US Man Connected to Australian Gunmen Secures Plea Deal with Prosecutors
A US man linked with the culprits behind the deadly Wieambilla attack that claimed the lives of six individuals – including two Queensland police officers – has accepted a watered-down plea deal.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr. will appear in court on October 21 after finalizing the bargain with US prosecutors.
The convicted felon, referred to online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is expected to plead guilty to a single offense of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition in a arrangement to be sanctioned by the judiciary in the current month.
Connections to Australian Shooters
Authorities established direct links between the defendant 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 neighbour Alan Dare at a isolated location in Wieambilla in 2022.
The Trains were killed in a final shootout with police, following a protracted siege at the regional property.
American officials said Day communicated via social media with the perpetrators during the period of the deadly ambush.
He referred to Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and declared they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, telling the Trains he wanted to be at the scene physically.
Court documents detailed how Gareth and Stacey Train had posted an apocalyptic video on the video platform after the incident, stating authorities “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 expressed.
Weapons Stockpile and Legal Proceedings
Court documents reveal Day accumulated a collection of multiple powerful guns and numerous bullets of ammunition at a country estate in Heber, Arizona, that was equipped with a shooting 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 said in the plea deal submitted in the legal system.
Day stated he regularly accessed both the gun room and the firearms, and also trained individuals on how to use the firearms properly.
The plea deal will lead to dismissed counts that relate to the alleged making of threats to officials and federal agents.
Based on legal files, the individual had been prohibited from possessing guns and arms because of his violent criminal history.
Day, who has served two years in detention, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in jail or a fine of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the legal sentencing standards.