The parents of Tom Phillips, who vanished with his three children into the New Zealand wilderness in 2021, have made a public apology - their first comments since their fugitive son was shot dead by police a month ago.
We would like to send our sincere apology... for all the trouble, inconvenience, loss of privacy and property caused by Tom, Neville and Julia Phillips wrote in a letter published on Thursday.
We are truly sorry for all that you had to endure.
Mr. Phillips, who disappeared with his children in part due to a custody dispute, evaded capture for nearly four years, despite a nationwide search and multiple sightings.
We in no way supported him or agreed with any of his actions in the past four years, Neville and Julia Phillips said in the letter published in King Country News, a small community newspaper.
Their son was killed in a shoot-out on September 8, which left a police officer seriously injured. The officer has since been discharged from the hospital, local media reported.
One of Mr. Phillips' children was with him during the shoot-out and provided information to help locate his two other children later that day.
Before Mr. Phillips and his children vanished, they had been living in Marokopa, a small rural town in the Waikato region surrounded by dense bush and forested terrain. Known as an experienced hunter and bushman, Mr. Phillips was familiar with the area he disappeared into.
The vast area in which Phillips kept the children is difficult, steep terrain almost completely obscured from all angles by dense bush, said Det Sup Ross McKay weeks after the deadly shoot-out.
During their time in the wilderness, Mr. Phillips and one or more of his children were seen on multiple occasions, including on CCTV while breaking into stores for supplies.
It was a store in the small town of Piopio that Mr. Phillips was suspected of attempting to break into when police were called, leading to a chase and the shoot-out. The main goal of the police operation had been locating and returning the children safely, Det Sup McKay stated, mentioning that they were aware Mr. Phillips had firearms and was motivated to use them.
As investigations are still ongoing, police have withheld further details.
Previously, Mr. Phillips' family had made public appeals for him to return. In a heartfelt television interview, his sister Rozzi said, we're ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through. His mother, Julia, had also written him a letter expressing her daily hope that today will be the day that you all come home.
