On January 20, 2025, following a traffic stop, United States Border Patrol agent David Maland was killed in a shootout with Teresa Youngblut, who was wounded, and German national Ophelia Bauckholt, who also died in the shootout. The pair were traveling south on Interstate 91 in Coventry in Northern Vermont when they were pulled over as part of a traffic stop.[1] The two 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.[2] The case has been connected to a string of other murders due to connections between the suspects: the murder of Curtis Lind in Vallejo, California,[3] and the double murder of Richard and Rita Zajko in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania.[4]
The alleged assailants were reportedly members of a Bay Area group known as the "Zizians".[5] Described as a "death cult" by SFGate,[6] the group is a radical offshoot of the rationalist community.[7][8] Members of the Zizians are alleged to have committed multiple violent or disruptive acts in recent years, including six violent deaths across the country.[9][10]
The Zizians are said to emphasize animal rights and veganism and to advocate "timeless decision theory". They are said to claim that human can hold separate personalities by activating different hemispheres of their brain.[11][5]
The "Zizians" are named after their founder, Jack Amadeus "Ziz" LaSota. In 2019, LaSota was arrested alongside three other members of the movement for protesting at a CFAR event in Occidental; the members filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Sonoma County which was later dismissed.[10] LaSota had been reported dead from drowning in August 2022, but was subsequently arrested in January 2023 in Philadelphia for obstruction of justice.[8][10][11]
Prior to traveling to Vermont, the duo had lived in separate Airbnbs in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Bauckholt since July 2023, and Youngblut since November 2024.[12] Both have been described as having cut off all contact with friends in Fall 2023 and in May 2024.[7] Agents for Homeland Security Investigations had been conducting "periodic surveillance" of them since January 14.[13]
A hotel employee in Lyndonville, Vermont, reportedly contacted law enforcement about the duo after seeing Youngblut carrying "an apparent firearm in an exposed carry holster". Both wore "all-black, tactical style clothing with protective equipment".[13] Following the report, Homeland Security agents contacted the duo, who refused to speak with them. They only claimed that they were in Vermont to purchase real estate.[13] The duo checked out of the Lyndonville hotel and were seen five days later in Newport with Youngblut carrying a handgun. The following day, hours before the shootout, the pair was seen at a Walmart with Bauckholt buying aluminum foil.[13]
Following the shooting, authorities found ammunition, a helmet, night vision monoculars, a tactical belt with a holster, a pair of walkie-talkies, a magazine loaded with cartridges, and shooting range targets in their car. Smartphones wrapped in aluminum foil were also found, apparently to prevent their phones from being tracked.[13][14] Their handguns were reportedly bought by an associate in Mount Tabor, Vermont.[15][16] The associate, who wasn't named by authorities, is allegedly a person of interest in a double-homicide investigation in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.[15][16]
Attack
At approximately 3:15 p.m., Agent Chris Maland was involved in a traffic stop at I-91 southbound, about 15 kilometres from the border with Canada, with a blue 2015 Toyota Prius registered in North Carolina to conduct an immigration inspection.[17] Bauckholt, a German national and the registered owner of the car, appeared to have an expired visa in a Homeland Security database.[13] The driver allegedly drew a handgun and fired at least two shots at the agents during the stop while Bauckholt also attempted to draw a firearm.[13][18][14] At least one Border Patrol agent returned fire and shot the duo. Both Maland and Bauckholt were pronounced dead while the second suspect was taken to a hospital and was later arrested.[18]
The registered owner of the car, Ophelia Bauckholt (born Felix Bauckholt),[5] was a German citizen on a current visa working as a quantitative trader for Tower Research Capital in New York since October 2021.[9][22][17] Prior to working at Tower, she worked as a trader at Radix Trading for two years and as an intern at Jane Street Capital.[23] Bauckholt reportedly quit working for Tower in 2023, which put the extension of her visa at risk.[24]
Bauckholt had expressed an interest in rationalism after attending a CFAR event in 2019, and reportedly cut off contact with friends in the fall of 2023.[7][8] In the summer of 2023, Bauckholt was described as taking part in "anxious, secretive phone calls" which coincided with her deepening involvement in the Zizian movement.[5]
The Freiburg public prosecutor's office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Bauckholt, which is done whenever a German citizen dies abroad.[24]
She was reported missing to the Seattle Police Department by her parents in May 2024, who feared that she was in a controlling relationship and was being forced to cut off contact with friends and family.[31] A journal was allegedly found by authorities containing "cypher text" and a mention of having recently taken LSD, albeit at an unknown time.[15][14] She was charged in connection with the shootout on federal charges of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and using and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, she was ordered detained without bail.[32][33]
Related murders
A court filing by federal prosecutors claims that the suspect is associated with persons of interest in two other murder cases, both of which also have connections to the Zizians.[15]
Curtis Lind
Curtis Lind, a landlord in Vallejo, California who owned a trailer park, rented a trailer to a group of people, including LaSota. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the group stopped paying the rent. Members of the group also began placing locks on trailers meant for other tenants. When Lind took the group to court for back rent, one member brandished a knife, causing Lind to start carrying a pistol.[11]
On November 15, 2022, Lind, then 80, was attacked by a group of people after being called in to fix a water leak, being struck in the head. Lind was stabbed through the chest with a sword and stabbed in his right eye, leaving him blind,[15] but survived and fatally shot one of his attackers, 31-year old Emma Borhanian, and injured another. They had been arrested alongside LaSota at the 2019 CFAR protest, and Borhanian had reported LaSota's 2022 drowning. Two of Lind's alleged attackers were charged with Borhanian's murder due to their actions precipitating Lind's self-defense. LaSota was contacted by police during the incident, but was not charged.[11]
On January 17, 2025, Lind was stabbed to death and had his throat slit outside of his gated property in Vallejo.[15] Lind, then 82, was an important witness in the trial of the murder of Borhanian. Prosecutors charged a 22-year old with Lind's murder. The female suspect in the Maland killing had previously filed a marriage application with him,[3] with whom she had attended high school in Seattle.[11]
Richard and Rita Zajko
On January 2, 2023, Pennsylvania state police discovered the bodies of husband and wife Richard and Rita Zajko, age 72 and 69 respectively, at their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania during a welfare check. Autopsies found that Rita had a gunshot wound in the back of her head, and Richard had wounds in his right hand and temple. Their daughter has been named a person of interest in the murders. She was alleged to have purchased guns found at the scene of the killing of Maland, and to have been in contact with a person of interest in the killing of Lind. She is also associated with the Zizians.[34]
Reactions
U.S. senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and representative Becca Balint issued a joint statement saying, "Our deepest condolences go out to the agent’s family, and to the Border Patrol".[20] Representative Mark Green, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued a statement saying he was "heartbroken by the loss of Agent David Maland", adding that "[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".[35]
Agent Maland's flag-draped casket was carried by a motorcade from Burlington to Albany International Airport by agents of the Border Patrol and Vermont State Police, and was flown to his family in Minnesota.[36][37][38]
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