Zizians linked to four murders in three states, January 2025

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Just bringing this over from the Maland thread. This is the only report I've seen that mentions other "high level" crimes:

Sources tell WCAX News they were involved in high-level crime. And we know the FBI is leading the investigation, including a special agent who investigates computer crimes, fraud and criminals trying to infiltrate networks.

www.wcax.com

Woman facing charges in deadly shooting of Border Patrol agent in Vermont

One person now faces charges in the shooting death of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont. And we're learning more about the shootout. Our Ike Bendavid reports.
www.wcax.com www.wcax.com
 
Parsnip said:
It’s amazing to me how many zizians are in the wind: Jack LaSota (ziz), Daniel Blank, Michelle Zajko, Gwen Danielson…any others? Glad the FBI is on the case. These are frightening people. Moo.
Click to expand...
I wonder if there are more under the radar who will come out of the woodwork. I wonder if they're on the dark web or where the connect online.

I agree, very frightening and disturbing. What they did to that elderly man and were going to do to him is barbaric.
 
Zizianism has been described by some as a cult. An anonymous website titled Zizians.info claims that what started as a self-improvement blog from Ziz soon evolved into posts encouraging members to isolate themselves from friends and family and “hurting people she didn’t like.” The post also claims that Ziz attempted and failed to live rent-free on a boat in San Francisco Bay but became embittered by the “dysfunction of the Bay.”

 
Female, male, trans, vegan, whatever…these people can think and live however they want.
But when you start attacking and killing people, you are first and foremost a criminal and a murderer.
These people think they are so much smarter than everybody else, so that gives them the privilege to do whatever they want.
They are dangerous and up to no good. It’s obvious they have no remorse for anything they’ve done.
A group of psychopaths that unfortunately found each other.
 
Is there any estimate of how many "Zizians" there are? Like, are there forums out there with thousands of people sharing these ideas, or could it be a weird fringe group of a dozen people? To be frank, I run in these kinds of circles - LGBTQ and vegans, UW - and I have never, ever heard of anything like this ever. MOO - with so many recent suspects named I hope they're able to shut this down before anything else happens.
 
StarryStarryNight said:
These people think they are so much smarter than everybody else, so that gives them the privilege to do whatever they want.
They are dangerous and up to no good. It’s obvious they have no remorse for anything they’ve done.
A group of psychopaths that unfortunately found each other.
Click to expand...

Privilege is a good descriptor here. The four people we know they've murdered were not murdered for ideological reasons, they were murdered for self-serving reasons. Lind for trying to evict them, the Zajkos likely for their estate, Agent Maland to avoid detention.
 
sunflowermomma said:
Is there any estimate of how many "Zizians" there are? Like, are there forums out there with thousands of people sharing these ideas, or could it be a weird fringe group of a dozen people?
Click to expand...

In the summer of 2018, LaSota participated in an apprenticeship program run by the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, known as MIRI, and the Center for Applied Rationality, known as CFAR.

“LaSota was a young person who was hanging around and who I suspect wanted to be important,” said Anna Salamon, the executive director of CFAR. She said that while LaSota generally subscribed to MIRI’s beliefs about AI, she also developed “a strange psychological theory” about the two hemispheres of the brain.

LaSota explained the theory on her blog, saying the hemispheres can hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other.” She wrote: “Reaching peace between hemispheres with conflicting interests is a tricky process of repeatedly reconstructing frames of game theory and decision theory in light of realizations of them having been strategically damaged by your headmate.”

Instead of attending sessions on math and computers, LaSota would pull people aside to pitch ideas and engage in intense conversations, frequently insisting that MIRI should use the hemisphere theory as a rubric for who to hire, Salamon recalled.

“I was not willing to recommend to MIRI that they use LaSota’s psychological theory, nor that they hire LaSota,” Salamon said, surmising that LaSota revolted after realizing she would not consolidate power and influence within MIRI. LaSota then apparently used the theory of hemispheres to entice her own followers, Salamon said, and “manipulate a number of smart, mostly autistic-ish transwomen who were extremely vulnerable and isolated.”

 
fried clams said:
Privilege is a good descriptor here. The four people we know they've murdered were not murdered for ideological reasons, they were murdered for self-serving reasons. Lind for trying to evict them, the Zajkos likely for their estate, Agent Maland to avoid detention.
Click to expand...
I agree.

One thing a cult needs is money, since it often attracts penniless followers.

I wonder if they were trying to lucratively smuggle guns into Canada. Otherwise, why were the two in Vermont, near the border, instead of in the other locations?

JMO
 
Parsnip said:
It’s amazing to me how many zizians are in the wind: Jack LaSota (ziz), Daniel Blank, Michelle Zajko, Gwen Danielson…any others? Glad the FBI is on the case. These are frightening people. Moo.
Click to expand...
Daniel Blank is a missing person since just before the Zajko murders. Definitely the same Zizian-adjacent person based on photos.
 
I wonder if Ziz and Gwen are close or neck in neck partners in this (even though I understand Ziz is 'the leader').

They both faked their own deaths and were seen alive at the scene at the first attack of the landlord. Possibly 'overseeing' the other's work as Ziz must have instructed. I am curious if they stick together these two.
 
Parsnip said:
It’s amazing to me how many zizians are in the wind: Jack LaSota (ziz), Daniel Blank, Michelle Zajko, Gwen Danielson…any others? Glad the FBI is on the case. These are frightening people. Moo.
Click to expand...
I think they're all tied together as friends/associates, it's just that the story is being told piecemeal.

So did it start with whatever a group of people were doing in box trucks in Vellejo?

Several of them, who had apparently faked deaths or claimed to be missing, were likely there.

Nov 2022 - It appears at least 3 of them ganged up on the landlord, one of them was killed, another injured, landlord survived to tell police all he knew.

Was that attack an attempt to silence him? Make him disappear and carry on there in their box truck activity?

The group likely scattered, all left CA, tried to avoid being linked with each other by police.

Dec 2022 (one month later) - someone/some people murdered the Zajko's. Did the group intend to benefit from this? The mansion would have been under regular surveillance by police, and it would have taken time to wrap up the estate.

2024 - Youngblut was likely new to the group. She went missing in 2024, to first get engaged to Snyder, but then go live in an expensive rental in NC in association with Bauckholt, who was doing something in a box truck.

2025 What were Y and B doing in Vermont? Planning to disappear into Canada? (bad timing given Trump's crackdown on the border).

Was the whole group on edge because of the upcoming trial in California? And then, on the edge wondering whether the group members who killed Lind were going to be caught?

I think Youngblut maybe cracked up due to stress and drug use. She forgot that Vermont is a long, long way from California. Border officers wouldn't have arrested her or checked Washington applications for marriage licenses

IMO, it might all involve some kind of cyber crime, that's why the recruits being targetted are computer whizes.

IMO, the vegan/trans/AI/etc stuff is just the lure to get people involved and committed to the group's moneymaking activities.

I've just been reading about cults in the 60's and 70's, they were usually spouting Marxist-Leninism/Mao, etc, because idealistic young people would commit to anyone who talked that up.

JMO
 
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Many good points, @Cedars . Of course, we can only speculate at this point.

Imo, and I believe I included a newspaper.com article in the Zajko thread, plus what we know about the couple owning properties also from that thread, any heir to their lwat would be well-situated. Afaik, they only had one child. I include an obituary here as a reference.

Michael Mattero

www.batemanallenfuneralhome.com www.batemanallenfuneralhome.com

I have not yet researched their lwat, so I can’t directly state who stood to benefit from their deaths, but ime, their issue would be the likely heir.

You have many good points in your post, but I have to limit my response to just this one, as my time is limited for a day or two.
 
Who created the Sept 2022 obituary for Jack LaSota? If it was not Jack LaSota himself, did the person who created the obituary do so while knowing that LaSota was still alive? If they did, it was a hoax.

If (IF) the creator of the obituary was somebody other than LaSota (and if they knew that LaSota was alive), and if (IF) LaSota was being sought by LE at the time (perhaps related to the first attack on Curtis Lind?), would this be considered obstruction? What if others were involved in the hoax (again, if there was one)?

It seems at the very least that somebody falsely reported to the US Coast Guard back in August 2022 that LaSota “fell off a boat in San Francisco Bay”. Who reported this event to the USCG? It seems it would have had to have been somebody in the boat he supposedly went missing from. Given that LaSota was found to be alive months later, it appears that the “witness” who reported that Jack “fell off the boat” lied.

I would think that the USCG Report could only include the witness’s statement and the boat’s location at the time. LaSota was not found during the search. There was no factual evidence (avail to USCG) that he had ever even been on the boat. It was pure hearsay

Did an attorney supposedly representing Jack LaSota (“in a separate criminal case”) in August 2022 - really call Friedman (the “group’s attorney”) and tell Friedman that LaSota “fell from a boat in San Francisco Bay and was likely dead” based upon the USCG Report? If so, how did LaSota’s attorney come to that conclusion - given that it is unlikely that the USCG Report stated any of that as fact.

If LaSota’s attorney (in separate criminal case) did NOT say those words to Friedman in the phone call, how did Friedman come to the conclusion that LaSota was “likely dead” - something which he then suggested was true to the court?

It seems that one or both attorneys tried to make it appear that Jack LaSota was dead. Did they know otherwise at the time? Was there an ulterior motive for them to suggest that LaSota was dead (other than Friedman just wanting off the “group” case)?

Bizarre details uncovered about alleged Bay Area 'death cult' leader

All jmo
 
I think this article is new.

openvallejo.org

‘Zizian’ namesake who faked death in 2022 is wanted in two states

Jack “Ziz” LaSota has outstanding warrants in California and Pennsylvania for failing to appear in separate criminal cases. People warned about their bizarre, menacing behavior for years.
openvallejo.org openvallejo.org

It states that the initial attack on CL was because he was evicting the group from his property.

Although he was allegedly the only witness, I'm pretty sure police won't release the two facing trial: 'good news boys, we're closing the case and letting you go.'

It seems to me these computer nerds missed some key life lessons along the way.

JMO
 
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Rush4087 said:
Who created the Sept 2022 obituary for Jack LaSota? If it was not Jack LaSota himself, did the person who created the obituary do so while knowing that LaSota was still alive? If they did, it was a hoax.

If (IF) the creator of the obituary was somebody other than LaSota (and if they knew that LaSota was alive), and if (IF) LaSota was being sought by LE at the time (perhaps related to the first attack on Curtis Lind?), would this be considered obstruction? What if others were involved in the hoax (again, if there was one)?

It seems at the very least that somebody falsely reported to the US Coast Guard back in August 2022 that LaSota “fell off a boat in San Francisco Bay”. Who reported this event to the USCG? It seems it would have had to have been somebody in the boat he supposedly went missing from. Given that LaSota was found to be alive months later, it appears that the “witness” who reported that Jack “fell off the boat” lied.

I would think that the USCG Report could only include the witness’s statement and the boat’s location at the time. LaSota was not found during the search. There was no factual evidence (avail to USCG) that he had ever even been on the boat. It was pure hearsay

Did an attorney supposedly representing Jack LaSota (“in a separate criminal case”) in August 2022 - really call Friedman (the “group’s attorney”) and tell Friedman that LaSota “fell from a boat in San Francisco Bay and was likely dead” based upon the USCG Report? If so, how did LaSota’s attorney come to that conclusion - given that it is unlikely that the USCG Report stated any of that as fact.

If LaSota’s attorney (in separate criminal case) did NOT say those words to Friedman in the phone call, how did Friedman come to the conclusion that LaSota was “likely dead” - something which he then suggested was true to the court?

It seems that one or both attorneys tried to make it appear that Jack LaSota was dead. Did they know otherwise at the time? Was there an ulterior motive for them to suggest that LaSota was dead (other than Friedman just wanting off the “group” case)?

Bizarre details uncovered about alleged Bay Area 'death cult' leader

All jmo
Click to expand...
I wondered if Jack's family was in on the fake death too or they actually feel they've 'lost' their child to the Zizian world.
 
sunflowermomma said:
Is there any estimate of how many "Zizians" there are? Like, are there forums out there with thousands of people sharing these ideas, or could it be a weird fringe group of a dozen people? To be frank, I run in these kinds of circles - LGBTQ and vegans, UW - and I have never, ever heard of anything like this ever. MOO - with so many recent suspects named I hope they're able to shut this down before anything else happens.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. By nature I am “live and let live” person. Not that I run in these circles, but I tend to accept every person as a person. By my observation, LGBTQ+ are pretty harmless, but perhaps there are outliers in any group? Hard to tell yet what it is.
Let us think logically. The opposite group - conservative, disciplined, religious, masculine, hunters - might look more threatening, and yet, only a very small fringe would end up spreading violence, right? Same here, I think in groups who by default define themselves as “margins”, the majority is, actually, more “median” and stable. JMO.

We should come up with better vitamins for vegans. They don’t mind supplements, they mind getting them from animals.
 
Cedars said:
[RSBM]

IMO, the vegan/trans/AI/etc stuff is just the lure to get people involved and committed to the group's moneymaking activities.

I've just been reading about cults in the 60's and 70's, they were usually spouting Marxist-Leninism/Mao, etc, because idealistic young people would commit to anyone who talked that up.
Click to expand...
This is the key for the group's funds, I reckon--they hit upon a population with the perfect combination of means (tech development tends to pay relatively steadily) loneliness (trans folks are often isolated--ditto for autistic folks) and idealistic bleeding hearts (vegans, animal rights activists, "AI will save the world" types.)

You're spot-on with the hippie cult comparison. I was thinking of those scummy televangelists who make all their broadcasts in the daytime, day in and day out, on free-to-air TV channels. Perfectly timed so the lonesome elderly, and others who can't get out anymore, will sign over their Social Security check to pay for the preacher's fifth house.
sunflowermomma said:
Is there any estimate of how many "Zizians" there are? Like, are there forums out there with thousands of people sharing these ideas, or could it be a weird fringe group of a dozen people? To be frank, I run in these kinds of circles - LGBTQ and vegans, UW - and I have never, ever heard of anything like this ever. MOO - with so many recent suspects named I hope they're able to shut this down before anything else happens.
Click to expand...
I very much doubt they're more than a handful of people. The more members you have, the more likely it is someone'll post about it online--and there is practically nothing out there about the Zizians besides the court documents and a post warning people to be wary of the group. That, and the same people being arrested several years back for protesting a group with (on the surface) similar goals, saying it was not extreme enough. They weren't interested in growing.
 
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