American Individual Linked to Australian Shooters Strikes Plea Deal with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen linked with the perpetrators behind the deadly Wieambilla attack that took the lives of six individuals – among them two officers from Queensland – has agreed to a watered-down plea agreement.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will face court on October 21 after finalizing the plea deal with American authorities.
The convicted felon, referred to online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is anticipated to admit guilt to a single offense of illegally owning guns and bullets in a arrangement to be sanctioned by the court this month.
Links to Aussie Gunmen
Authorities confirmed clear connections between Day and the Train couple through online posts.
The Trains, along with Nathaniel Train, murdered Queensland police officers Arnold and McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
They were killed in a final shootout with police, 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 described Queensland police as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing them he wanted to be at Wieambilla physically.
Court documents detailed how the couple had uploaded an apocalyptic recording on the video platform after the shootings, saying authorities “came to kill us and we killed them”.
“Failing to stand against these evil forces makes one a coward … We will meet you at home, Don. With love,” they expressed.
Firearms Cache and Court Case
Legal records show the defendant stockpiled a cache of nine high-powered firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a country estate in Heber, Arizona, that was equipped with a gun range, weapons 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 plea deal submitted in the legal system.
Day said he regularly accessed both the gun room and the weapons, and also trained individuals on how to operate the guns properly.
The plea deal will result in dismissed counts that pertain to the alleged making of threats to officials and FBI agents.
Based on legal files, the individual had been banned from possessing weapons and firearms because of his history of violent crimes.
Day, who has served two years in detention, faces a highest sentence of up to 15 years in jail or a fine of US$250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement stipulates he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the sentencing guidelines.
