Judge allows members of Zizians group to work together on defense ahead of Maryland trial
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Cumberland, Md. (AP) — Three members of the Zizians, a cultlike group linked to six deaths across the U.S., were granted permission Friday to work together in preparation for their upcoming trial on trespassing, weapons and drug charges.
Authorities have described LaSota, a transgender woman known as Ziz, as the apparent leader of the “extremist group.” Since 2022, Zizians have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the deaths of Zajko’s parents in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left another member and a U.S. Border Patrol agent dead.
LaSota, Zajko and Blank were arrested in February after a property owner said he found them living in box trucks on his land in Frostburg, Maryland. Zajko was charged in Vermont with lying on her application to buy the gun used to kill agent David Maland in January 2025, while LaSota faces separate federal charges of being an armed fugitive.
On her way into the courthouse Friday, LaSota accused prosecutors of pressuring the trio to commit perjury by accepting plea deals and said, “They’re violating our speedy trial rights.” Friday’s hearing was supposed to include discussions of the trio’s motions to dismiss the charges and logistics of the trial that begins Feb. 9. Much of the agenda was postponed until Jan. 30 after Zajko indicated a desire to fire her attorney.
Read more https://apnews.com/article/zizians-maryland-trial-hearing-lasota-cult-murder-519a90fe037bd6e232243daf60533813
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