By Adrian Black, Allanah Sciberras and Duncan Murray in Thologolong

The odds were stacked against police taking fugitive Dezi Freeman alive after finding his bush hideout.

The 56-year-old was shot dead by police on a remote property in Thologolong, near Walwa on the Victorian-NSW border, on Monday following a seven-month manhunt.

While formal identification is yet to be made, police are confident the man is Freeman.Police officers and vehicles continued to surround the property on Tuesday, 24 hours after Freeman was killed in a hail of bullets after refusing to surrender.

An alpine chill lingered and a thick blanket of fog settled across the mountainous landscape where Freeman had been hiding inside a shipping container.

Most movement in the small Murray River community was confined to a media scrum of journalists, cameras and tripods.

“Hey, city slickers,” one local yelled as he drove past the property.

Former hostage negotiator Vincent Hurley said Freeman, a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, was never going to surrender of his own free will.

“I really didn’t think that it was going to end peacefully, even when it first happened, because he’s so wedded to his political ideology,” Dr Hurley told AAP.

“When you try to negotiate with someone who does have a political ideology and they hate the state, you can’t give them anything tangible to satisfy them.”

Freeman was wanted over the fatal shootings of Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who were among a team of officers serving a warrant at his home in the small town of Porepunkah in late August.

The Porepunkah property is about 150km from where Freeman was shot dead.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said on Monday officers moved into position more than 24 hours earlier, but wouldn’t confirm if they were tipped-off.

Freeman was wrapped in a blanket when he emerged from the shipping container, which appeared to be a makeshift campsite.

Footage of Freeman’s final moments showed him pulling the gun from underneath the blanket and pointing it at police, Mr Bush said.

The police firearm was taken from one of the murdered officers.

It is not known whether Freeman fired the gun before multiple officers discharged their weapons.

Dr Hurley said police would likely have had Freeman under surveillance for at least several days before initiating negotiations.

“They would not have rushed in straight away, absolutely not,” he said.

“They would have had him under surveillance because they wanted to work out a) if he’s armed, b) his literal physical condition, should he decide to get into a physical fight or try to outlast the police.

“They would also want to know who else was there and try to get some idea of how long he could survive barricading himself in.”

Aerial images of Freeman’s rural hideout showed a heavily armed police “BearCat” with a large pole appearing to breach the container.

Former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina agrees police would have had Freeman under surveillance before initiating negotiations and also doesn’t believe a peaceful resolution was likely.

“There comes a time when a decision’s got to be made,” he said.

“We saw the pictures of the BearCat with the long pole, it’s been piercing the side of the container, no doubt to allow some possibly gas of sorts into that which drew him out.”

Police are investigating how the fugitive evaded capture for 216 days and are exploring the possibility he received help.

Mr Bush said Freeman had grown a beard and long hair since fleeing into dense bushland after the Porepunkah killings.

State Coroner Liberty Sanger visited the scene on Monday to formally confirm the man’s identity.

The commissioner said he expected the process to take 24 to 48 hours.