US Individual Linked to Aussie Shooters Secures Plea Bargain with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen linked with the perpetrators behind the deadly Wieambilla attack that took six lives – among them two Queensland police officers – has accepted a watered-down plea deal.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will appear in court on October 21 after striking the plea deal with American authorities.
The individual with prior convictions, referred to online as “Geronimo’s Bones”, is anticipated to plead guilty to a sole charge of illegally owning guns and bullets in a arrangement to be approved by the court in the current month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Authorities established clear connections between the defendant and Gareth and Stacey Train through online posts.
The Trains, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, killed officers from Queensland Arnold and McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
The Trains were killed in a gun battle with law enforcement, following a protracted siege at the regional property.
US prosecutors said 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 declared they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing them he desired to be at the scene in person.
Court documents detailed how Gareth and Stacey Train had posted an end-times video on the video platform 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 said.
Weapons Stockpile and Legal Proceedings
Legal records show the defendant accumulated a cache of multiple powerful guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a rural property in Heber, AZ, that was equipped with a shooting range, weapons 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',” he admitted in the plea deal submitted in court.
Day said he regularly accessed both the gun room and the weapons, and also instructed individuals on how to use the firearms correctly.
The bargain will result in charges dropped that pertain to the alleged issuing threats to public figures and federal agents.
According to legal files, the individual had been prohibited from owning guns and arms because of his violent criminal history.
The defendant, who has completed two years in custody, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in jail or a fine of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal stipulates he will be judged under the minimum range of the legal sentencing standards.
