US Man Connected to Australian Gunmen Strikes Plea Bargain with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen linked with the culprits behind the deadly Wieambilla shooting that took the lives of six individuals – among them two Queensland police officers – has agreed to a watered-down plea agreement.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr will face court on 21 October after striking the bargain 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 unlawfully possessing guns and bullets in a arrangement to be approved by the judiciary in the current month.
Links to Aussie Gunmen
Investigators established direct links between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through digital communications.
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 in 2022.
They were killed in a final shootout with law enforcement, following a protracted siege at the regional property.
US prosecutors said the accused communicated via online platforms with the perpetrators around the time of the fatal attack.
Day referred to Queensland police as “evil, corrupt, and wicked”, and said they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, telling them he desired to be at Wieambilla in person.
Court documents detailed how Gareth and Stacey Train had uploaded an end-times video on YouTube after the incident, stating police “attempted to kill us, and we retaliated”.
“Failing to stand against these evil forces makes one a coward … we’ll see you at home, Don. Love you,” the Trains said.
Weapons Stockpile and Court Case
Court documents reveal the defendant accumulated a cache of multiple powerful guns and numerous bullets of ammo at a country estate in Heber, Arizona, that was equipped with a gun range, gun 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 admitted in the plea deal filed in the legal system.
He said he frequently used both the gun room and the weapons, and also instructed others on how to use the guns correctly.
The plea deal will lead to dismissed counts that pertain to the alleged issuing threats to officials and FBI agents.
Based on legal files, the individual had been prohibited from possessing weapons and firearms because of his history of violent crimes.
Day, who has served two years in custody, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a penalty of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the plea deal stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the sentencing guidelines.
