American Man Linked to Aussie Gunmen Strikes Plea Bargain with Prosecutors
An American citizen linked with the perpetrators behind the deadly Wieambilla attack that took six lives – among them two officers from Queensland – has accepted a watered-down plea agreement.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will face court on 21 October after striking the plea deal with US prosecutors.
The individual with prior convictions, known online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is expected to plead guilty to a sole offense of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition 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 the Train couple through digital communications.
This couple, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, killed Queensland police officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel 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 rural site.
American officials said Day corresponded via online platforms with the Trains during the period of the fatal attack.
He described Queensland police as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and declared they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, telling the Trains he desired to be at the scene in person.
Legal filings detailed how the couple had uploaded an end-times recording on the video platform after the incident, stating authorities “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 Court Case
Legal records show the defendant accumulated a collection 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’,” he said in the agreement filed in the legal system.
Day said he frequently used both the gun room and the firearms, and also trained individuals on how to use the guns correctly.
The bargain will result in charges dropped that relate to the alleged making of threats to officials and FBI agents.
Based on legal files, Day had been banned from possessing weapons and firearms 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 penalty of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal specifies he will be judged under the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
