Three Zizians face trial together in Maryland amid sprawling federal investigation

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — Three members of a violent cultlike group, including its alleged ringleader, will be tried together on charges of trespassing, gun and drug possession after police discovered them camping in box trucks in rural western Maryland.

The group known as Zizians, which attracted a fringe contingent of computer scientists who connected online over their shared anarchist beliefs, has been linked to six killings spanning three states in recent years.

The Maryland cases were originally scheduled for separate trials, but the defendants requested a joint proceeding despite concerns from their attorneys; a judge granted the request following a court hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Jack “Ziz” LaSota and her associates Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank were arrested in February after a man told police that “suspicious” people had parked two box trucks on his property and asked to camp there for a month, according to authorities. The trucks were found in a largely remote wooded area near the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, a mountainous region dotted with small towns.

LaSota, a transgender woman who’s regarded as the group leader, entered the courtroom Tuesday hoisting a brown paper bag filled with documents. Throughout the hearing, LaSota and Zajko repeatedly interjected to address the judge directly, disregarding conventional courtroom practices and occasionally speaking over their attorneys. The regular interruptions added to the already unusual circumstances of the case, which hinges on the findings of federal investigators despite being prosecuted in state court.

The main issue discussed Tuesday was the timeline of the proceedings. After the trio was arrested in February on trespassing and illegal gun possession charges, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment last month with new allegations, including LSD possession.

Defense attorneys argued prosecutors are trying to slow-walk the case while federal authorities continue investigating the Zizians.

“Their interest in delaying this trial may be to put something together in another jurisdiction,” said attorney George McKinley, who represents Zajko.

Zajko also told Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Michael Twigg that she believes the delays are “to stop the death penalty from being carried out in another case” — referring to Teresa Youngblut, another alleged group member who was arrested in the January shooting death of a border patrol agent in Vermont.

Allegany County State’s Attorney James Elliott vehemently denied the accusations that Maryland prosecutors are intentionally dragging their feet. He said federal investigators only recently provided his office with test results confirming the presence of LSD, which prompted the superseding indictment.

He also objected to LaSota and Zajko addressing the court, saying it would drag out the proceedings even longer than anticipated. He estimated the joint trial could take at least two weeks.

“This is a motions hearing,” he said, exasperated. “It isn’t everybody gets to participate.”

LaSota, meanwhile, claimed there was “a double standard being applied” in terms of delaying the case. Several times she raised her hand and spoke haltingly, often pausing to search for the right words. At other times, the co-defendants whispered urgently among themselves.

LaSota also faces a federal charge of being an armed fugitive. She possessed several firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to federal prosecutors in Maryland.

Zajko faces federal firearms charges in Vermont because police allege she purchased weapons recovered in connection with the border patrol agent’s killing.

In January 2023, police questioned Zajko after her parents were found shot to death in their Pennsylvania home. She hasn’t been charged in their deaths, though LaSota was arrested on obstruction and disorderly conduct charges after police again contacted Zajko at a Pennsylvania hotel. Pennsylvania state police records describe Blank as Zajko’s housemate in Vermont.

It’s not clear how the trio ended up in the mountains of far western Maryland, where their presence in the close-knit rural community left locals perplexed. Police said they were wearing black tactical gear.

Zajko recently filed a handwritten motion arguing the box trucks actually weren’t on private property. It includes a meticulously drawn sketch showing the trucks parked along a public dirt road. She also claimed that the man who reported their presence to police never saw Blank.

Blank’s attorney, Rebecca Lechliter, argued during Tuesday’s hearing that what started as a trespassing case was being blown out of proportion. She said she plans to continue advocating for Blank’s release from jail pending trial.