Leif Hughes, YouTuber who went to Dezi Freeman’s hideout charged with trespassing
A YouTuber who broke into Dezi Freeman’s final hideout in north-east Victoria and shared footage of the cop killer’s makeshift camp with tens of thousands of followers online has been charged by police.
Leif Hughes using online handle Chaos Chronicles, Over the weekend, he shared a short video in which he told his 51,000 subscribers that Victoria Police were looking for him in connection with images he posted online weeks after Freeman was shot dead on March 30.
“I had to turn myself in to the police and I was just charged, which officially ties me to the Dezi Freeman case,” Hughes said in the video.
“Now, before people get stressed, there’s probably going to be a maximum sentence for this. If they wanted to charge me more, they could have done that, but they didn’t.”
Hughes, who describes himself as a former cyclist and claims to have spent “more time in prison than anything else”, shared footage in April showing the inside of a shipping container at the remote property in Thologolong where Freeman spent his final days.
In the video, Hughes said he went to the remote property to fly the drone over Freeman’s camp. But after the drone crashed, he said, he and a cameraman entered private property to retrieve it.
Once there, they decided to break into the shipping container before exploring the rest of the property.
The images show an eclectic mix of objects scattered around the camp, from folded newspapers to a battery setup connected to a generator and outdoor solar panel.
Two vitamin bottles, one containing odorless wild fish oil and the other containing magnesium, appear on a dusty wooden table. Next to them are a box of tissues, an empty container with sliced peaches, a bottle of methylated spirits, a small notepad, a pen, and salt and pepper shakers.
Freeman, 56, a self-described sovereign citizen, fled after fatally shooting Victoria Police officers Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart in Porepunkah in August last year.
Officers had gone to the property with a group of 10 people to serve a search warrant regarding historic child sexual abuse allegations against Freeman when he opened fire.
A. man known for his ability to survive in the wildernessFreeman then fled into the bush, sparking one of the largest manhunts in state history.
He was a wanted fugitive for more than 200 days. Many believed him dead until he was pulled out of hiding 150 kilometers from Porepunkah seven months later.
After hours of unsuccessful police interviews, Freeman emerged from Thologolong’s hiding place He was wrapped in a blanket before opening fire with a gun he stole from one of the slain officers. Police responded and killed him on the spot.
The footage shared by Hughes has been viewed more than 120,000 times online and was condemned by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
On Sunday, Victoria Police confirmed Wodonga Criminal Investigation Unit detectives had charged a 43-year-old man from Yea in connection with the incident.
“The Yea man was charged on summons with one count of trespassing,” a spokesman said.
He will appear at Wodonga Magistrates Court in October.
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Marta Pascual Juanola is an investigative journalist at The Age. Before that, he was a crime and justice reporter. You can reach him securely via Signal at m.pascualjuanola@proton.me or +61 468 688 436.Connect with: X or email.
