The parents of Tom Phillips, who disappeared into the New Zealand wilderness with his three children in 2021, have issued their first public apology since the fugitive was shot dead by police a month ago.
“We would like to sincerely apologize for all the trouble, inconvenience, loss of privacy and property caused by Tom,” Neville and Julia Phillips wrote in a letter published Thursday in the King Country News, a small community newspaper.
“We have not supported him or agreed with any of his actions over the past four years. We sincerely apologize for everything you have had to endure.”
Mr Phillips, who went missing with his children following a custody dispute, eluded capture for nearly four years despite a nationwide search and multiple sightings.
He was killed in a shootout on September 8, and a police officer was also seriously injured.
Local media reported that the police officer was later discharged from the hospital.
One of his children was with him during the shootout and provided information that helped locate Mr. Phillips’ other two children later that day.
Before he disappeared, Mr Phillips and his children were living in Marokopa, a small rural town in the Waikato region surrounded by dense bush and forest.
Mr. Phillips was known as an experienced hunter and bushman who knew the area he disappeared into.
Det Sup Ross McKay said weeks after the fatal shootout: “The vast area where Mr Phillips raised his children was rugged and steep terrain almost completely obscured from all angles by dense bush.”
Mr Phillips and one or more of his children were seen on CCTV on several occasions breaking into shops to buy supplies while living in the wilderness.
When police arrived, it was a store in the small town of Piopio that Mr Phillips allegedly attempted to break into, leading to a chase and shootout.
Police’s main objective during the operation was “to find and return the children safely”, Det Sup McKay said. He added: “Phillips knew he had a firearm and had a motive to use it.”
Police said they could not reveal further details as the investigation was ongoing.
Mr Phillips’ family had previously publicly appealed for him to return.
In a direct message to him during a television interview, his sister Rozzi said, “We are ready to help you get through what you are going through.”
Mr Phillips’ mother Julia also wrote in a letter to New Zealand outlet Stuff that she hoped every day “that today is the day you all come home”.
