Latest news with #Leatham
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Yahoo
Transgender vegan murder cult member freaks out in court
A member of a radical transgender vegan cult suspected in several murders was dragged out of a California courtroom, claiming jail guards were trying to detransition them. And they wanted to kill them. Alexander Leatham, 29, who identifies as a transgender woman, is reportedly part of the Zizian cult. However, according to Courthouse News, they were attending a hearing in Solano County, Calif., when they freaked out and began ranting in court. Leatham exploded: 'I am not suicidal. I have never been suicidal. If I am killed in police custody, it was murder!' They are in the hot seat for allegedly attempting to murder her landlord in 2022. The landlord was later murdered, allegedly by Zizian members. Leatham claimed she was being forcibly detransitioned with hormone therapy. They added that it was all part of a 25-year conspiracy against transgender people. At a hearing in March, Leatham screamed again and again: 'This is a show trial to coordinate the genocide of transgender people!' Leatham was then locked in what cops call a 'quiet room' similar to what's found in many daycares for unruly toddlers. Courthouse News wrote: 'Her muffled shouting could be heard in the next room for the rest of the hearing.' Zizians were an unknown quantity before Jan. 20, when two suspected members were involved in a shootout with Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border. Authorities said that Teresa 'Milo' Consuelo Youngblut and former Waterloo University student and German national Felix 'Ophelia' Bauckholt were pulled over by Maland. Youngblut allegedly started shooting, and the border agent returned fire, killing Bauckholt, but Maland was mortally wounded. Cops say the two cult members got their guns from fellow Zizian Michelle Zakjow, 32, who identifies as a trans man. Zakjow had been wanted for the double murder of his parents in Pennsylvania. One month later, detectives traced Zakjow to Delaware, where they were arrested, along with fellow cultie Daniel Blank and the bizarre sect's leader, Jack 'Ziz' LaSota. Ziz, 34, is a trans blogger and computer engineer from Berkeley, California. Police have painted the cult leader as a modern-day Charles Manson. The group has been linked to six murders in three states. Pennsylvania state police sources told the New York Post they have enough evidence to arrest Zakjow for the murders of his parents. As for Leatham, they and fellow cult members Suri Dao and Emma Borhanian are accused of attacking their landlord, Curtis Lind, 82, in 2022. Lind told cops he was inspecting a leak in Dao's trailer when he was clobbered in the back of the head. When he woke up, he had more than 50 stab wounds that detectives believe were inflicted by a samurai sword, which was stuck in his torso and the trio of Zizians standing over him. But the old man wasn't going down without a fight and managed to grab his gun, wounding Leatham and killing Borhanian. Prosecutors said it was self-defence. Another Zizian named Maximilian Snyder later finished off Lind to prevent him from testifying against the cult members. Snyder allegedly stabbed Lind to death in an ambush. bhunter@ @HunterTOSun
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Trans 'Zizian' cult suspect dragged from court after shouting allegations of de-transition, murder: report
A suspected member of the radical "Zizian" cult was forcibly removed from a California courtroom after claiming an officer said she should be killed for being transgender. Alexander "Somni" Leatham, a 29-year-old trans woman from Agoura Hills, California, was one of five alleged members of the group of radical vegans, many of whom identified as trans, who were in Solano Superior Court Tuesday. Leatham alleged that an officer told her she "deserved to be shot for being transgender while he had a gun, and I was in chains," according to SFGate. Leatham, and others in the group, face charges in connection with a string of killings across the country that culminated in the January killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent along the northern border. Read more of Fox News Digital coverage on the Zizians here. Transgender Vegan 'Cult' Members Arrested The 29-year-old reportedly went on a profanity-laden rant in the courtroom Tuesday, accusing authorities of attempting to de-transition her. Read On The Fox News App "The court has been hormonally detransitioning me for quarter of a decade as part of a state-sponsored conversion therapy program," she said, according to SFGate. "I am not suicidal. I have never been suicidal." "If I am killed in police custody, it was murder!" Leatham said. Zizian Leader Jack Lasota: Who Is Transgender, Vegan Cult Head Linked To Border Agent Killing? Judge John B. Ellis ordered Leatham to be taken to an isolation room prior to the hearing, saying that she could appear via camera due to her behavior, SFGate reported. "If defendant Leatham can't behave herself, she can be moved to the isolation booth," Ellis said. Members of the Zizians have been charged or named as persons of interest in connection with six deaths across the country, including the stabbing of an 82-year-old landlord in January, the shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont in January and the 2022 double homicide of an elderly Pennsylvania couple. Leatham and Suri Dao face attempted murder charges after a rent dispute with landlord Curtis Lind that ended with Zizian follower Emma Borhanian being fatally shot by Lind in self-defense. Lind was injured by a samurai sword during the altercation. Lind had bought the property, placing 20-foot trailers and shipping containers on the land so he could rent them to people who were unable to afford the cost of housing in Vallejo, Patrick McMillan, a tenant who lives in a mobile home on the property, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Lind also lived on the property. Manhunt Tied To 'Anarchist' Vegan Cult In Border Patrol Agent Killing: Report The group lived in a cluster of trailer trucks, McMillan told the Chronicle. Initially, they paid rent but stopped paying during the pandemic. "He had an agreement that they were going to fix up their vehicles, and then they were going to leave," Lind's daughter, Dina Morrill, told the newspaper. "The truth is, they jumped him," Lind's son, Carl Lind, told KTVU. Lind managed to shoot two of his alleged attackers, killing one of them, Borhanian. Prosecutors concluded that the landlord acted in self-defense. "After they attacked him, he got his gun out and shot two of them, killed one of them," McMillan told the Chronicle. "The other one had three shots to the chest." The landlord was left seriously injured after the group attacked him with a samurai sword. McMillan told KTVU that he had the sword "stuck through his back with about a foot of it sticking out in front." Lind survived the initial attack but was then stabbed to death in a second attack on Jan. 17, 2025. Maximilian Snyder, 22, another "Ziz" member, was arrested and charged with his murder, according to court records obtained by FOX 13 Seattle. The next hearing is set for April 22 at 9 a.m. Fox News Digital reached out to Leatham's attorney. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Trans 'Zizian' cult suspect dragged from court after shouting allegations of de-transition, murder: report
Fox News
12-04-2025
- Fox News
Trans 'Zizian' cult suspect dragged from court after shouting allegations of de-transition, murder: report
A suspected member of the radical "Zizian" cult was forcibly removed from a California courtroom after claiming an officer said she should be killed for being transgender. Alexander "Somni" Leatham, a 29-year-old trans woman from Agoura Hills, California, was one of five alleged members of the group of radical vegans, many of whom identified as trans, who were in Solano Superior Court Tuesday. Leatham alleged that an officer told her she "deserved to be shot for being transgender while he had a gun, and I was in chains," according to SFGate. Leatham, and others in the group, face charges in connection with a string of killings across the country that culminated in the January killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent along the northern border. Read more of Fox News Digital coverage on the Zizians here. The 29-year-old reportedly went on a profanity-laden rant in the courtroom Tuesday, accusing authorities of attempting to de-transition her. "The court has been hormonally detransitioning me for quarter of a decade as part of a state-sponsored conversion therapy program," she said, according to SFGate. "I am not suicidal. I have never been suicidal." "If I am killed in police custody, it was murder!" Leatham said. Judge John B. Ellis ordered Leatham to be taken to an isolation room prior to the hearing, saying that she could appear via camera due to her behavior, SFGate reported. "If defendant Leatham can't behave herself, she can be moved to the isolation booth," Ellis said. Members of the Zizians have been charged or named as persons of interest in connection with six deaths across the country, including the stabbing of an 82-year-old landlord in January, the shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont in January and the 2022 double homicide of an elderly Pennsylvania couple. Leatham and Suri Dao face attempted murder charges after a rent dispute with landlord Curtis Lind that ended with Zizian follower Emma Borhanian being fatally shot by Lind in self-defense. Lind was injured by a samurai sword during the altercation. Lind had bought the property, placing 20-foot trailers and shipping containers on the land so he could rent them to people who were unable to afford the cost of housing in Vallejo, Patrick McMillan, a tenant who lives in a mobile home on the property, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Lind also lived on the property. The group lived in a cluster of trailer trucks, McMillan told the Chronicle. Initially, they paid rent but stopped paying during the pandemic. "He had an agreement that they were going to fix up their vehicles, and then they were going to leave," Lind's daughter, Dina Morrill, told the newspaper. "The truth is, they jumped him," Lind's son, Carl Lind, told KTVU. Lind managed to shoot two of his alleged attackers, killing one of them, Borhanian. Prosecutors concluded that the landlord acted in self-defense. "After they attacked him, he got his gun out and shot two of them, killed one of them," McMillan told the Chronicle. "The other one had three shots to the chest." The landlord was left seriously injured after the group attacked him with a samurai sword. McMillan told KTVU that he had the sword "stuck through his back with about a foot of it sticking out in front." Lind survived the initial attack but was then stabbed to death in a second attack on Jan. 17, 2025. Maximilian Snyder, 22, another "Ziz" member, was arrested and charged with his murder, according to court records obtained by FOX 13 Seattle. The next hearing is set for April 22 at 9 a.m. Fox News Digital reached out to Leatham's attorney.
The Guardian
15-02-2025
- The Guardian
Killings across three states shine spotlight on cultlike ‘Zizian' group
The killing of US border patrol agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California have been tied to a cultlike group. Interviews and online postings reveal how young computer scientists described by those who know them as highly intelligent appear to have become increasingly violent. Maland, 44, was killed in a 20 January shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32km) from the Canadian border. Washington state resident Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the killing. She was traveling with German citizen Felix Bauckholt, who is also listed in court documents as Ophelia. Both had connections to a cultlike group known in online communities as 'Zizians' because of their affinity for a blogger who calls herself 'Ziz'. The pair had been under the surveillance of authorities for several days after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported seeing Youngblut carrying a gun. Bauckholt died in the Vermont shootout. Authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom. Youngblut's lawyer said through a spokesperson that they are not commenting. Youngblut pleaded not guilty in federal court on 7 February. In November 2019, Jack LaSota, 34 and who goes by she/her pronouns; Emma Borhanian, 31; Gwen Danielson; and Alexander Leatham, 29, were arrested at a protest outside a northern California retreat center where a rationalist group was holding an event. The group said they were protesting sexual misconduct inside the group. In 2022, landlord Curtis Lind went to court to evict Borhanian, LaSota, Leatham and other tenants who had stopped paying rent at a Vallejo, California, property. Two days before the 15 November eviction deadline, prosecutors say Leatham, Borhanian and Suri Dao attacked him. Lind shot his attackers, killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham. He survived being impaled with a sword but lost an eye. Prosecutors concluded he acted in self-defense and charged Dao and Leatham with violent crimes. On 17 January, the 82-year-old landlord was stabbed to death. Maximilian Snyder, 22, who applied for a marriage license with Teresa Youngblut in Washington state in November, is charged with murder in that case. On New Year's Eve 2022, Rita and Richard Zajko were shot and killed in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. Police questioned the couple's daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont, and a few weeks later, took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel. She was not arrested or charged. LaSota was at the hotel, too. He was arrested after refusing to cooperate with officers and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct. Six months later, LaSota was released on bail but stopped showing up for court. LaSota's attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, said last month his client was 'wholly and unequivocally innocent of the charges filed in this case.' LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent week. She has missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest. Associated Press reporters have left numerous phone and email messages with LaSota's family and received no response. Her whereabouts are unknown, and McGarrigle declined to say whether he's had recent contact with his client.
