UPDATE: Inside The ‘Dezi Freeman’ Inquest & The New Courtroom Revelations
5/31/202619 min
Just over a week after we covered the murders of Victorian police officers Vadim De Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson, we've learned more information about the case from the Coronial Inquest Hearing.
Desmond Filby, 'Dezi Freeman', was shot dead following a seven-month manhunt, and this week, the Victorian Coroner’s Court heard the opening of two inquests. 7NEWS reporter Rochelle Brown explains what we learnt.
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CREDITS
Guest: 7News Journalist Rochelle Brown
Host: Gemma Bath
Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman
Group Executive Producer: Ilaria Brophy
Video Editor: Julian Rosario
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGemma Bath· Host0:00
Hi, I'm Gemma Bath, host of True Crime Conversations, and I'm dropping into your ears with an update on the case we covered just a week ago, the 2025 murders of Victorian police officers Vadim Devyat Hottar and Neil Thompson at the hands of Desmond Filbe, who sent police on a seven-month manhunt. Filbe was shot dead in a standoff in March 2026 after he was found hiding out on a remote property in a shipping container about 100 kilometers from his place of residence in Porepunkah. It was there, at his home, that he shot and killed the officers, injuring a third, while they were trying to conduct a search warrant based on allegations of child abuse against Filbe. Now, the court proceedings in this case are getting underway. On May 25th, in the Victorian Coroner's Court, family, colleagues, and media gathered for the opening of two inquests. 7 News' Rochelle Brown was there. We asked her to walk us through what we learnt. Rochelle, thank you for joining us. Firstly, can you tell us procedurally what happened in the Melbourne Coroner's Court? Because they actually opened two inquests, which is quite unusual, really, in a crime, isn't it?
Rochelle Brown· Guest1:15
Mm, thank you for having me, Gemma. It, it is very unusual, but I mean, we've got this highly unusual situation where we've had these two parallel awful incidents. You know, we've had, um, the, the, the shootout involving the two police