‘He may have run into the bushes, realised the gravity of what had occurred and decided to end his life.’

Police investigating the deaths of two officers have revealed they believe accused cop killer Dezi Freeman could be dead, with detectives saying there is no current evidence he is still alive.

The development comes as investigators focus on reports of a single gunshot heard by locals about 90 minutes to two hours after Freeman’s alleged deadly attack on police in August.’’

Criminal Psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told Sunrise on Tuesday he was not surprised that detectives believe Freeman to be deceased.

“There’s been no sighting of Freeman. I think it’s quite plausible, against the backdrop of the gunshot being heard, that he may have run into the bushes, realised the gravity of what had occurred and decided to end his life,” he said.

However, Watson-Monroe cautioned that other possibilities couldn’t be completely ruled out.

“That said, you couldn’t totally rule out the fact that he’s still alive and has left the jurisdiction, or he’s still being protected by people. But I think on the balance of probabilities, it’s more likely that he is deceased”.

Watson-Munro said he is uncertain if the gunshot being investigated at present was only recently reported, but said he’d be “disappointed” if the Police had been sitting on this information.

“I would have thought that if they were across this information, the public would have been informed by now,” he said, acknowledging the great work Victorian Police do.

Criminal Psychologist Tim Watson-Munro says its ‘plausible’ Dezi Freeman is deceased.Criminal Psychologist Tim Watson-Munro says its ‘plausible’ Dezi Freeman is deceased. Credit: Sunrise

He suggested several reasons why the information may have only recently come to light, including the possibility that locals may have been reluctant to assist with the investigation.

“Australians would like to know what’s happened to this man, dead or alive,” he said.

Police are not ruling anything out as the investigation continues. Cadaver dogs continue to search the area as part of a five-day operation that will comb a 1.3 km² area in the dense bushland of Mount Buffalo National Park in Porepunkah.

Police now have over 2000 pieces of information linked to the alleged attack, which left two police officers dead and another wounded.