Criminologist Vincent Hurley said Freeman could remain at large for a number of days, as he has the advantage of hiding in an area he knows well.

Hurley said the thing that would weigh on him physically is not being able to rest.

“It’s his backyard, the thing that’s going against him will be the weather and whether he’s got anything out there, like ammunition stashed away, food or extra clothing,” Hurley said.

“The weather conditions will wear him down physically as well as psychologically, he’ll be out there there having no rest, he’ll always be on edge, thinking that the police are watching him and will find him.”

“The police got the advantage at this point in time.”

Porepunkah is currently under a severe weather warning for damaging winds, and the region is also forecast to receive plenty of rain amid freezing overnight lows in the coming days.

More than 450 police officers from across the country are involved in the search for Freeman, five days after he allegedly ambushed and killed two Victoria Police officers.

His 15-year-old son and wife are in police custody, with Hurley saying police would be speaking to them to try and figure out Freeman’s mindset.

“They would be trying to gather information from those two about the firearm capacity that he might have, his state of mind, what actually triggered this event,” Hurley said.

“They will be trying to work out all those logistical things behind the scenes, and that information will be passed on to the negotiators to get an understanding.

“He’s a sovereign citizen, he’s a right-wing extremist…that group of individuals are very much anti-police, so they’ll be trying to work out his frame of mind.

“It appeared to be a spur-of-the-moment thing.” 

Freeman allegedly fatally shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Constable Vadim De Waart on Tuesday morning at a home in Porepunkah.

A third officer was allegedly shot and wounded in the leg and is recovering in hospital.

Freeman is a self-described “sovereign citizen” who is known to police.

Hurley said police appealing to Freeman in a public press conference “gives him an out” if he wants to turn himself in.

“He will know that there are options available to him; he is not being boxed in, which will play on his mind,” he said.

“He will have to have options in his mind about what lies ahead in the future… my gut feeling is that he won’t come out of his own free will because he’s allegedly murdered two people, nearly a third.”

“I don’t think it’s going to end well.”

Hundreds of officers are still searching for Freeman today.