US Individual Linked to Aussie Gunmen Secures Plea Deal with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen associated with the culprits behind the fatal Wieambilla, Australia attack that claimed six lives – including two Queensland police officers – has accepted a less severe plea agreement.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr. will face court on October 21 after striking the plea deal with US prosecutors.
The convicted felon, known online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is expected to admit guilt to a single charge of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition in a arrangement to be sanctioned by the judiciary in the current month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Investigators established clear connections between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through digital communications.
This couple, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, murdered Queensland police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
The Trains were killed in a final shootout with law enforcement, following a extended standoff at the regional property.
American officials said Day corresponded via social media with the perpetrators during the period of the fatal attack.
He described Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing them he wanted to be at the scene in person.
Legal filings detailed how Gareth and Stacey Train had uploaded an end-times video on YouTube after the shootings, stating authorities “came to kill us and we killed them”.
“If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward … We will meet you at home, Don. With love,” they expressed.
Firearms Cache and Legal Proceedings
Legal records show the defendant stockpiled a cache of nine high-powered firearms and numerous bullets of ammo at a rural property in Heber, AZ, that was outfitted with a gun range, weapons room and sniper hide.
“The firearms and ammunition were kept in the mobile home I shared with S.S., in a room we called the ‘gun room’,” he said in the plea deal submitted in the legal system.
Day stated he frequently used both the gun room and the weapons, and also instructed others on how to use the guns properly.
The bargain will lead to charges dropped that relate to the accused making of threats to public figures and FBI agents.
Based on court documents, Day had been banned from owning weapons and firearms because of his violent criminal history.
Day, who has completed 24 months in custody, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a fine of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be judged under the minimum range of the legal sentencing standards.
