The Oxford philosopher at the heart of a ‘trans vegan death cult'

Telegraph

28-02-2025

When Maximilian Snyder enrolled on a computer science course at Oxford University in 2021, he described himself as a 'passionate scholar and creator'.
Fast-forward four years and the 22-year-old has been charged with the murder of an elderly landlord in a case that has been linked to a cult-like group of militant vegans and anarchists known as Zizians.
Curtis Lind, 82, from Vallejo, California, had been due to testify in a case about a separate attack – allegedly at the hand of his Zizian tenants – when he was stabbed to death in January.
Authorities in the US said it was one of six killings across the country that are linked to the Zizians, including the shooting of a border force agent in Vermont and an elderly couple at their home in Pennsylvania.
The reality is that no one quite knows what motivates the Zizian group, an offshoot of the intellectual 'rationalist' movement, and exactly how they are allegedly linked to the killings, which span several years and thousands of miles.
For rationalists, the clue is in the name: proponents use logic and probability theory in debates on topics ranging from mathematics to the potential of artificial intelligence to take over the world.
It is part of a wider intellectual trend that seeks to use the power of the human mind to establish the truth.
Mr Snyder, for all intents and purposes, fits the rationalist mould.
A gifted young student with a passion for science and technology, he was named a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist in 2019 during his time at Lakeside, an elite independent school in Seattle.
In 2023, he won $11,000 in an AI alignment awards research contest.
But he also developed a reputation for being argumentative in class and was, at times, eristic, according to those who knew him.
'[He would] play devil's advocate, sometimes to the point of getting in trouble,' one former classmate told The Telegraph.
'He kept to himself because a lot of people found that annoying I guess, but I enjoyed spirited debates so we got along pretty well.'
Those debates would largely centre around academia or philosophy, the student said, and never strayed into violent matters.
'He's a bit of a smartass for sure but I never got the sense he was capable of hurting or killing someone… but this was 10 years ago,' the student, who asked to remain anonymous, added.
On social media, Mr Snyder self-identified with 'any pronouns' under the pseudonym Audere.
His online presence paints a picture of an avid tech enthusiast, with frequent posts about AI, as well as a hardcore vegan who frequently shamed others for eating meat.
Under this online pseudonym, it was clear he had a dark side.
In a thread posted on Nov 8 last year, Audere admitted to 'emotionally abusing' another social media user when he was 20.
'I'm sharing this because I realised that keeping abuse in the dark can only protect predators,' he explained, adding that he was 'choosing to bring this to light myself'.
On X, he also displayed an interest in the Zizian movement, which is largely based online.
Replying to a post about who would win in a debate between Jack LaSota, leader of the Zizians, Andrew Tate and JK Rowling, Mr Snyder said: 'Ziz would win.'
Jessica Taylor, a former researcher at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, described the post as 'ominous' after he was charged with the murder of Mr Lind.
Ms Taylor said the Zizians group adopted the most extreme version of ideas shared by the rationalist community.
'Ziz theory combines these things like rationalism, timeless decision theory, transgender related ideas, brain hemispheres and left-anarchism,' she said. 'A lot of these ideas on their own are normal.'
For LaSota, the rationalists offered a safe haven.
After earning a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska, like many budding tech geniuses, LaSota moved to the promised land of San Francisco's Bay Area in 2016 – just 40 miles away is Silicon Valley, home to the likes of Apple, Amazon and PayPal.
It is also the birthplace of the rationalist movement.
Under the pseudonym Ziz, LaSota wrote a series of long, rambling blog posts about veganism and anarchism. One post called for 'Nuremberg trials' for meat eaters.
In 2019, LaSota and three associates – wearing black robes and Guy Fawkes masks – disrupted an annual retreat for the Centre for Applied Rationalists, a prominent organisation in the wider movement.
They were arrested and soon after, LaSota disappeared.
That was until three years later when a newspaper in Alaska, where LaSota was from, published an obituary.
Ziz had died in a boat accident, and loved 'adventure, friends, family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games, and animals', it read.
But the Alaskan newspaper had made a mistake: LaSota wasn't dead.
Three months later, LaSota was found by police at the scene of a sword attack that had nearly killed Mr Lind, and had allegedly been carried out by Zizians.
LaSota did not take part in the attack, but was handcuffed at the scene, according to police reports.
'I just wanted to reach out and let you know that Jack LaSota was contacted by police in Vallejo this weekend,' the local prosecutor said. 'LaSota was… alive and well.'
On Jan 16 of this year, Mr Lind's case was pushed forward, with the local prosecutor highlighting the fact that he was now 82 and suffered with poor memory.
The following day, a man dressed in all black repeatedly stabbed Mr Lind in the chest before running off, covered in blood. He later returned to slit the man's throat, a witness told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Three days later, David Maland, a border force agent, was killed in a shootout at a traffic stop in Vermont. With thousands of miles between the two killings, police at first saw no connection.
Soon after, authorities revealed the suspects: Mr Snyder, 22, and Teresa Youngblut, 21, who had filed for a marriage licence, shared vegan beliefs and an education at Lakeside in Seattle.
Mr Snyder and Ms Youngblut, who also has links to the Zizians, were in 'frequent contact with each other' prior to the killings, according to a motion by the US attorney's office for the District of Vermont.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle this month, Mr Snyder did not say whether he had killed Mr Lind, or whether he knew why he had been attacked.
He also reportedly refused to discuss his connection to Ms Youngblut and the wider Zizian group.
He did say, however, that he was not one of 'Ziz's friends', referring to LaSota, in a 1,500 word statement that was directly addressed to Eliezer Yudkowsky, an influential figure in the rationalist movement.
'Eliezer,' Mr Snyder said. 'You need to have a crisis of faith about whether animals are people. It is critical to saving the world.'
Mr Yudkowsky later told the Chronicle he had no plans to read the letter for the same reason he refused to read the manuscript of the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. 'Audience should not be a reward for crime,' he said.
Meanwhile, a manhunt for LaSota ended this week when police found the suspect, armed and draped in all-black, on private land in the state of Maryland.
Alongside him was Michelle Zajko, daughter of the Pennsylvania couple, Richard and Rita Zajko, who were killed in a suspected murder in January 2023. It remains unsolved.
They face charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
LaSota was ordered by a judge to be held without bail. At a hearing, LaSota denied any wrongdoing and said the jail had not offered vegan food.
It was not immediately clear how Ms Zajko responded to the charges. Days after the deaths of Mr and Mrs Zajko, their daughter was questioned and denied wrongdoing.