How did a German math genius get drawn into a ‘cult’ accused in coast-to-coast killings?

Ophelia Bauckholt was living her best life in spring 2023.

A math whiz from Germany, Bauckholt, then 26, was making more than a half-million dollars at a New York City trading firm and juggling a bustling social calendar. Her apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey, was the gathering place for her network of friends, most of whom were highly educated transgender women like her.

“She was the glue of our friend group,” Bauckholt’s roommate at the time, Astra Kolomatskaia, said. “She was living a very good life.”

But over the next few months, things turned dark.

Bauckholt began to retreat from her friends and talk on the phone for long periods of time to people she wouldn’t identify. She started taking frequent weekend flights to places she wouldn’t talk about. And then, in November 2023, she hopped on a flight out of Newark Liberty International Airport and cut off all contact with her friends, leaving them with no idea where she had gone.

Until two weeks ago.

That’s when Bauckholt was shot dead in a gunbattle with U.S. Border Patrol agents in northern Vermont. It broke out after agents pulled over Bauckholt’s car on Jan. 20. At some point during the traffic stop, a woman riding with Bauckholt drew a gun and opened fire on one of the agents, prosecutors say, prompting at least one agent to shoot back.

Bauckholt was fatally shot after she pulled out a firearm, according to an FBI affidavit. (Bauckholt, who transitioned to female after college, is referred to in court documents by her birth name, Felix.) A border agent, David “Chris” Maland, was also killed in the gunfire exchange. And the woman in Bauckholt’s car, Teresa Youngblut, who authorities say had fired at agents, was wounded.

The headline-grabbing death of their gentle, generous friend has left Bauckholt’s once-close circle reeling.

But it did not come as a total shock, three people who knew her told NBC News.

Bauckholt, her friends say, had been drawn into a cultlike group that has since been linked to six killings, one attempted murder and at least one faked death, according to court records. Its leader is an enigmatic Alaska native named Jack Amadeus LaSota, who goes by Ziz and identifies as a woman, according to multiple people who have interacted with LaSota and her associates.

LaSota is known for wearing dark robes and describing herself as Sith, a reference to the evil figures in the “Star Wars” franchise.

People who know LaSota’s small group of associates describe them as smart, techie vegans, many of them transgender women, who share an obsession with the dangers of artificial intelligence. They have been dubbed by LaSota’s critics as “Zizians.”

One person connected to the group has been identified by prosecutors as a person of interest in the killing of a Pennsylvania couple.

Two have been charged with attacking an older California man with a sword and other weapons, leaving him blind in one eye. And just last month, a fourth associate was charged with murdering that same California man to prevent him from testifying against those involved in the initial assault, prosecutors say.

“There are a lot of young people…who would have had OK lives except they bumped into the network around LaSota,” said Anna Salamon, a co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Applied Rationality, who had organized events that were attended by LaSota and some of her associates now suspected in the deaths in California, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

The Center for Applied Rationality began to organize gatherings in Berkeley, California, where it is based, in 2012.

Its founders were seeking to build a community of so-called rationalists, people who are committed to using mathematical and logical principles to improve the world.

“We saw AI as something that was really, really important that we needed to get really, really right or it would be really, really bad,” Salamon said. “We didn’t know this at the time, but in hindsight we were creating conditions for a cult.”

Bauckholt and her traveling companion, Teresa Youngblut, had been under surveillance for several days this past January before U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over their Toyota Prius for an immigration check, according to federal prosecutors in Vermont.

The circumstances of the shooting that followed are still under investigation. Prosecutors have not said whether they believe David Maland, the fallen agent, was struck by one of the bullets Youngblut allegedly fired or by a shot from a fellow agent.

Prosecutors have said that Youngblut and Bauckholt were traveling with a large collection of weapons and tactical gear, including 48 rounds of.380-caliber jacketed hollow point ammunition, a ballistic helmet and night vision equipment.

In seeking to convince a judge that Youngblut should remain in jail, prosecutors said in court papers that she had been associating with people “suspected of violent acts.” The handguns possessed by Bauckholt and Youngblut were purchased by a “person of interest” in a double homicide in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

That appears to be a reference to Michelle Zajko, the daughter of the dead couple.

An alert sent to licensed firearms dealers in Vermont by the U.S. Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, said the agency was “asking for your assistance in identifying any firearms purchases made by Michelle Jacqueline Zajko, a person of interest in the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection Officer on Jan. 20, 2025.”

The murder occurred three days before the border agent shootout.

Snyder was set to be arraigned Thursday, but the hearing was postponed after his attorney told the court she was no longer representing him. The court docket indicates that he has yet to hire a new lawyer.

Back in Vermont, residents are trying to come to grips with the dizzying revelations of coast-to-coast crimes that prosecutors say are linked to associates of the two people involved in the border agent shootout.

“It’s just a shocking situation,” said Vincent Illuzzi, a longtime prosecutor and former state senator for Essex County, Vermont, which neighbors the county where the border agent shooting took place.

Illuzzi said he suspects the individuals involved in the border shootout and their associates saw his rural and remote corner of the country as an ideal place to hide out.

In the days and weeks after the shooting, Bauckholt’s friends have spent hours digging deeper into the so-called Zizians and comparing notes on conversations they had with the person they knew as Ophelia.

They suspect that she didn’t recognize the warning signs as she gradually became more entangled in the group’s nefarious activities.

“I know Ophelia well enough to know that she would not have voluntarily ended up in the situation that she did,” said Kolomatskaia, her former roommate.

“This came as a result of a long string of bad decisions that were made on the basis of her falsely thinking that she didn’t have other options. She is very naive, altruistic and trusting, and that makes her exploitable.”

Conclusion

The tragic story of Ophelia Bauckholt serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of manipulation and the importance of recognizing the warning signs of cult-like behavior. As authorities continue to investigate the links between the Zizians and the coast-to-coast killings, it is essential to remember that even the most intelligent and capable individuals can fall prey to the allure of extremist ideologies.

FAQs

What is the Zizians cult?

The Zizians are a group of individuals who are believed to be connected to the deaths of several people across the United States. The group is led by an enigmatic figure named Jack Amadeus LaSota, who goes by Ziz and identifies as a woman. The Zizians are known for their obsession with artificial intelligence and their belief in the dangers of humanity.

What is the connection between the Zizians and the border agent shooting?

The Zizians are suspected of being connected to the shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont. The agent was killed in a gunbattle with a woman who was riding in a car with the agent, Teresa Youngblut. Youngblut is believed to have been associated with the Zizians and is charged with multiple counts of murder.

What is the motive behind the Zizians’ actions?

The motive behind the Zizians’ actions is not yet clear. However, it is believed that the group is motivated by a belief in the dangers of artificial intelligence and a desire to prevent humanity from being destroyed. The group is also known for their