Cumberland, Maryland – The leader of a cult-like group related to the murders of six people in three states was held in Maryland without bail on Tuesday, where she faced trespassing and other charges .
Jack Lasota, 34, of Berkeley, California, and two other people arrested alongside her on Sunday, appeared at a video conference for a bail hearing at Alleghany District Court. The judge described them as dangerous flight risks, all three of them being detained without bail.
Alleghany County State Attorney James Elliott said Lasota had falsified her own death in the past, “seems to be the leader of an extremist group known as Gigian.”
However, Lasota, known online as Ziz, sought pretrial release, saying she was homeless and had no means of travel. She also requested a vegan diet and said she was “in a mild delirium” due to a lack of food.
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” she told the judge.
Members of the group called Gigian by others have been linked to the death of a woman during the attack on a California landlord in November 2022, the murder of a landlord in January, and the death of a Pennsylvanian couple in between. . More recently, the group has been linked to a Vermont highway shootout, killing US Border Patrol agents and car passengers.
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The Pennsylvania victims were the parents of Michelle Zaico, who was arrested for Lasota and Daniel Blanc. All three of them all said after a resident of Frostburg, Maryland asked police to park two box trucks on their property and camp there for a month. He was charged with trespassing and obstruction law enforcement. Zaico, 32, of Pennsylvania Media, was also charged with resisting arrest and carrying a handgun. Lasota has been charged with carrying a gun in a vehicle.
Police said they were wearing black clothes and two gun belts carrying ammunition. Officers found a rifle behind one truck and a handgun on the floor floor board. Police said he refused to put his hands behind him and that Zaiko, who was taken to the ground, had also been taken to the ground.
Prosecutor Elliott said two other guns Zajko purchased in connection with the death of the January 20th shooting death of Border Patrol Chris Malland, 44, following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont. said it was recovered. Felix Buckholt, a passenger in the car, has also passed away, and driver Teresa Youngbrute pleaded not guilty to federal firearms charges.
Officials are concerned that the guns they carry were the deaths of Richard and Rita Zaico of Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, on December 31, 2022, and that Youngblatt was in close contact with people of interest. It says it was purchased by someone. Murder in Valleyho, California.
Maximilian Snyder, who applied for a marriage license with Youngblut in November, survived a previous attack by members of the Gigian Group on January 17th and was set to testify against Curtis Lind, Vallejo landlord, who was set to testify against them. He was charged with stabbing death.
Although authorities provide little details about the cross-country investigation, Associated Press interviews and court records and reviews of online posts are a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists in their 20s and 30s It tells the story of how they met. Online, they shared anarchist beliefs and became increasingly violent.
Their goals are not clear, but their online writing included topics such as fundamental veganism, gender identity, and artificial intelligence. In the middle is Lasota, a trans woman who published a dark, sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz.
Rebecca Francourt Breeden, the official defense attorney representing Lasota, said she has spoken with Lasota’s mother twice since her arrest. The lawyers focused on Lasota’s educational achievements, including a degree in computer engineering.
“This is the very cheerful person we deal with,” she said.
Francouer-Breeden also represents Zajko and 26-year-old Blank of Sacramento, California. Zajko and Blank did not directly address the charges against them during the hearing or through lawyers. Zajko claimed that she should be released before trial and had an impressive list of master’s degrees and internships.
Francouer-Breeden described the blank as a “brilliant young man” with serious mental health concerns, and said he was listed as a person who was missing or in danger of extinction before his arrest. Blank’s stepfather also spoke to the judge, and although he had never seen Blank in two years, he tried to get a home in his hometown to ensure he would appear in court.
Pennsylvania State Police records explain the void as a housemate of Zaico in Vermont. In January 2023, police investigated the shooting death of Zaiko’s parents and detained both Lasota and the blank at the hotel where Zaiko was staying. No spaces were charged. Lasota was charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct.
By Lea Skene, Holly Ramer and Patrick Whittle
