Inside Wieambilla accused’s reclusive life on remote property

Donald Day revealed he spoke with Queensland killers Gareth and Stacey Train two to four times a week and that he had been left devastated by their deaths.

An American man told FBI officers of his deep love and respect for the Australian couple who murdered police officers at their Wieambilla property, saying he thought of them every day and wished they could have moved to Arizona where he would have provided them a house and land.

US citizen Donald Day revealed he spoke with Queensland killers Gareth and Stacey Train two to four times a week and that he had been left devastated by their deaths.

Day claimed he would have encouraged them to talk to police instead of sparking a deadly firefight, but also told agents he wished he was “there to help them”.

US citizen Donald Day said he spoke to Queensland killers Gareth and Stacey Train two to four times a week. Picture: YouTube

New insights into Day’s relationship with the Train family and his reclusive life have been revealed in exhibits tendered to an Arizona court ahead of his trial on charges of making interstate threats and violations of weapons laws.

In a conversation with the FBI agents after his arrest, Day spoke of his isolated life on an Arizona property with his younger wife Sabrina Spires.

He rarely left the property and did not ever allow Ms Spires to go out, saying the pair shared one phone and would run through weapons “exercises” on the 90-acre farm set up with shooting targets.

Donald Day and Stacey Train. Picture: Contributed

Day came to the attention of authorities after the Train couple, along with Gareth’s brother Nathaniel, murdered a civilian and two police officers who attended their property west of Brisbane in 2022.

After killing police constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold and good Samaritan neighbour Alan Dare in cold blood, the Trains posted a video online saying: “they came to kill us, and we killed them. If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward”.

The conspiracy theorist killers behind the Wieambilla Shooting: Gareth Train, Stacey Train and Nathaniel Train.

They ended the video “see you at home, Don. Love you”, in what authorities allege was a message to Day whom they were in regular contact with online. They were later killed in a shootout with police.

Day was later charged by US authorities with making interstate threats over his online response to the Trains’ video in which he allegedly said “the devils come for us, they f***ing die. It’s just that simple. We are free people, we are owned by no one”.

A shooting range on Donald Day's Arizona property. Picture: Arizona District Court exhibits.

He was arrested at a petrol station on a rare trip away from his property in December 2023.

Day spent hours being questioned by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, oscillating between regret over the events at Wieambilla and praise and support for the Trains.

“I totally felt responsible for that … because I didn’t want to see my friends get killed like that,” Day said when asked about his communications with the Trains.

Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train’s property at Wains Road Wieambilla. Picture: Liam Kidston

Day claimed the Trains were targeted by law enforcement who wanted “gas reserves” under their property, and alleged they were “demonised” by police for exposing criminal activity – claims not supported by a lengthy coronial inquest in Queensland.

“These scumbags killed my friends because they exposed them for being, for the sex trafficking that was going on in indigenous communities,” Day told officers.

He said the Trains had been pushed to breaking point and “forced into acting like cornered animals”.

“So yeah, I wish I had been there with them to kill those f***ers with them,” he said.

“So that they weren’t alone. I know what it means to be alone.”

Police Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow died when they entered the property.

Musing over the events in Queensland, Day said “does that make me a collaborator in a crime? Maybe, I don’t know.”

He claimed if he had been with the Trains, he would have urged them to go and talk to police first. If the FBI that day had arrived at his property, he said he would have invited them in for coffee.

A sign outside Donald Day's Arizona property. Picture: Arizona District Court exhibits.

During the conversation, Day revealed he did not have a bank account, credit cards, birth certificate or social security cards and that he lived on a diet of beans and oatmeal.

He and his wife would conduct weapons training exercises on their 90 acre property, which photos have revealed was set up with a sniper hide and shooting range.

A sniper hide on Donald Day's Arizona property. Picture: Arizona District Court exhibits.

Day said he had spent much of his life in prison, telling agents he had shot and killed his stepfather.

He also claimed to have burned down the operation of a drug cook who moved near his property, and he considered killing another neighbour whom he believed to be a child predator but his wife convinced him not to.

Weapons and ammunition found at Donald Day's Arizona property. Picture: Arizona District Court exhibits.

He is due to face a trial in the Arizona District Court next month.

Day’s lawyers have argued evidence about the Wieambilla massacre should be limited so he receives a fair trial, but prosecutors have argued the events in Queensland are a crucial part of the evidence about his intent and mindset.

A judge is yet to hand down his decision on whether Queensland police officers will be allowed to give evidence as previously planned.