Cult Leader Arrested
The alleged leader of a Bay Area "murder cult" has been apprehended, along with several other purported members of the enigmatic group. Jack LaSota, a 34-year-old blogger from Berkeley, was taken into custody in Maryland on Sunday. LaSota, who identifies as a transgender woman and is known online as "Ziz," has been linked to a loose-knit group that espouses a unique blend of techno-fundamentalism and has been connected to multiple homicides.

Charges and Arrests
Ziz has been charged with trespassing, obstructing and hindering, and possession of a handgun, according to the Associated Press. Two other apparent members of the group, Michelle Zajko, 32, of Media, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Blank, 26, of Sacramento, California, were also taken into custody. These arrests are the latest in a case that spans multiple states and is believed to be connected to at least six murders.

Previous Arrests and Connections
Previous arrests in the case include Maximilian Snyder, who has been accused of stabbing an 82-year-old California landlord to death, and 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut, who is implicated in the shooting death of a Border Patrol officer in Vermont. Interestingly, Snyder and Youngblut have also been connected via a marriage license, although it is unclear if they are actually married. Another alleged member of the group, Felix "Ophelia" Bauckholt, a German citizen and quantitative trader, was killed during the Vermont shootout.

Unsolved Murders and Faked Death
The parents of recently arrested Michelle Zajko were found murdered in her Pennsylvania home in 2022, and police suspect that these unsolved homicides may be related to the recent string of deaths. In a bizarre twist, LaSota was previously thought to be dead, with the U.S. Coast Guard responding to reports that he had fallen into the San Francisco Bay in the summer of 2022. However, LaSota subsequently reappeared in Vallejo and was contacted by police at the site of another crime, leading to reports that he had faked his own death.

The Zizians: A "Death Cult"
The Zizians have been described as a "death cult" and a "murder gang," although the connections between all of the group’s alleged members are not yet fully clear. Many of the group’s members seem to have lived and traveled together, with some residing on a property in Vallejo, California, owned by Curtis Lind, the 82-year-old landlord who was recently stabbed to death, allegedly by Snyder. The group’s broader mission remains a mystery, although they appear to have a distinct ideology that includes veganism, AI doomerism, and the "rationalist" movement.

Online Activity and Ideology
The group’s online activity has been traced to the popular e-forum LessWrong, where they have posted their thoughts and beliefs. In a bizarre statement dictated to journalists at The San Francisco Chronicle, murder suspect Snyder addressed Eliezer Yudkowsky, the founder of LessWrong, calling for him to have a "crisis of faith" over his beliefs. The Zizians’ ideology is characterized by a unique blend of techno-fundamentalism and rationalism, which has been laid out in various online posts and statements.