Woman with ties to cultlike group appears in court after border agent’s killing
June 24, 2025
A woman charged in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent has appeared in Vermont federal court in one of multiple criminal cases linked to a cultlike group known as Zizians. Authorities say Teresa Youngblut fired the bullet that killed agent David Maland during the January traffic stop. They say another agent fired back, wounding Youngblut and killing her companion, Felix Bauckholt. Youngblut appeared in court on Tuesday for a discovery hearing. The Zizians are a group of followers of Jack LaSota, a computer scientist who has blogged as “Ziz” on subjects including veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence.
