Dezi Freeman: The Hunt | Ep 1 | The Final 24 Hours
5/2/202619 min
7NEWS Crime Editor Cassie Zervos was at home with her newborn when a police source gave her a scoop: Australia’s most wanted fugitive, Dezi Freeman, had been found and shot dead. She became the first journalist to break the story.
Freeman, a self-described ‘sovereign citizen’, had been on the run for seven months after allegedly killing two police officers. What followed was one of the largest and most intensive manhunts in recent Australian history.
7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos take you inside the case from every angle — what happened, how it unfolded, Freeman’s ideology, and the impact on those left behind.
Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.
Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJoey Watson· Host0:00
[suspenseful music] A listener production. Joey Watson here. For seven months, Desi Freeman was Australia's most wanted man. In August 2025, he was accused of fatally shooting two police officers and seriously wounding a third when police arrived at his property in Porpunkah, a quiet town in Victoria's rugged alpine country. Then he disappeared into the bush, triggering one of the biggest manhunts in recent Australian history. Desi Freeman was a self-described sovereign citizen. He was anti-establishment, rejected government authority and police powers, and espoused that the law as we know it didn't apply to sovereign citizens like him. Then in March, police tracked him to where he was living. After a tense standoff, he was shot and killed by police, bringing the extraordinary hunt to an end. Seven News reporter Cassie Zervos covered every twist in this remarkable story and broke the news of Desi's death. So for the next few weeks, Secrets We Keep will be passing the mic on to Cassie and Seven News presenter Michael Usher for a special series, Desi Freeman: The Hunt. And just a quick note before I go to say this is my last episode hosting Secrets We Keep. I wanted to say thanks to all the guests we've had and to you for listening. Catch you around.
Unknown speaker1:26
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