US Man Connected to Aussie Shooters Strikes Plea Deal with Federal Attorneys
An American citizen associated with the perpetrators behind the fatal Wieambilla, Australia attack that took the lives of six individuals – including two officers from Queensland – has accepted a less severe plea deal.
Arizona-based Donald Day Jr will appear in court on October 21 after striking the bargain with US prosecutors.
The individual with prior convictions, known online as “Geronimo's Bones”, is expected to plead guilty to a single charge of illegally owning guns and bullets in a deal to be approved by the court this month.
Links to Australian Shooters
Investigators confirmed direct links between Day and the Train couple through digital communications.
This couple, along with Nathaniel Train, murdered officers from Queensland Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbor Alan Dare at a remote property in Wieambilla in 2022.
The Trains were fatally shot in a final shootout with law enforcement, following a extended standoff at the regional property.
American officials said Day communicated via social media with the perpetrators during the period of the deadly ambush.
He described Queensland officers as “malignant, malformed and malevolent”, and said they should be shown “absolutely no quarter”, informing them he wanted to be at the scene in person.
Legal filings outlined how the couple had posted an end-times recording on the video platform after the shootings, stating authorities “came to kill us and we killed them”.
“Failing to stand against these evil forces makes one a coward … we’ll see you at home, Don. Love you,” the Trains expressed.
Weapons Stockpile and Legal Proceedings
Legal records show Day stockpiled a cache of nine high-powered firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammo at a rural property in Heber, AZ, that was outfitted with a shooting range, gun 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',” Day admitted in the plea deal filed in the legal system.
Day stated he regularly accessed both the gun room and the weapons, and also trained others on how to use the guns properly.
The bargain will lead to dismissed counts that relate to the alleged making of threats to officials and FBI agents.
Based on legal files, Day had been prohibited from owning weapons and firearms because of his history of violent crimes.
The defendant, who has served 24 months in custody, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment in prison or a penalty of $250,000 (A$381,500), but the agreement specifies he will be sentenced under the minimum range of the sentencing guidelines.
