Maryland State police have arrested two people in connection with a string of homicides nationally, including several deaths in California, two deaths in Pennsylvania and the shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont this year. Taken into custody were Jack "Ziz" Lasota, 34, and Michelle Zajko, 32. Authorities believe Zajko supplied the guns that were used in the January shooting of Border Patrol agent David Maland near the Canadian border on Jan. 20,, USA Today reports. A third person, Daniel Blank, 26 was arrested alongside Zajko and Lasota; his connection was not immediately clear. "The Maryland State Police is working in coordination with our federal law enforcement partners and the Office of the State's Attorney in Allegany County as this investigation continues," a state police spokesperson said. The linked cases have drawn worldwide attention, in part because some of the people involved were transgender, and many were vegan, an unusual combination of circumstances.
Zajko is a suspect in the late 2023 shooting deaths of her parents in Pennsylvania. Authorities believe Lasota is the leader of a small group of people that included Michelle Youngblut, 21, who has been charged in connection with Maland’s death. Both Lasota and Zajko had previously been interviewed by police in connection with her parents' death, but were never charged. "There's significant evidence that Jack Lasota is the person who is the idea engine for these people," said Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. "There are certainly suspicions that need to be investigated." Maryland court records show Lasota faces charges of trespassing, obstruction and possession of a handgun in a vehicle. Zajko faces charges of trespassing, resisting or interfering with an arrest, obstruction and carrying a handgun. Blank faces charges of trespassing, obstruction and hindering. All three were arrested in a rural area of Maryland near the Pennsylvania border, about 230 miles west of where Zajko's parents lived.
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