Editing Zizians (section)

== Murders with alleged Zizian involvement ==

===Curtis Lind===
[[File:Caleb 2022.webp|thumb|The ''Caleb'' at [[Pillar Point Harbor]] in May 2022, the same month it sunk<ref>{{Cite web |last=Howell |first=August |date=2022-05-31 |title=Tugboat sinks in Pillar Point Harbor |url=https://www.coastsidenews.com/news/tugboat-sinks-in-pillar-point-harbor/article_02e7f2ab-77d8-569b-82e1-b5b8f2d28f3f.html |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=Coastside News |language=en}}</ref>]]
In 2017, Ziz LaSota began recruiting a "Rationalist Fleet" of followers to live on boats on the ocean, including a [[World War II]]-era tugboat, built as the ''Panameta'' and subsequently renamed ''Caleb'', that they sailed from Alaska to California.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sayers |first=Ken W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13lSEQAAQBAJ&dq=panameta&pg=PA74 |title=U.S. Navy Service Craft: A History and Directory from World War I to Today |date=2025-03-26 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-5363-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Beam-NYT-2025" /><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cassidy |first1=Megan |last2=Barba |first2=Michael |last3=Gafni |first3=Matthias |title='Rationalist Fleet': Before killings linked to fringe group, 'Ziz' led fateful tugboat voyage to California |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/ziz-rationalist-killings-tugboat-20138991.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250823170831/https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/ziz-rationalist-killings-tugboat-20138991.php |archive-date=August 23, 2025 |access-date=2025-09-02 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> After struggling with the upkeep of the tugboat they had been living on, which they eventually abandoned, some members of the Zizians opted to move into trailers and converted box trucks.<ref name="Ratliff-20253" /> '''Curtis Lind'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, who docked a boat in the same harbor as the group, offered to let them move into a lot he owned in [[Vallejo, California]].<ref name="Ratliff-20253" /> During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], group members allegedly stopped paying rent and placed locks on trailers meant for other tenants. When Lind sued the group for back rent, one member allegedly brandished a knife, causing Lind to start carrying a pistol.<ref name="Barba-2025"/>

On November 15, 2022, Lind, then 80, was, according to his own account, attacked by a group of people after being called in to fix a water leak. He said he was struck in the head, stabbed repeatedly (leaving "about 50" puncture wounds), and cut severely on the back of his neck ("like somebody was trying to cut my head off").<ref name="Barba-2025"/> He was left impaled by a samurai sword, and his right eye was punctured three times, blinding him in that eye.<ref name="Barba-2025"/><ref name="Gafni-2025"/> After he regained consciousness, he shot two of those involved in the altercation, killing 31-year-old Emma Borhanian and wounding the other. Both had been arrested alongside LaSota at a 2019 protest against an event organized by the [[Center for Applied Rationality]] (CFAR), and Borhanian had reported LaSota's 2022 alleged drowning. Two of Lind's alleged attackers were charged with Borhanian's murder under the theory that their actions precipitated Lind's self-defense, under [[Felony murder rule in California|California's felony murder rule]]. Their trial has been scheduled for March 3, 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bammer |first=Richard |date=2025-10-02 |title=Trial date for Zizian pair charged with murder rescheduled for early March |url=https://www.thereporter.com/2025/10/02/trial-date-for-zizian-pair-charged-with-murder-rescheduled-for-early-march/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20251005024812/https://www.thereporter.com/2025/10/02/trial-date-for-zizian-pair-charged-with-murder-rescheduled-for-early-march/ |archive-date=2025-10-05 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=www.thereporter.com |language=en-US}}</ref> LaSota was contacted by police during the investigation but was not charged.<ref name="Barba-2025"/>

On January 17, 2025, three days before [[#David Maland|a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol officers on the east coast]], Lind was stabbed to death and had his throat slit outside his gated property in Vallejo.<ref name="Gafni-2025"/> Lind had been expected to be an important witness in the trial of the alleged attackers for the Borhanian felony murder charge, and stopping him from testifying was alleged as the motive for his killing. Prosecutors charged a 22-year-old data scientist with Lind's murder.{{ r | WSJ_2025-02-22}} The accused dictated to reporters a statement addressed to the well-known rationalist thought leader [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]], saying that he was a follower of Yudkowsky but is not anymore.<ref name="Cassidy-2025"/> Yudkowsky refused to read the statement and said, "Audience should not be a reward for crime."<ref name="Cassidy-2025">{{Cite web |last1=Cassidy |first1=Megan |last2=Gafni |first2=Matthias |last3=Barba |first3=Michael |date=February 8, 2025 |title='Death upon death': Defendant in killing tied to cult-like 'Zizian' group dictates 1,500-word letter over jail phone |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/ziz-zizians-rationalism-group-20149075.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250208132157/https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/ziz-zizians-rationalism-group-20149075.php#selection-1265.0-1265.116 |archive-date=February 8, 2025 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref>

===Richard and Rita Zajko===
During a [[Wellness check|welfare check]] on January 2, 2023, Pennsylvania state police discovered the bodies of husband and wife '''Richard and Rita Zajko'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, aged 72 and 69 respectively, at their home in [[Chester Heights, Pennsylvania]]. [[Autopsy|Autopsies]] found that Rita had a gunshot wound in the back of her head and Richard had wounds in his right hand and temple. Based partly on a recording by a neighbor's doorbell camera, it was concluded they had been killed on December 31.<ref name="Zajko Jan"/> Their daughter, who is associated with the Zizians, has been named a [[person of interest]] in the murders. She is alleged to have purchased guns found at the scene of Maland's killing and to have been in contact with a person of interest in Lind's murder.<ref name="Zajko Jan">{{cite news |last1=Gafni |first1=Matthias |last2=Barba |first2=Michael |date=January 31, 2025 |title='Mom!' Shouts were heard on night of unsolved double killing now linked to Bay Area fringe group |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/vallejo-vermont-pennsylvania-killings-20114339.php |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250203142842/http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/vallejo-vermont-pennsylvania-killings-20114339.php |archive-date=February 3, 2025 |access-date=February 3, 2025 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref> She began talking to LaSota in 2022, and the two bonded over their "mutual grief and desire for justice" over Borhanian's death.<ref name="vella2025">{{cite news
 | last1 = Vella
 | first1 = Vinny
 | last2 = Greenberg
 | first2 = Zoe
 | last3 = Bunch
 | first3 = Jesse
 | title = How Michelle Zajko ended up linked to Jack LaSota and the Zizians
 | url = https://www.inquirer.com/crime/a/michelle-zajko-jack-lasota-zizians-murder-20250508.html
 | work = The Philadelphia Inquirer
 | date = 2025-05-08
 | access-date = 2025-05-12
 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20250508202458/https://www.inquirer.com/crime/a/michelle-zajko-jack-lasota-zizians-murder-20250508.html#selection-1243.211-1243.246
 | archive-date = 2025-05-08
}}</ref>

=== David Maland ===
[[File:Agent David Maland with service dog (cropped).jpg|thumb|Maland, {{circa}} 2022]]
On January 20, 2025, after a [[traffic stop]], [[United States Border Patrol]] agent '''David Christopher Maland'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> and at least one other Border Patrol agent engaged in a shootout with Bauckholt and another Zizian, leading to Maland's and Bauckholt's deaths and the wounding of the other member. Bauckholt and the other member were traveling south on [[Interstate 91]] in [[Coventry, Vermont]], when they were pulled over.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sabet |first1=Habib |last2=Weinstein |first2=Ethan |last3=Heintz |first3=Paul |date=January 21, 2025 |title=Officials identify US Border Patrol agent killed Monday in Coventry, disclose more details of shooting |url=https://vtdigger.org/2025/01/21/vermont-officials-identify-u-s-border-patrol-agent-killed-monday-in-coventry/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128130108/https://vtdigger.org/2025/01/21/vermont-officials-identify-u-s-border-patrol-agent-killed-monday-in-coventry/ |archive-date=January 28, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[VTDigger]]}}</ref> They were put under "periodic surveillance" nearly one week before the shooting after they were reported to be armed and wearing all-black tactical clothing when checking in to their hotel.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Humphreys |first1=Adrian |date=January 24, 2025 |title=U.S. border agent shooting suspects led agents on mystery trip: FBI |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/u-s-border-agent-shooting-suspects-led-agents-on-mystery-trip-before-fatal-gunfight-fbi |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=[[National Post]]}}</ref> The case has been connected to the killings of Lind and the Zajkos due to connections between the suspects.<ref name="Newbill 29">{{cite news |last1=Newbill |first1=Taleisha |date=January 29, 2025 |title=Double murder of Pennsylvania couple linked to Border Patrol shooting in Vermont, state police say |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/richard-rita-zajko-vermont-shooting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131040352/https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/richard-rita-zajko-vermont-shooting/ |archive-date=January 31, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref>

==== Background ====
Before traveling to Vermont, Bauckholt and the other member lived in separate [[Airbnb]] rentals in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]].<ref name="Ramer-2025">{{Cite web |last1=Ramer |first1=Holly |last2=McCormack |first2=Kathy |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Murder suspect appears to have sought marriage license with woman charged in Border Patrol shooting in Vermont |url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/murder-suspect-appears-to-have-sought-marriage-license-with-woman-charged-i/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129042803/https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/murder-suspect-appears-to-have-sought-marriage-license-with-woman-charged-i/ |archive-date=January 29, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[The Press Democrat]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Both have been described as having cut off all contact with friends in fall 2023 and May 2024.<ref name="Bauman-2025">{{Cite web |last=Bauman |first=Anna |date=January 29, 2025 |title=Man accused of killing witness in Vallejo could face death penalty, DA says |url=https://openvallejo.org/2025/01/28/man-accused-of-killing-witness-in-vallejo-could-face-death-penalty-da-says/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129050147/https://openvallejo.org/2025/01/28/man-accused-of-killing-witness-in-vallejo-could-face-death-penalty-da-says/ |archive-date=January 29, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=Open Vallejo |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Homeland Security Investigations]] agents had been conducting "periodic surveillance" of them since January 14.<ref name="Schapiro-2025">{{Cite web |last1=Schapiro |first1=Rich |last2=Winter |first2=Tom |date=January 24, 2025 |title=Suspects in killing of U.S. border patrol agent had an arsenal of weapons |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-suspects-killing-us-border-patrol-agent-arsenal-weapons-rcna189098 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129091056/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-suspects-killing-us-border-patrol-agent-arsenal-weapons-rcna189098 |archive-date=January 29, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[NBC News]] |language=en}}</ref>

A hotel employee in [[Lyndonville, Vermont]], reportedly contacted law enforcement about the duo after seeing one of them carrying "an apparent firearm in an exposed carry holster". Both wore "all-black, tactical style clothing with protective equipment".<ref name="Schapiro-2025" /> After the report, [[Homeland Security]] agents contacted the duo, who refused to speak with them extensively. They said they were in Vermont only to purchase [[real estate]].<ref name="Schapiro-2025" /> The duo checked out of the Lyndonville hotel and were seen five days later in [[Newport (city), Vermont|Newport]], Vermont, with one of them carrying a handgun. The next day, hours before the shootout, the two were seen at a [[Walmart]], with Bauckholt buying aluminum foil.<ref name="Schapiro-2025" />

After the shooting, authorities found ammunition, a helmet, [[Night-vision device|night-vision]] [[monocular]]s, a tactical belt with a holster, a pair of [[walkie-talkie]]s, a [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] loaded with [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]], and shooting-range targets in their car. [[Smartphone]]s were also found, wrapped in [[aluminum foil]], apparently to [[Faraday cage|prevent their phones from being tracked]].<ref name="Schapiro-2025" /><ref name="Munson-2025">{{Cite web |last=Munson |first=Emilie |date=January 27, 2025 |title=Associates of woman in Border Patrol shooting tied to other homicides |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/associates-woman-border-patrol-shooting-tied-20058348.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128084044/https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/associates-woman-border-patrol-shooting-tied-20058348.php |archive-date=January 28, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]}}</ref> Their handguns were reportedly bought by an associate in [[Mount Tabor, Vermont]].<ref name="Gafni-2025">{{Cite news |last1=Gafni |first1=Matthias |last2=Barba |first2=Michael |date=January 27, 2025 |title=Bay Area killing may be tied to string of slayings across country |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/feds-probe-ties-vallejo-pennsylvania-vermont-20059487.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129071004/https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/feds-probe-ties-vallejo-pennsylvania-vermont-20059487.php |archive-date=January 29, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="DAuria-2025">{{Cite web |last1=D'Auria |first1=Peter |last2=Keays |first2=Alan J. |date=January 29, 2025 |title=Federal officials link 3rd 'person of interest' to Vermont border patrol agent's shooting |url=https://vtdigger.org/2025/01/28/federal-officials-link-third-person-of-interest-to-vermont-border-patrol-agents-shooting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201072428/https://vtdigger.org/2025/01/28/federal-officials-link-third-person-of-interest-to-vermont-border-patrol-agents-shooting/ |archive-date=February 1, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |website=[[VTDigger]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Shootout ====
Around 3:15 p.m., Agent David Maland initiated a traffic stop on [[Interstate 91|I-91]] southbound, about 15 kilometers from the border with Canada, with a blue 2015 [[Toyota Prius]] registered in North Carolina to conduct an immigration inspection.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 24, 2025 |title=District of Vermont {{!}} Woman Charged With Discharging Firearm During Assault of United States Border Patrol Agent |website=[[United States Department of Justice]] |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-vt/pr/woman-charged-discharging-firearm-during-assault-united-states-border-patrol-agent |access-date=February 11, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201090517/https://www.justice.gov/usao-vt/pr/woman-charged-discharging-firearm-during-assault-united-states-border-patrol-agent |url-status=live }}</ref> According to accounts by law enforcement, Bauckholt, registered as the car's owner, appeared in a Homeland Security database to have an expired visa.<ref name="Schapiro-2025"/> Bauckholt's visa was in fact current.<ref name="Brown-2025a" /> Prosecutors allege that the second member drew a handgun and fired at least two shots at the agent during the stop and that Bauckholt also attempted to draw a firearm.<ref name="Schapiro-2025" /><ref name="Humphreys-2025">{{Cite web |last=Humphreys |first=Adrian |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Video shows creepy couple accused in shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol agent |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/teresa-youngblut-felix-bauckholt-video-vermont |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=[[National Post]]}}</ref><ref name="Munson-2025" /> At least one Border Patrol agent shot the duo. Maland and Bauckholt were pronounced dead at the scene while the second member was taken to a hospital and later arrested.<ref name="Humphreys-2025" />

Maland, 44, was a [[United States Air Force]] veteran.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Border Patrol Agent David Christopher Maland |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/27305-border-patrol-agent-david-christopher-maland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131141926/https://www.odmp.org/officer/27305-border-patrol-agent-david-christopher-maland |archive-date=January 31, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[Officer Down Memorial Page]]}}</ref> According to his family, he had been planning to marry his partner.<ref name="Hughes-2025">{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Elliot |date=January 22, 2025 |title=U.S. Border Patrol agent who was fatally shot in Vermont near Canadian border was from Minnesota |url=https://www.startribune.com/border-patrol-agent-vermont-david-maland-canada-died-minnesota/601209126 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127060016/https://www.startribune.com/border-patrol-agent-vermont-david-maland-canada-died-minnesota/601209126 |archive-date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[Minnesota Star Tribune]] |language=en}}</ref> Maland was an active security officer at [[the Pentagon]] during the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]] before handling security at [[Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling]].<ref name="Munson-2025" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Chris |date=January 22, 2025 |title=Border Patrol agent killed in Vermont once served at Pentagon during 9/11, family says |url=https://www.livenowfox.com/news/border-patrol-agent-killed-vermont-9-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130123728/https://www.livenowfox.com/news/border-patrol-agent-killed-vermont-9-11 |archive-date=January 30, 2025 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=[[LiveNOW from Fox]] |language=en-US}}</ref> He had worked for the last 15 years for the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] as a border patrol agent and as a [[Police dog|K-9 handler]].<ref name="Hughes-2025" /> Maland was the first Border Patrol agent killed by gunfire in the line of duty since 2014.<ref name="Hughes-2025" />

==== Reactions ====
Vermont's U.S. Senators [[Bernie Sanders]] and [[Peter Welch]] and U.S. House Representative [[Becca Balint]] issued a joint statement saying, "Our deepest condolences go out to the agent’s family, and to the Border Patrol".<ref name="Hughes-2025" /> Representative [[Mark Green (Tennessee politician)|Mark Green]], who chairs the [[United States House Committee on Homeland Security|House Committee on Homeland Security]], issued a statement saying he was "heartbroken by the loss of Agent David Maland", adding, "[w]e must never forget that the men and women in green on the frontlines of this border crisis defend our homeland at great personal cost" and that "[f]ar too often these courageous public servants, like Agent Maland, pay the ultimate price".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chairman Green Issues Statement Mourning Loss of Border Patrol Agent David Maland in the Line of Duty |url=https://homeland.house.gov/2025/01/21/chairman-green-issues-statement-mourning-loss-of-border-patrol-agent-david-maland-in-the-line-of-duty/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250616083846/https://homeland.house.gov/2025/01/21/chairman-green-issues-statement-mourning-loss-of-border-patrol-agent-david-maland-in-the-line-of-duty/ |archive-date=2025-06-16 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |website=Committee on Homeland Security |language=en-US}}</ref> Maland's flag-draped casket was carried by a motorcade of Border Patrol agents and [[Vermont State Police]] from Burlington, Vermont, to [[Albany International Airport]], and flown to his family in [[Minnesota]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bendavid |first=Ike |date=January 23, 2025 |title=Motorcade honors slain Border Patrol agent |url=https://www.wcax.com/2025/01/23/motorcade-honors-slain-border-patrol-agent/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129174322/https://www.wcax.com/2025/01/23/motorcade-honors-slain-border-patrol-agent/ |archive-date=January 29, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |website=[[WCAX-TV|WCAX]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelleher |first=Caitlyn |date=2025-01-23 |title=Law enforcement escorts Border Agent David Maland body: What to know about the procession |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2025/01/23/burlington-vt-street-closures-police-procession-us-border-agent-david-chris-maland-killed/77901350007/ |access-date=February 1, 2025 |website=[[Burlington Free Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Mike |title=Survivor charged in shootout that left Border Patrol agent dead in Vermont |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/teresa-youngblut-charged-shootout-killed-border-20053959.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125062009/https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/teresa-youngblut-charged-shootout-killed-border-20053959.php |archive-date=January 25, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2025 |work=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]] |language=en}}</ref>

A person was charged in connection to Maland's death and pleaded not guilty.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swinhart |first1=Amanda |last2=Whittle |first2=Patrick |title=Woman with ties to cultlike group appears in court after border agent's killing |url=https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/woman-with-ties-to-cultlike-group-appears-in-court-after-border-agent-s-killing/ar-AA1HihOf?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=685b17124b404bb58b36480d4d233854&ei=21 |access-date=24 June 2025 |work=MSN |agency=Associated Press |date=24 June 2025}}</ref>