An alleged killer linked to a cult-like group that's being investigated for as many as six killings was back in a Vallejo courtroom on Friday.
Maximillian Snyder, 22, is facing murder charges for the stabbing death of 82-year-old Curtis Lind. Prosecutors said Snyder killed the senior to keep him from testifying against two of Lind's former tenants accused of attacking their landlord with a samurai sword in 2022.
"It's tragic and shakes the foundation of our system when one of our witnesses is killed before he testifies," said prosecutor Paul Sequeira.
Prosecutors believe that Lind's case may be the start of a web of violence potentially linked to members of a Bay Area-born cult known as the Zizians.
NBC News describes the group as smart techies who share an obsession with the dangers of artificial intelligence.
"Many of them appear to be very intelligent. Highly educated at top universities with degrees in computer, science, and related fields," said Anna Bauman, a reporter with Open Vallejo.
Jack "Ziz" LaSota, a transgender woman, is believed to be the group's leader.
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Ziz, who used to live on Lind's Vallejo property, was arrested on Sunday in Maryland with two of her alleged followers, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank. The trip faces charges that include trespassing and obstruction.
Blank is a graduate of the University of Califonia, Berkeley. His father told NBC Bay Area they consider their son a victim of a cult and does not believe he's connected to any serious crime.
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Zajko was previously named a person of interest in the 2022 shooting deaths of her parents in Pennsylvania, which are murders that remain unsolved. Investigators also said she purchased a gun used in the killing of a border patrol agent in Vermont.
The suspect who allegedly used that gun was 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut. She attended a private King County Washington high school with Snyder, and both recently applied for a marriage license.
"Those who know them and are willing to talk to me about them are not willing to show their face are not willing to have their name appear in any story because they don't know what these people might do next," said Rick Schapiro, NBC Investigative Reporter.
Associate Professor Poulomi Saha - an expert in cults - said she isn't ready to label the Ziziajns a cult yet but says the group, now potentially linked to 6 killings from coast to coast, has undoubtedly captured the fascination of many.
"Many of us are obsessed with cults," said Saha, a UC Berkeley associate professor. "So to see what seems to be a real-life unfolding of a story that we imagine in 10 years we may be watching on Netflix is absolutely fascinating."
