American Individual Linked to Aussie Shooters Strikes Plea Deal with Prosecutors
An American citizen associated with the culprits behind the fatal Wieambilla shooting that took the lives of six individuals – among them two Queensland police officers – has accepted a watered-down plea agreement.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr will appear in court on October 21 after striking the plea deal with American authorities.
The individual with prior convictions, known 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 approved by the court this month.
Connections to Australian Shooters
Authorities established direct links between the defendant and the Train couple through online posts.
This couple, along with Nathaniel Train, murdered officers from Queensland Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour 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 regional property.
US prosecutors stated Day corresponded via online platforms with the perpetrators around the time of the deadly ambush.
Day described Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, informing them he desired to be at Wieambilla in person.
Court documents outlined how Gareth and Stacey Train had posted an end-times recording on the video platform after the incident, stating police “came to kill us and we killed them”.
“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
Court documents reveal Day accumulated a cache of nine high-powered firearms and numerous bullets of ammunition at a rural property in Heber, Arizona, that was equipped with a gun 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’,” he said in the plea deal filed in court.
He said he regularly accessed both the weapons storage and the weapons, and also trained individuals on how to operate the firearms properly.
The plea deal will lead to charges dropped that relate to the accused making of threats to public figures and federal agents.
Based on court documents, Day had been prohibited from owning weapons and firearms because of his violent criminal history.
The defendant, who has served 24 months in detention, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in jail or a penalty of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
