In Thologolong, a small mark on the map in the Victorian high country, the sky is clear, the Murray River is up and Australia’s longest manhunt has come to an end.
Standing among the dried leaves and eucalyptus bark, the Victorian police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, is addressing reporters. Fugitive Dezi Freeman died here on Monday morning, Bush says, after a three-hour standoff in which “multiple” shots were fired – although investigators are yet to determine whether any of them were shot by Freeman.
