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CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — On Friday, a member of a collective referred to by outsiders as the Zizians, tied to six fatal incidents, secured bail from a Maryland jail.
Authorities in Maryland have linked Jack “Ziz” LaSota, Michelle Zajko, and Daniel Blank to murder investigations spanning California, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. This connection was made after a landowner discovered them residing in box trucks at the end of a snow-draped dirt road last February, as outlined in court documents and pretrial hearings.
Daniel Blank was released on bail around noon on Friday after posting a $15,000 bond. His attorney, Rebecca Lechliter, chose not to provide any comments. Meanwhile, Zajko and LaSota continue to be held in custody without the option of bail.
As part of Blank’s release conditions, he must reside alone and comply with GPS monitoring.
Last year, the group’s involvement in six deaths was confirmed, including the killing of a U.S. border agent in Vermont. Subsequently, the trio was apprehended on charges of trespassing and firearms violations in the forests of western Maryland. Currently, seven members of the group are incarcerated across three states, all awaiting trial.
Maryland state Trooper Brandon Jeffries wrote after their Feb. 16, 2025 arrests that all the “suspects involved are to be questioned regarding other crimes that have occurred across the country and have ties with the Zizians Cult.”
Called “Zizians” by outsiders, the young, highly intelligent computer scientists appear to share radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity and artificial intelligence. Since 2022, members have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the shooting deaths of Zajko’s parents in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left the border agent and another Zizian dead.
Jury selection was supposed to start recently in Cumberland, Maryland, where LaSota, Zajko and Blank are charged with possession of LSD and possession with intent to deliver LSD, multiple gun violations, trespassing and hindering a police officer.
The trial was delayed until June, however, after Zajko, who also is charged with resisting arrest, fired her attorney, briefly represented herself and hired a new lawyer.