An Australian businessman believes he locked eyes with fugitive Dezi Freeman in South Africa, just one week after he gunned down two police officers in Victoria’s High Country and went on the run.
Stuart, who has ties to the AFL industry and requested only his first name be used, told former A Current Affair reporter Seb Costello he was positive he saw Freeman at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a tourist district of Cape Town, on September 2.
Freeman ran into the bush and vanished after he allegedly shot dead officers Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson at his Porepunkah property on August 26.
‘I am 99 per cent certain that it was Dezi,’ Stuart said of his encounter in South Africa, The Herald Sun reported.
Stuart was able to produce correspondence with a representative from Summit Taskforce – the group of officers tasked with hunting down Freeman – who had asked the businessman to ‘pinpoint the exact location’.
Victoria Police confirmed they had followed up the lead, but that it did not result in anything concrete.
‘Taskforce Summit investigates every piece of information provided to police. Every lead is pursued. This avenue of enquiry has been investigated, is no longer viable and has been discounted,’ a spokesperson said.
But Stuart said he has since ‘challenged the police to explain how they have discounted his information’ and questioned whether CCTV from the area on that day was looked at by investigators.
Fugitive cop killer Dezi Freeman remains on the run after he shot two police officers in Victoria
A Melbourne businessman has claimed he saw Freeman at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (pictured), a popular tourist district of Cape Town, on September 2
Hundreds of Victoria Police officers and specialist cops from across Australia and New Zealand have been searching for Freeman since August 26 (pictured is the search in Victoria)
The businessman claimed he saw a man he believed was Freeman near the corner Dock Rd and S. Arm Rd, near the Hotel Sky, in the Cape Town tourist district just after lunch on September 2.
He said their eyes locked as Freeman was about seven metres away, before his gaze broke away and he ran into the crowd, which Stuart believes is because he realised he had been recognised.
‘I’m happy to be proven wrong but I’m not sure they’ve done their homework,’ Stuart said of the police investigation.
‘Have they gone over there and checked the CCTV in Cape Town? I’m still convinced it was Dezi. I just want justice like everyone does.’
After arriving back in Melbourne, he contacted Crime Stoppers on September 4 and received a call from police later that night.
He texted police that he was ‘fully aware’ making a false statement to them could constitute a crime.
Last Wednesday he then followed up when he personally wrote a letter about the sighting to Chief Commissioner Mike Bush.
Freeman has a wife and children who have been left to fend for themselves following his disappearance
The fugitive would have had to fly out of the country to make it to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in South Africa (pictured) by September 2 as boat would have taken too long
Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson was shot dead by Freeman
Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart wasalso gunned down by Freeman
Stuart said the more images of Freeman he sees on the news, the more certain he is that he saw him on that day.
Following his letter, a Summit Taskforce investigator contacted him and requested he ‘provide the exact location of the alleged sighting, providing satellite images’.
Those details were provided last Thursday night, the publication reported, with the officer thanking Stuart the following day, November 21.
‘I’m pretty well known around Melbourne for my ability to recognise faces. I know what I saw,’ Stuart said.
Stuart said he was walking through the Cape Town Waterfront when he noticed a group of half a dozen males that didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the crowd.
The person he believes he recognised as Freeman was in the centre of the group and the other males were around him ‘like bodyguards’.
He said the man’s eyes struck him the most as matching those of the fugitive and they stared at each other for ‘two seconds’ before the man ‘ran off’.
There is a $1million bounty to capture Freeman, but Stuart said this was announced the day after he had first alerted police and he was not aware of it when he reached out to Crime Stoppers.
Heavily-armed police and combat dogs tracked Freeman following his disappearance
Freeman’s actions sparked a massive police hunt that saw officers scour bushland in and around his off-the-grid wilderness retreat, located in the shadow of Mount Buffalo.
Hundreds of Victoria Police officers and specialist cops from across Australia and New Zealand have been searching for Freeman in Porepunkah and the surrounding areas since August 26.
This has included extensive searches of Mount Buffalo National Park by heavily armed specialist cops, supported by combat dogs and the police Air Wing.
The bounty remains in place as police turn over every stone while they hunt Freeman.
Anyone with any information on Freeman’s location, or anything the community notices at the Mount Buffalo National Park should be reported to Crime Stoppers.
