Someone had to help him survive those seven months in the bush
In the aftermath of one of Victoria's most prolonged and painful manhunts, two men have been arrested in north-east Victoria as investigators work to understand how a fugitive survived seven months in the wilderness after killing two police officers. The August 2025 shootings at Porepunkah — which claimed the lives of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart — set in motion a chain of grief, pursuit, and unanswered questions that Operation Summit continues to trace. The arrests suggest that even after Dezi Freeman's death in March 2026, the full human architecture of his flight has yet to be fully mapped.
- Two men, aged 48 and 45, were arrested at separate locations in Victoria on Tuesday as detectives probe who may have aided Freeman during his seven-month evasion of capture.
- The investigation carries the weight of two officers killed in the line of duty — Neal Thompson, 59, and Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35 — shot dead while executing a warrant tied to alleged child sexual abuse.
- Freeman, armed and heavily supplied, vanished into Victoria's remote high country for nearly seven months before being killed in a police confrontation near Walwa on March 30, 2026.
- The coroner's court held directions hearings just one day before the arrests, with full inquests into both the officers' deaths and Freeman's killing potentially scheduled for later in 2026.
- Police have offered little detail about the two men's alleged roles, but the arrests signal investigators believe they are closing in on the full story of what sustained Freeman's flight.
Two men have been arrested in north-east Victoria as detectives work to reconstruct how Dezi Freeman moved and survived during the seven months he spent evading capture after killing two police officers. The men, aged 48 and 45, were taken into custody at separate locations on Tuesday as part of Operation Summit — the investigation into Freeman's movements following the Porepunkah shootings in August 2025.
The tragedy began on August 26, when a team of ten officers approached a property roughly 210 kilometres north-east of Melbourne to execute a search warrant connected to alleged child sexual abuse. Freeman, a 56-year-old with documented ties to sovereign citizen ideology, opened fire. Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, were killed. A third officer was wounded.
Freeman fled into the bush armed and well-supplied, triggering one of the state's most consuming manhunts. He remained at large for nearly seven months, moving through Victoria's remote high country, before being shot and killed by police on a property near Walwa, on the Victoria-New South Wales border, on March 30, 2026.
The arrests came one day after the coroner's court held directions hearings into both the officers' deaths and the circumstances of Freeman's killing, with State Coroner Liberty Sanger overseeing the inquiries. Full inquest dates have not yet been set, though both could be scheduled for 2026. The question of who may have helped Freeman survive — and how — remains open, but these arrests suggest investigators believe the picture is slowly coming into focus.
Two men have been taken into custody in north-east Victoria, arrested as detectives continue to piece together how Dezi Freeman moved and survived during his seven-month flight after killing two police officers. The men, aged 48 and 45, were picked up at separate locations on Tuesday as part of Operation Summit, the sprawling investigation into Freeman's time evading capture following the shootings at Porepunkah in August.
Police said the pair would be interviewed, but offered no immediate detail about what they might have known or done. The investigation, they noted, remains active and ongoing. What is known is the outline of the tragedy that set everything in motion. On August 26, a team of ten officers—local police mixed with detectives from the sexual offences and child abuse investigation unit—approached a property about 210 kilometres north-east of Melbourne to execute a search warrant. They had been dispatched after receiving disclosure of an alleged sexual assault involving a child under 16, and an alleged attempt to involve a child in the production of abuse material. Freeman, a 56-year-old man with documented ties to sovereign citizen ideology, opened fire. Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, were killed. A third officer was wounded.
Freeman fled into the bush armed and heavily supplied, triggering one of the state's most visible manhunts. For nearly seven months, he remained at large, moving through remote country in the high country of Victoria. The search consumed resources and attention across the region. It ended on March 30 when Freeman was shot and killed by police on a remote property near Walwa, on the Victoria-New South Wales border, in what became the final armed confrontation.
The arrests of the two men come one day after the coroner's court held directions hearings into both the deaths of the two officers and the circumstances of Freeman's death. State Coroner Liberty Sanger is overseeing the inquiries. No dates have been set for the full inquests, though both could be scheduled for sometime in 2026. The investigation into how Freeman survived those months, who may have aided him, and what he did during his time in hiding remains incomplete. These arrests suggest detectives believe they are getting closer to understanding the full picture of what happened after the gunfire stopped.
Citas Notables
The pair will now be interviewed by police. The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time.— Victoria Police statement
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why arrest people now, months after Freeman died? What could they possibly know at this point?
Because seven months is a long time to stay hidden in the bush with weapons and supplies. Someone had to help him—or at least know where he was. These arrests suggest detectives think they've found people connected to that.
Do we know what role these two men played? Were they hiding him, feeding him, moving him?
Police aren't saying yet. They're being interviewed now. But the fact that they were arrested at separate locations suggests they weren't working together, or at least that's how police are treating it.
The coroner's hearings just happened. Is that why the arrests came now?
Possibly. The hearings would have surfaced evidence, timelines, gaps in what's known. Once you see the shape of the investigation, you know what questions still need answering.
What happens to these two men if they don't cooperate?
That depends on what they're suspected of. Harbouring a fugitive is a serious charge. But police haven't said what they're investigating them for yet.
So the story isn't finished.
Not even close. The inquests are still to come, and Operation Summit is still running. This is just one piece moving into place.