Murders with alleged Zizian involvement
Curtis Lind
After struggling with the upkeep of a tugboat they had been living on, which they eventually abandoned, some members of the Zizians opted to move into trailers and converted box trucks. [6] Curtis Lind, who docked a boat in the same harbor as the group, offered to let them move into a lot he owned in Vallejo, California. [6] During the COVID-19 pandemic, group members allegedly stopped paying rent and began placing 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. [2]
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"). [2] He was left impaled by a samurai sword, and his right eye was punctured three times, blinding him in that eye. [2] [4] But he survived, and upon regaining 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 California's felony murder rule. LaSota was contacted by police during the investigation but was not charged. [2]
On January 17, 2025, three days before the shootout with U.S. Border Patrol officers on the other side of the country, Lind was stabbed to death and had his throat slit outside his gated property in Vallejo. [4] 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. [3] The accused dictated to reporters a statement addressed to Eliezer Yudkowsky, calling himself "a student of Yudkowsky who became disillusioned with him". [13]
Richard and Rita Zajko
During a welfare check on January 2, 2023, Pennsylvania state police discovered the bodies of husband and wife Richard and Rita Zajko, aged 72 and 69 respectively, at their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. 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. [14] 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. [14]
David Maland
On January 20, 2025, after a traffic stop, United States Border Patrol agent David Christopher Maland 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. [15] 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. [16] The case has been connected to the killings of Lind and the Zajkos due to connections between the suspects. [17]
Background
Before traveling to Vermont, Bauckholt and the other member lived in separate Airbnb rentals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. [18] Both have been described as having cut off all contact with friends in fall 2023 and May 2024. [19] Homeland Security Investigations agents had been conducting "periodic surveillance" of them since January 14. [20]
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". [20] 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. [20] The duo checked out of the Lyndonville hotel and were seen five days later in 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. [20]
After 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 were also found, wrapped in aluminum foil, apparently to prevent their phones from being tracked. [20] [21] Their handguns were reportedly bought by an associate in Mount Tabor, Vermont. [4] [22]
Shootout
Around 3:15 p.m., Agent David Maland initiated a traffic stop on 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. [23] According to accounts by law enforcement, Bauckholt, registered as the car's owner, appeared in a Homeland Security database to have an expired visa. [20] Bauckholt's visa was in fact current. [7] 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. [20] [24] [21] 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. [24]
Maland, 44, was a United States Air Force veteran. [25] According to his family, he had been planning to marry his partner. [26] Maland was an active security officer at the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks before handling security at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. [27] [21] He had worked for the last 15 years for the Department of Homeland Security as a border patrol agent and as a K-9 handler. [26] Maland was the first Border Patrol agent killed by gunfire in the line of duty since 2014. [26]
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". [26] 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, "[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". [28]
Maland's flag-draped casket was carried by a motorcade from Burlington, Vermont, to Albany International Airport by Border Patrol agents and Vermont State Police, and was flown to his family in Minnesota. [29] [30] [31]