The obvious leader of a cult-like group known as Gigian was arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said.
Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zaico, 33, of Pennsylvania Media. Police said Monday that they face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing, obstructing and possessing a handgun in a vehicle.
A bail hearing for the two is scheduled for 11am Tuesday at Alleghany District Court.
Gigian is tied to the murder of US border patrol agent David Malland near the Canadian border in January, as well as five other murders in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania and California.
Marand, 44, was killed in a January 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32km) from the Canadian border.
Authorities have provided few details about the cross-country investigation that broke after Malan’s death. Associated Press interviews and court records and reviews of online posts, a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists in their 20s and 30s share anarchist beliefs online, increasingly violent It’s a story about how you do what you’ve done.
Their goals are not clear, but their online writing ranges from fundamental veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.
In the middle is “Ziz.” He appears to be the leader of a strange group member who called himself “Gijian.” She is seen close to multiple crime scenes and has connections with various suspects.
Lasota published a dark, sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz, and in one section he explained the theory that two hemispheres of the brain retain their individual values and genders, and “often want to kill each other.”
Lasota, who used her/her pronouns, and in her writings, she is a trans woman, primarily working online and includes so-called rationalist groups who try to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. He opposed the perceived enemy. Some are interested in the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
Lasota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent weeks, and her lawyer, Daniel McGarrigle, will comment when asked if she was involved in her death. I refused. Before her weekend arrest, she missed a court appearance in two states and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.
McGarrigle, who reached Monday, confirmed that he is representing Lasota and would not review her arrest or details of the latest incident.
