US Individual Linked to Australian Shooters Strikes Plea Bargain with Federal Attorneys
A US man associated with the culprits behind the fatal Wieambilla, Australia attack that took six lives – among them two Queensland police officers – has accepted a watered-down plea deal.
Resident of Arizona Donald Day Jr will appear in 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 charge of illegally owning guns and bullets in a deal to be sanctioned by the court in the current month.
Connections to Australian Shooters
Authorities established direct links between Day and Gareth and Stacey Train through digital communications.
The Trains, along with Nathaniel Train, murdered officers from Queensland Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbor Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022.
The Trains were killed in a gun battle with police, following a extended standoff at the regional property.
American officials stated the accused corresponded via social media with the perpetrators around the time of the fatal attack.
He referred to Queensland police as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “no mercy whatsoever”, telling them he wanted to be at the scene physically.
Court documents outlined how the couple had posted an apocalyptic video on the video platform after the shootings, stating police “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 said.
Firearms Cache and Legal Proceedings
Legal records reveal the defendant stockpiled a collection of multiple powerful guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a country estate in Heber, AZ, that was equipped with a shooting range, weapons 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’,” Day admitted in the plea deal submitted in court.
Day stated he regularly accessed both the weapons storage and the weapons, and also trained individuals on how to operate the firearms properly.
The plea deal will result in dismissed counts that pertain to the alleged making of threats to officials and FBI agents.
According to legal files, the individual had been banned from possessing weapons and firearms because of his violent criminal history.
The defendant, who has completed 24 months in detention, could receive a highest sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a fine of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement specifies he will be judged under the low end of the legal sentencing standards.
