The sweet fragrance of fresh flowers rushes forth from the Wangaratta police station when the automatic glass doors open.

Inside, the lobby is laden with cards and hundreds of bouquets paying tribute to slain officers Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart.

Photos and flowers at Wangaratta police station in tribute to Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson (left and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart. Credit: Joe Armao

Framed portraits on a table show Thompson hunched over a dog, with a backdrop of hilly countryside, and De Waart’s pearly smile gleaming at the camera.

About an hour away in the High Country town of Porepunkah, heavily armed police returned to the home of so-called sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman, who is alleged to

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