Freeman for about 34 minutes before the shooting began.

The hearing was told Freeman stood over the slain officers and hurled abuse at them.

At one stage, he allegedly yelled: “F—ing scum. Die in hell you f—ing, die in f—ing hell” before fleeing into surrounding bushland.

Freeman later sent wife Amalia a text message reading: “Beb get mile away and keep going. See u in heaven luv”.

Investigators still do not know where Freeman obtained the shotgun used in the killings and the weapon has never been recovered.

A tentative date for the officers’ inquest was set for March next year.