US Individual Linked to Australian Gunmen Secures Plea Deal with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen associated with the culprits behind the fatal Wieambilla attack that took six lives – among them two Queensland police officers – has accepted a less severe plea agreement.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr. will appear in court on October 21 after finalizing the plea deal with US prosecutors.
The convicted felon, referred to online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is expected to admit guilt to a sole offense of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition in a deal to be approved by the court in the current month.
Connections to Australian Shooters
Investigators established direct links between the defendant and Gareth and Stacey Train through online posts.
The Trains, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, killed officers from Queensland Arnold and McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla in 2022.
The Trains were fatally shot in a final shootout with law enforcement, following a extended standoff at the rural site.
US prosecutors said Day corresponded via social media with the perpetrators during the period of the fatal attack.
He described Queensland officers as “evil, corrupt, and wicked”, and said they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing the Trains he wanted to be at Wieambilla in person.
Legal filings detailed how the couple had uploaded an end-times video on the video platform after the incident, stating police “came to kill us and we killed them”.
“Failing to stand against these evil forces makes one a coward … We will meet you at home, Don. With love,” the Trains said.
Firearms Cache and Court Case
Court documents reveal Day accumulated a cache of nine high-powered firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a rural property in Heber, Arizona, that was equipped with a gun range, gun room and sniper’s nest.
“The guns and ammo were stored in the trailer I occupied with S.S., within a space we named the 'gun room',” Day admitted in the agreement filed in the legal system.
He stated he regularly accessed both the weapons storage and the weapons, and also instructed individuals on how to use the firearms correctly.
The plea deal will lead to charges dropped that pertain to the accused making of threats to officials and federal agents.
According to court documents, the individual had been banned from possessing guns and arms because of his violent criminal history.
The defendant, who has completed 24 months in detention, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a penalty of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal stipulates he will be judged under the low end of the legal sentencing standards.
