The search for suspected associates of police killer Dezi Freeman during the months he was on the run has spread across the North East and NSW after the arrests of two men following raids of seven Victorian and NSW properties on Tuesday. A Victoria Police spokesperson said officers conducted searches at rural properties in Buckland, Stanley and Lucyvale just after 6:20am. At the same time a NSW Police Strikeforce, in coordination with Taskforce Summit investigators, raided four properties in Greenwich Park, Tarlo and Wombeyan Caves (near Goulburn) and Umina Beach (Sydney). A 64-year-old Lucyvale man was arrested in Wodonga and will be interviewed by police while a 47-year-old Wombeyan Caves man was also arrested in Greenwich Park on unrelated outstanding warrants. “There are no further arrests at this time, however police are speaking with a number of occupants at the various premises,” the Victoria Police spokesperson said. Police seized a range of electronic devices from the properties and as of Tuesday afternoon, officers continued to conduct searches at the properties. The raids formed part of the police investigation of Freeman’s movements between August 2025 and March 2026. Wangaratta and Bright police officers conducted a search of Freeman’s Porepunkah property on Rayner Track on 26 August last year, when he shot and killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart. A third officer was also seriously injured after being shot in the lower body while The officers were executing a search warrant as part of an investigation by the Wangaratta Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team. 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 Porepunkah shooting and the confrontation at Thologolong are now subject to coronial investigation. The Victoria Police spokesperson said it was believed Freeman travelled between Victoria and NSW during the seven months he was on the run and received assistance from a number of different people during that time. Detective Inspector Anthony Gasparini said detectives were keen to speak to anyone who may have information about Freeman’s movements in the seven months leading up to his death. “It’s important that we provide answers to the families of the police who were shot and killed in Porepunkah, as well as other police members who were impacted by the incident,” he said. “We also have to consider the broader Porepunkah community who were affected for many months, as well providing a thorough response as part of the coronial investigation. “We said from the outset that if alive, Freeman would likely need significant support to leave the area and survive over the following months,” he said. “To that end, we are looking to identify and hold to account those people who provided that support to harbour a wanted fugitive and have potentially committed serious offences themselves.” Anyone with any information on Freeman’s movements is urged to contact Crime Stoppers Victoria via 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
