US Individual Linked to Aussie Shooters Strikes Plea Bargain with Prosecutors
A US man linked with the perpetrators behind the fatal Wieambilla, Australia shooting that took the lives of six individuals – among them two officers from Queensland – has accepted a watered-down plea deal.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will appear in court on October 21 after finalizing the plea deal with US prosecutors.
The individual with prior convictions, known online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is anticipated to plead guilty to a single charge of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition in a arrangement to be sanctioned by the court this month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Investigators confirmed clear connections between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through online posts.
The Trains, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, murdered Queensland police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbor Alan Dare at a isolated location in Wieambilla in 2022.
They were killed in a final shootout with police, following a extended standoff at the rural site.
American officials stated Day corresponded via social media with the Trains during the period of the fatal attack.
Day described Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, informing the Trains he wanted to be at Wieambilla in person.
Court documents detailed how the couple had uploaded an apocalyptic recording on YouTube 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,” they said.
Weapons Stockpile and Legal Proceedings
Court documents show Day accumulated a cache of nine high-powered firearms and numerous bullets of ammo at a rural property in Heber, Arizona, 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 agreement filed in the legal system.
He said he regularly accessed both the weapons storage and the firearms, and also instructed others on how to use the guns correctly.
The plea deal will result in dismissed counts that relate to the alleged making of threats to public figures and FBI agents.
Based on court documents, the individual had been banned from owning guns and arms because of his history of violent crimes.
Day, who has completed two years in custody, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a penalty of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the legal sentencing standards.
