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Australian authorities have confirmed the death of Dezi Freeman, the man accused of fatally shooting two police officers in Victoria last year, ending a months-long search.

Freeman, a self-described conspiracy theorist, allegedly killed the officers at his rural property in Porepunkah, a small town in Victoria’s alpine region, in August before disappearing into the surrounding bushland. He evaded extensive searches over seven months.

Victoria Police reported that a man was shot following a prolonged standoff at a rural property in the state’s north-east on Monday morning. Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the individual is believed to be Freeman, 56, though formal identification is pending.

"Today an evil man is dead," said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. "It's over."

Police said officers surrounded a structure described as part shipping container, part long caravan, on the property around 5:30 a.m. After a three-hour negotiation with repeated police appeals, the man believed to be Freeman emerged and was shot dead.

Bush told reporters that details remain under review. He said Freeman appeared armed and wrapped in a blanket, possibly carrying a firearm taken from one of the officers he killed in August.

"Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person," Bush said. "There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully but he did not."

No officers were injured in the operation, which will undergo a standard review, police said.

Freeman, whose legal name was Desmond Filby, had gained notoriety for his anti-government views and sovereign citizen beliefs, rejecting state authority and laws.

The officers killed in August were Senior Constables Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart. They were conducting a search of Freeman’s property in connection with an investigation into sexual offences when the attack occurred.

Bush said the families of the slain officers were notified first. "Should [his identity] be confirmed… this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event."

Residents in Porepunkah said Freeman lived on the property with his wife and two children. Following the killings, police closed off the area, offered a A$1 million (£525,000, $709,000) reward, and scoured the rugged terrain—including caves and old mine shafts—where Freeman, skilled in bush survival, had been hiding.

Police renewed the search last month with cadaver dogs, expressing a “strong” belief that Freeman was dead. Bush said Monday that evidence suggested Freeman may have taken his own life but officers had remained open to other possibilities. He declined to disclose how police located him.