American Man Connected to Aussie Shooters Strikes Plea Deal with Prosecutors
An American citizen linked with the perpetrators behind the deadly Wieambilla, Australia shooting that claimed the lives of six individuals – among them two officers from Queensland – has accepted a watered-down plea deal.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr. will appear in court on 21 October after finalizing the plea deal with American authorities.
The individual with prior convictions, known online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is anticipated to admit guilt to a sole offense of illegally owning guns and bullets in a deal to be sanctioned by the judiciary in the current month.
Links to Aussie Gunmen
Investigators confirmed direct links between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through digital communications.
The Trains, along with Nathaniel Train, killed 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 gun battle with law enforcement, following a extended standoff at the rural site.
US prosecutors said Day corresponded via social media with the Trains around the time of the fatal attack.
Day referred to Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, telling them he desired to be at the scene in person.
Court documents detailed how the couple had posted an end-times video on YouTube after the shootings, saying authorities “attempted to kill us, and we retaliated”.
“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 show the defendant accumulated a collection of nine high-powered firearms and numerous bullets of ammunition at a rural property in Heber, AZ, that was equipped with a shooting 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 said in the agreement filed in the legal system.
Day said he regularly accessed both the gun room and the firearms, and also trained others on how to operate the firearms correctly.
The bargain will result in charges dropped that pertain to the alleged making of threats to public figures and FBI agents.
Based on 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 detention, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a fine of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal specifies he will be judged under the low end of the legal sentencing standards.
