US Individual Linked to Aussie Gunmen Secures Plea Bargain with Prosecutors
A US man linked with the perpetrators behind the fatal Wieambilla, Australia shooting that claimed six lives – among them two Queensland police officers – has agreed to a watered-down plea deal.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr. will appear in court on October 21 after striking the bargain with American authorities.
The individual with prior convictions, referred to online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is anticipated to plead guilty to a sole offense of unlawfully possessing guns and bullets in a deal to be approved by the judiciary this month.
Connections to Aussie Gunmen
Investigators confirmed direct links between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through digital communications.
This couple, along with Nathaniel Train, murdered Queensland police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
They were killed in a final shootout with police, following a extended standoff at the regional property.
US prosecutors stated the accused corresponded via online platforms with the Trains around the time of the deadly ambush.
Day referred to Queensland officers as “evil, corrupt, and wicked”, and declared they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, informing the Trains he desired to be at the scene in person.
Legal filings detailed how the couple had posted an end-times video on YouTube after the shootings, saying authorities “attempted to kill us, and we retaliated”.
“Failing to stand against these evil forces makes one a coward … we’ll see you at home, Don. Love you,” they expressed.
Firearms Cache and Legal Proceedings
Court documents show the defendant accumulated a collection of nine high-powered firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammo at a country estate in Heber, AZ, that was equipped with a gun range, gun room and sniper’s nest.
“The firearms and ammunition were kept in the mobile home I shared with S.S., in a room we called the ‘gun room’,” Day admitted in the plea deal submitted in court.
He said he regularly accessed both the weapons storage and the firearms, and also trained others on how to use the guns properly.
The bargain will result in dismissed counts that pertain to the accused making of threats to public figures and FBI agents.
According to legal files, Day had been banned from possessing weapons and firearms because of his violent criminal history.
Day, who has served 24 months in custody, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in jail or a fine of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
