How did a German math prodigy become entangled in a ‘cult’ linked to a string of killings across the country?

 Ophelia Bauckholt's life, once full of promise, came to a tragic end when she was killed in a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents in northern Vermont.

The suspects in the killing of a Border Patrol agent had been associating with multiple people suspected in a series of violent crimes across the U.S., prosecutors say.

Feb. 8, 2025, 6:00 PM GMT+6

Ophelia Bauckholt was thriving in the spring of 2023.

A mathematical prodigy from Germany, Bauckholt, 26 at the time, was earning over half a million dollars at a prestigious New York City trading firm while maintaining an active social life. Her Jersey City apartment served as a lively hub for her close-knit circle of friends—most of whom, like her, were highly educated transgender women.

“She was the glue of our friend group,” recalled her former roommate, Astra Kolomatskaia. “She was living a very good life.”

However, things took a dark turn in the ensuing months. Bauckholt withdrew from her friends, engaged in long phone calls with unnamed individuals, and frequently took mysterious weekend trips to undisclosed locations. Then, in November 2023, she boarded a flight from Newark Liberty International Airport and severed all ties with her friends, vanishing without explanation.

Until two weeks ago.

On January 20, 2025, Bauckholt was shot and killed during a gunfight with U.S. Border Patrol agents in northern Vermont. The confrontation erupted after agents stopped her vehicle. During the encounter, a woman traveling with Bauckholt, Teresa Youngblut, allegedly drew a firearm and opened fire on an agent, prompting return fire. According to an FBI affidavit, Bauckholt also brandished a weapon before she was fatally shot. The firefight claimed the life of Border Patrol agent David “Chris” Maland, while Youngblut was wounded and later taken into custody.

Bauckholt's shocking death devastated her once-close friends, though it did not entirely surprise them. Three friends who spoke with NBC News said she had fallen under the influence of a cultlike group linked to multiple killings, an attempted murder, and at least one staged death. At the heart of this enigmatic network was Jack Amadeus LaSota, known as "Ziz," a self-proclaimed Sith who identified as a woman.

LaSota and her followers, often referred to by critics as “Zizians,” were described as intelligent, tech-savvy vegans, many of whom were transgender women. Their ideology centered on an obsessive fear of artificial intelligence. Some members had been implicated in a series of violent crimes. One associate was a person of interest in a Pennsylvania double homicide, two others were charged in a brutal sword attack in California, and another was later accused of murdering the same California man to prevent him from testifying against the group.

“There are a lot of young people who could have had stable lives but ended up entangled with the network around LaSota,” said Anna Salamon, co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Applied Rationality. The center, which began hosting events in Berkeley, California, in 2012, aimed to build a community of rational thinkers committed to improving the world through logic and mathematics.

Salamon now believes that these gatherings created fertile ground for manipulation. Among the attendees was LaSota, a tall, curly-haired computer programmer from Alaska who graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Initially unassuming, LaSota's intensity became evident during a 2018 retreat, where she espoused radical beliefs about human consciousness.

According to her blog, LaSota believed humans possessed dual minds—each hemisphere capable of being good or evil. She also asserted that only a rare few, including herself, were "double good."

“If you’re young and naive and someone convinces you that you’re actually two people, one good and one sinister, and that the fate of the world depends on your choices, that’s a powerful setup for manipulation,” Salamon said.

LaSota’s blog also detailed her religious devotion to Sith philosophy, referencing characters from "Star Wars." She claimed that law enforcement harassed her for wearing black robes, which she considered sacred attire. For a time, she lived aboard a docked tugboat near San Francisco before relocating to a Vallejo property owned by Curtis Lind, an elderly man she and her associates later attacked.

Tensions between LaSota and the Center for Applied Rationality escalated. In November 2019, she and three others, dressed in robes and Guy Fawkes masks, blocked access to a retreat hosted by the center in Sonoma County, leading to felony conspiracy charges. While out on bail, LaSota later faked her own death in 2022, allegedly falling off a boat in San Francisco Bay. An obituary appeared in her hometown paper, and her lawyer was informed of her "death." However, she resurfaced in Pennsylvania months later, interfering in a homicide investigation involving Rita and Richard Zajko, a murdered couple whose daughter, Michelle Zajko, had been arrested in connection with the case.

In early 2023, police arrested LaSota at a Philadelphia hotel, where she pretended to be unconscious. She was charged with obstructing justice and later released on bail, only to disappear once more.

Meanwhile, Bauckholt had become increasingly immersed in Zizian ideology. A gifted mathematician, she had won a gold medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics and studied at the University of Waterloo in Canada. After graduating, she joined Tower Research Capital in New York as a quantitative trader, where she made a fortune but remained frugal, donating much of her income to charity.

Jessica Taylor, an AI researcher who met Bauckholt in 2022, recalled warning her against Ziz and the Zizians, whom she considered a "death cult." But Bauckholt seemed captivated by their ideas.

By January 2025, Bauckholt and Youngblut were under federal surveillance as they traveled through Vermont. When Border Patrol agents stopped their Toyota Prius, a deadly shootout ensued. The incident is still under investigation, and prosecutors have not disclosed whether Agent Maland was struck by a bullet fired by Youngblut or a fellow officer.

Authorities later found a cache of weapons and tactical gear in the car, including 48 rounds of hollow-point ammunition, a ballistic helmet, and night vision equipment. Prosecutors allege that Youngblut and Bauckholt had been in frequent contact with individuals connected to previous violent crimes, including Michelle Zajko and LaSota.

The case remains open, with LaSota’s whereabouts unknown. Prosecutors continue to investigate the extent of her involvement in these crimes.

For those who knew Bauckholt, her tragic end is a sobering reminder of how even the brightest minds can fall prey to dangerous influences.