Dezi Freeman’s sister says she is "ashamed and angry" over her brother’s killing of two Australian police officers, after the fugitive was shot dead by police following seven months on the run.
Freeman was killed on Monday after a three-hour stand off at an isolated property at Thologolong on the NSW-Victoria border.
Freeman's sister told ABC Radio that she was "ashamed and angry" about her brother and that she struggled to understand how he could murder two police officers.
"I cannot comprehend how he could sacrifice being a father and husband to become Australia's most wanted fugitive," she said.
She said she was shocked to learn Freeman had been armed, and distressed that the confrontation unfolded in front of his family.
"I was shocked to learn that he had weapons and was armed, and that events played out the way they did in front of his wife and children, putting them at risk and how traumatic that would have been for them to witness.
"Dez has wreaked havoc and evil to so many, and for what?"
Freeman was wanted over the fatal shooting of two Victorian police officers seven months ago. (Source: 1News)
Police say Detective Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart were shot dead by Freeman when they served a warrant at his semi-rural property in Porepunkah, around 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26 last year.
A third officer was shot and underwent surgery for a leg wound.
Freeman, a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen known to police, then fled into the dense bushland of Mount Buffalo National Park.
Hundreds of police, including some New Zealand staff, had been involved in the manhunt, with more than 400 officers deployed in the hours and days after the killings on August 26.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the operation to find Freeman was one of the largest in Australian history.
"It's not just the victim's families and everyone involved in the community that this brings closure for. It brings closure for every member of Victoria Police."
A AU$1 million (NZ$1.21 million) reward, the largest in Victoria's history, and the possibility of indemnity for information leading to the fugitive's capture was on offer.
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