Two people have been arrested in connection to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent David Maland, with authorities believing it might be tied to a larger group.
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Federal prosecutors have signaled they’re planning to bring additional charges against a woman detained in Vermont following the shooting death of a Border Patrol agent.
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Theresa Youngblut has been jailed since the Jan. 20 death of agent David Maland, and already faces charges of using a firearm during the confrontation in which Maland and Youngblut’s companion Ophelia Bauckholt were killed near the Canadian border. The current charges don’t directly accuse Youngblut of firing the shots that killed Maland.
Federal investigators have declined to discuss details of the case.
A USA TODAY investigation earlier this year indicated that the violent confrontation is connected to multiple other homicides around the country that some legal experts have tied to the influence of a California-based cultlike group known as the Zizians.
In a May 8 court filing, Youngblut’s public defenders asked a judge to give them more preparation time before her next court appearance because they expect new charges and “voluminous” new evidence disclosures from prosecutors.
“Additional time is also needed to conduct any necessary investigation and discuss with the government any potential non-trial resolutions in this case,” federal public defender Steven Barth said. “Time is needed to determine whether additional charges will be filed and whether such charges, if filed, will materially alter the trajectory of the case.”
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Named after their purported leader, Jack “Ziz” LaSota, 34, the group is connected to at least six deaths nationwide, according to police, interviews with people who know group members, the FBI and court records. LaSota was assigned male at birth but uses female pronouns. Federal and state court records refer to LaSota as a man.
Experts and people who know them say the group is led by LaSota, who in online postings discussed the nature of consciousness and rational decision making. Many of the group members are vegan, and either have degrees in computer science or have studied related fields. Some members of the group are transgender, or have rejected binary sexuality.
LaSota and two other people were arrested in February in Maryland, and remain in custody there on trespassing and firearms charges. One of the people arrested alongside LaSota was Michelle Zajko, who faces separate federal charges alleging that she bought the guns Youngblut and Bauckholt were carrying during the shootout with Maland, the Border Patrol agent.
Zajko is also a “person of interest” in the Pennsylvania homicides of her parents in late 2022, according to court filings.
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Youngblut was due to marry a Washington state man who is currently jailed on charges that he ambushed and murdered a California landlord on Jan. 17, following a violent confrontation between the landlord, LaSota and several other people.
Federal investigators say they confronted Youngblut and Bauckholt in Vermont after receiving reports the two were walking around a rural area with handguns and wearing tactical clothing. Investigators said they also mistakenly believed Bauckholt’s visa to visit from Germany had expired.
A man died Saturday after falling while skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt., officials said.
The man fell and slid into a wooded area while skiing Stein’s Run, a double-black diamond trail on Lincoln Peak, Vermont State Police said in a statement.
The double-black diamond rating is the highest difficulty designation in skiing, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
The man was found unresponsive by ski patrol members and was brought to an ambulance at the base of the mountain, police said. He was pronounced dead due to his injuries, according to the statement.
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The man’s name was not released pending notification of his family, officials said.
Police said the death did not appear suspicious. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, Vt., will condut an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
No further information was immediately released.
Collin Robisheaux can be reached at collin.robisheaux@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ColRobisheaux.
WARREN, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont State Police are investigating the death of a skier at Sugarbush Resort.
Police were notified at about 3:26 p.m. Saturday that a skier had died following a fall on Stein’s Run at Sugarbush Lincoln Peak.
The male victim fell and slid into a wooded area off the trail, according to police.
Ski patrol members found the man unresponsive and brought him to the base of the mountain, where they were met by the Mad River Valley Ambulance. The victim was pronounced dead due to his injuries.
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Police say the death does not appear suspicious. An autopsy will be performed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Thousands of Vermonters took to the streets Saturday, condemning the actions and policies of President Donald Trump in peaceful protests at dozens of locations.
They lined up on Main Street in Newport and on Creamery Row in Hardwick, on the village green in Fair Haven and in towns from Burlington to Brattleboro. In all, around 50 “No Kings” demonstrations were held.
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Castleton resident Robert Revell came to Rutland Saturday to show his anger at the Trump Administration. “We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie… I am just fed up,” said Revell.
Castleton resident Robert Revell stood along Route 7 in Rutland with hundreds of others.
“I’m just so angry,” said Revell, who held a three dimensional sign that incorporated a blow-up planet Earth with words below that read “Mother DEMANDS NO kings, no pedos and no liars.”
“We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie,” he said. “I am just fed up. I’m 73 in a couple weeks and I lived through the Nixon thing and I’m just here to protest and share my heart.”
Around him, throngs of people, many in costume, lined several blocks along Route 7 waving flags and handmade signs. Some rang cow bells or thumped tambourines. Many passing motorists responded with staccato horn blasts.
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Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were planned for Saturday in large cities and small towns. They have been organized by national and local groups, including well-known progressive coalitions such as Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn.
Nina Keck
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Hannah Abrams, of Mendon (in blue jacket) was among hundreds of protestors who stood along route seven in Rutland Saturday. This was her third NoKings protest. “I’m not tired of protesting,” she said, “but I’m really tired of the current administration.”
“For me, it boils down to the cruelty I’m seeing in the world right now,” said Hannah Abrams, of Mendon. “I think that our president instills a lot of cruelty among the people he doesn’t like. And actually for the people who do vote for him too, because they’re not any better off with him in office.”
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“There are a lot of people who say this is not America,” Abrams added. “And I would like to say, it’s exactly America, it’s just targeting different people now … Sadly, this is not new.”
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Stephanie Brush and her 89-year-old mother Mary Jane Demko (in wheelchair) of Rutland Town came out to protest President Trump on Saturday in Rutland. Said Denko, “I couldn’t stay in, he’s too evil.”
Mary Jane Demko, 89, of Rutland, showed up to her local protest in a wheelchair driven by her daughter, Stephanie Brush. Demko carried a sign on her lap that read “IMPEACH THE SOB!”
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“I couldn’t stay in and not be part of this,” Demko said. “He’s too evil.”
Karen Lorentz of Shrewsbury said she too couldn’t stay away. At 80, she said Saturday’s event in Rutland was her first protest. She held a handmade sign she said a friend had helped her make.
“I’m really old and when the Vietnam War was on I was a new teacher and I didn’t have time,” she said. “But I felt strongly that I needed to be here today.”
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