US Individual Linked to Australian Shooters Strikes Plea Deal with Prosecutors
An American citizen associated with the culprits behind the fatal Wieambilla attack that claimed six lives – among them two Queensland police officers – has accepted a less severe plea deal.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr. will appear in court on October 21 after striking the plea deal with US prosecutors.
The convicted felon, referred to online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is expected to plead guilty to a sole offense of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition in a deal to be sanctioned by the judiciary in the current month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Investigators confirmed clear connections between the defendant and the Train couple through online posts.
The Trains, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, murdered officers from Queensland Arnold and McCrow, and neighbor Alan Dare at a isolated location in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
They were killed in a gun battle with police, following a extended standoff at the rural site.
US prosecutors stated the accused corresponded via social media with the perpetrators during the period of the fatal attack.
He described Queensland police as “evil, corrupt, and wicked”, and declared they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, telling them he desired to be at Wieambilla in person.
Legal filings outlined how the couple had posted an end-times video on the video platform after the shootings, saying authorities “attempted to kill us, and we retaliated”.
“If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward … We will meet you at home, Don. With love,” the Trains expressed.
Weapons Stockpile and Legal Proceedings
Legal records reveal Day accumulated a cache of multiple powerful guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a rural property in Heber, Arizona, that was outfitted with a shooting range, weapons room and sniper hide.
“The guns and ammo were stored in the trailer I occupied with S.S., within a space we named the 'gun room',” he admitted in the plea deal submitted in court.
He said he regularly accessed both the gun room and the firearms, and also trained others on how to use the firearms correctly.
The plea deal will lead to charges dropped that relate to the alleged making of threats to public figures and FBI agents.
According to legal files, Day had been prohibited from owning weapons and firearms because of his violent criminal history.
The defendant, who has completed 24 months in custody, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years in prison or a penalty of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the legal sentencing standards.
