Hotel security video of charged suspect Teresa Youngblut and dead suspect Felix Bauckholt in the shooting death case of the U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Chris Maland.

» HUNTER: Border agent shooting linked to three other homicides


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The gun was well-travelled.

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Federal prosecutors say the firearm allegedly used by Teresa “Milo” Youngblut in a Vermont roadside shootout that left a Border Patrol agent and her accomplice dead 32 km south of the Canadian border had been tied to other murders.

On Jan. 20, Youngblut, 21, and German national Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt, a graduate of the University of Waterloo, were pulled over in his 2015 Toyota Prius for an immigration inspection on I-91.

Cops allege she emerged from the vehicle shooting while Bauckholt tried to get his gun but was cut down and died at the scene. Veteran border agent David “Chris” Maland, 44, died later in hospital.

U.S. Border Patrol agent David “Chris” Maland, 44, was killed on Jan. 20, 2025.
U.S. Border Patrol agent David “Chris” Maland, 44, was killed on Jan. 20, 2025. Photo by @USBPChief /X

What has emerged is a bizarre tale of a radical cult coupled with murders in California, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

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On Jan. 2, 2023, 72-year-old Richard Zajko and 69-year-old Rita Zajko were found shot to death in their home in Chester Heights, Pa.., a suburb of Philadelphia. Detectives described the double murder as “not random.”

Investigators say the weapon used in the border shootout was purchased from a “person of interest” in the Pennsylvania murders who now resides in Vermont.

Gun retrieved at scene of Vermont tragedy linked to Philly double murder of Richard and Rita Zajko. PPD
Gun retrieved at scene of Vermont tragedy linked to Philly double murder of Richard and Rita Zajko. PPD

Court documents revealed that math whiz Bauckholt flew back into the U.S. just hours before the murders, although it was unclear whether he had any connection to the shocking slayings.

Prosecutors added that Youngblut was in “frequent contact” with the individual who was questioned in the Philly murders. That person has now been arrested for a separate murder in Vallejo, in the San Francisco Bay area of California.

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According to OpenVallejo.org, Maximilian Snyder, 22, a data scientist, was arrested in the Jan. 17, stabbing death of Curtis Lind, 82, a local landlord. He has been charged with murder and two enhancements.

WEDDED MISS? Accused killer Maximilian Snyder was on a marriage licence application with Vermont suspect Teresa Youngblut. LINKEDIN
WEDDED MISS? Accused killer Maximilian Snyder was on a marriage licence application with Vermont suspect Teresa Youngblut. LINKEDIN

Lind had been slated to testify in a vicious 2022 attack during which he was impaled with a sword and blinded in one eye. The elderly man was attacked by several young people who lived on his property. A trial had been slated for April.

In the 2022 attack, Lind managed to shoot and kill Emma Borhanian, 31 and injured another person. Cops ruled self-defence.

However, Solano County prosecutors charged Suri Dao and Alexander Jeffrey Leatham with murder, attempted murder, and aggravated mayhem in the death of Borhanian, and the attempted murder of Lind.

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MURDERED: Curtis Lind was slain days before the Vermont shootout. He was slated to tesify in a murder trial. GOFUNDME
MURDERED: Curtis Lind was slain days before the Vermont shootout. He was slated to tesify in a murder trial. GOFUNDME

Interestingly enough, Maximilian Snyder and Teresa Youngblut were the names on an application for a Washington marriage licence, which the pair inked in November. It is unclear if the nuptials went forward.

According to online reports and OpenVallejo.org, Snyder, Youngblut and Bauckholt all followed a self-described “vegan Sith” ideology.

Posts in a wide variety of online forums attributed the murders to a group called the Zizians after its leader, Jack “Ziz” LaSota. They believe in using scientific techniques to improve decision-making.

DEAD: Cops ruled Lind killed trans activist Emma Borhanian, 31, in self-defense. SCSD
DEAD: Cops ruled Lind killed trans activist Emma Borhanian, 31, in self-defense. SCSD

Like the others, Snyder had a glittering academic record, studying computer science and philosophy at the prestigious Oxford University.

Youngblut and Baukholt had been under surveillance in Vermont since Jan. 14 when they raised suspicions among locals with their black, tactical clothes, N-95 masks and her obvious gun. They told investigators they were looking for property in the area.

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And then came the bloodbath.

Youngblut was also shot in the encounter and taken to a New Hampshire hospital for treatment.

Cops later discovered a large cache of weapons in the Prius, tactical gear, 48 rounds of .380-calibre jacketed hollow point bullets, a ballistic helmet, and night vision equipment.

Youngblut appeared in court on Monday and has been charged with intentional use of a deadly weapon while forcibly assaulting or interfering with federal law enforcement and the use and discharge of a firearm in relation to an assault with a deadly weapon.

Court records say one of the shooters who opened fire on US Border Patrol agents, killing one, is former Waterloo student Fleix Bauckholt. He also died in the gunfire.
Court records say one of the shooters who opened fire on US Border Patrol agents, killing one, is former Waterloo student Felix Bauckholt. He also died in the gunfire.

Prosecutors want Youngblut kept caged, calling her a danger to the public and a flight risk. She is slated to be back in court on Thursday.

Prosecutors said in a court filing: “An originally peaceful interaction between the United States Border Patrol and the occupants of a vehicle became confrontational based on the defendant’s conduct, and she then unnecessarily and inexplicably escalated to deadly violence.”

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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