Suspected double cop killer Dezi Freeman had a sinister ‘hate list’ of local police officers, named and pictured, before he allegedly gunned two down in cold blood.
Freeman, 56, is accused of killing Detective Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, in Porepunkah, Victoria on Tuesday before taking their weapons and fleeing into the bush.
Now Daily Mail can reveal Freeman was at the centre of a 30-strong anti-authority network that secretly met at his rural property for years.
Members of the group drew up a list of names and ranks of officers they branded ‘police thugs’ from the nearby Myrtleford station, openly discussing how to ‘name and shame’ them.
The self-styled freedom fighter remains on the run after allegedly opening fire with a homemade shotgun after 10 officers arrived at his farmhouse to serve an arrest warrant over historic child sex abuse charges.
After he allegedly killed two officers and seriously injured a third, Freeman is accused of stealing the dead men’s guns and a police radio before fleeing into the bush.
Volleys of gunfire and flash-bang stun grenades have repeatedly been heard echoing through the mountain town as one of the largest manhunts in n history continues.
More than 450 officers, including special operations and interstate reinforcements, are scouring the rugged terrain – but not a single trace of him has been found so far.
Freeman’s ‘Truth and Justice’ group’s social media posts reveal the depth of their paranoia and hatred of police.
Freeman was arrested in December 2021, sparking calls from one member for ‘all the names of police thugs in Myrtleford so we can name and shame them’.
What followed was a chilling roll call of officers, complete with names, ranks and even email addresses.
‘Leading Constable Xxxx Xxxx, import from Bairnsdale,’ one wrote. Daily Mail has chosen not to repeat any of the names published.
Another member added: ‘Apparently Xxxx is now a fully qualified sergeant.’
The group’s administrator then replied, ‘Don’t say fully qualified. You are giving too much credit, just say promoted. Choose your words carefully.’
Soon more names were added, including female Acting Senior Sergeant Xxxx Xxxx, who has worked in the Alpine cluster since 2019 after serving in sexual offence and child abuse investigations.
Acting Sergeant Xxxx X xxx and officer Xxxx Xxxx were also on the twisted list.
Locals fear Freeman’s supporters may now help him evade capture.
‘This guy is a doomsday prepper,’ one former friend told Daily Mail.
‘They grow all their own food on the property and preserve it.
‘Dezi absolutely knows how to survive and you can bet he has a bunker close by, stocked up and ready for something like this.
‘The man has spent most of his life planning for it.’
While it was initially believed Freeman had taken his wife Mali and children hostage, the friend said he ‘let them go’ to give himself a head start in the manhunt.
‘He didn’t want them slowing him down or getting hurt in the crossfire,’ they added.
It was reportedly because of Freeman’s repeated run-ins with the law that Detective Thompson, from the Wangaratta CIU, was dispatched with the other officers to serve Tuesday’s warrant.
A keen hunter, Detective Thompson had previously dealt with Freeman and was believed to have established a rapport with him.
The other slain officer, Sen-Const De Waart, from Belgium, joined Victoria Police in 2018, and was a member of the Melbourne-based public order response team.
He was on secondment in northeast Victoria and had reportedly only been in the area for a week before he was shot dead.
Described as an eternal optimist and avid traveller, he had also completed scuba dives all around the world and taken motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues.