Bizarre connection found between Vermont border agent’s death and CA homicide

Less than a week after a woman from Seattle was charged in connection to the fatal shooting of a U.S. border patrol agent in Vermont, a man from Seattle was arrested and charged with murder in Northern California — and it appears the two arrests are related.

Officers with Solano County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Curtis Lind, an 82-year-old landlord, was stabbed to death. At approximately 12:40 a.m. Jan. 17. Maximilian Snyder, 22, was arrested in Redding, Calif., and charged with Lind’s murder in Solano County Superior Court, according to court documents obtained by The Seattle Times.

While running a background check on Snyder and pooling over previous legal documentation regarding the suspect, it was revealed that Snyder had applied for a marriage license last November to Teresa Youngblut, 21, a Seattle resident who was a former high school classmate of his. Youngblut was arrested just a week earlier for her involvement in the shootout and subsequent death of Border Patrol Agent David Maland, 44. Maland died Jan. 20 during a shootout in a Vermont town near the Canadian border called Coventry.

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Youngblut is currently facing two weapons charges —  intentional use of a deadly weapon while forcibly assaulting or interfering with federal law enforcement, and use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to an assault with a deadly weapon.

Youngblut’s connection with Snyder

Youngblut and Snyder attended Lakeside School together. Lakeside School is a private 5-12 grade school in North Seattle, famous for being where Bill Gates and Paul Allen first met.

Snyder graduated in 2020 and Youngblut graduated two years later. Snyder studied computer science and philosophy at Oxford, according to his now-discovered LinkedIn profile, while Youngblut attended the University of Washington (UW).

While there’s no confirmation the couple officially got married after applying for a marriage license last November, neighbors told The Seattle Times that the couple had moved in within the last few months. Their marriage application listed a Kirkland address.

Last May, Youngblut’s parents reported to the Seattle Police Department (SPD) that she was missing. In the account, first reported by The Seattle Times, they said she had left home with duffel bags full of personal belongings, including her passport and medical records.

According to Open Vallejo, the two followed a fringe, self-described “vegan Sith” ideology that started in the Bay Area. The ideology had connections to violence, according to police records, an interview with a person familiar with the group and social media and blog posts reviewed by Open Vallejo.

A motion filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont alleged that Youngblut had been in frequent contact with “a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Vallejo, California,” according to The Associated Press. The Vallejo homicide suspect was also previously detained but not charged in connection with a double homicide in Pennsylvania, according to federal prosecutors.

Youngblut’s arrest after Vermont shootout

Yungblut was traveling with Felix Bauckholt, a German citizen, and the pair had been under surveillance for several days. Investigators had been performing “periodic surveillance” of Youngblut and Bauckholt since Jan. 14 after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported concerns after seeing Youngblut carrying a gun and she and Bauckholt wearing black tactical gear.

According to an FBI affidavit obtained by The Associated Press, a border agent pulled over Youngblut and Bauckholt on Interstate 91 (I-91) to conduct an immigration inspection.

Youngblut, who had been driving Bauckholt’s car, got out and opened fire on Maland and other officers without warning, the FBI alleged. Bauckholt tried to draw a gun but was shot, the affidavit stated. Bauckholt was killed during the shootout.

Prosecutors: Woman charged in killing of Border Patrol agent was in contact with homicide suspect

At least one border agent fired on Youngblut and Bauckholt, but authorities haven’t specified whose bullets hit whom.

During a search of the car after the shootout, authorities found cellphones wrapped in foil, a ballistic helmet, night-vision goggles, respirators and ammunition, the FBI said. They also found a package of shooting range targets, including some that had been used, two-way radios, about a dozen “electronic devices,” travel and lodging information for multiple states, and an apparent journal.

“This investigation remains very active, and the legal process continues,” FBI spokeswoman Sarah Ruane said in a statement last weekend.

Agent Maland’s tragic death

David Maland, the U.S. Border Patrol agent who was killed in Vermont during a traffic stop near the Canadian border, was a military veteran who worked security duty at the Pentagon during the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, his family said.

“He was a devoted agent who served with honor and bravery,” a family statement provided to The Associated Press late Wednesday said. “He had a tremendous respect and pride for the work he did; he truly embodied service over self.”

More on Agent Maland: Border Patrol agent killed in Vermont worked at the Pentagon during 9/11, family says

Maland was also a U.S. Air Force veteran, the FBI confirmed.

This is a developing story, check back for updates

Contributing: The Associated Press

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.