US Man Connected to Australian Gunmen Secures Plea Bargain with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen associated with the perpetrators behind the fatal Wieambilla shooting that took six lives – including two officers from Queensland – has accepted a less severe plea deal.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will appear in court on 21 October after striking the bargain with US prosecutors.
The individual with prior convictions, referred to online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is anticipated to admit guilt to a single offense of illegally owning guns and bullets in a deal to be sanctioned by the judiciary this month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Investigators confirmed direct links between the defendant and the Train couple through digital communications.
The Trains, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, killed Queensland police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a isolated location in Wieambilla in 2022.
The Trains were killed in a final shootout with law enforcement, following a protracted siege at the rural site.
US prosecutors said the accused communicated via online platforms with the perpetrators during the period of the fatal attack.
He described Queensland police as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and declared they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing them he desired to be at the scene physically.
Legal filings detailed how Gareth and Stacey Train had uploaded an end-times video on YouTube after the shootings, saying 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’ll see you at home, Don. Love you,” they expressed.
Firearms Cache and Court Case
Legal records show the defendant accumulated a cache of multiple powerful guns and numerous bullets of ammo at a country estate in Heber, AZ, that was outfitted with a shooting 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’,” Day said in the agreement filed in court.
He stated he regularly accessed both the gun room and the weapons, and also instructed individuals on how to use the firearms correctly.
The bargain will result in charges dropped that pertain to the alleged issuing threats to public figures and FBI agents.
Based on legal files, Day had been prohibited from possessing guns and arms because of his history of violent crimes.
Day, who has served two years in custody, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a fine of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the sentencing guidelines.