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The woman charged in a Vermont border patrol officer's death has been ordered held without bail

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The woman charged in a Vermont border patrol officer's death has been ordered held without bail
News

News

The woman charged in a Vermont border patrol officer's death has been ordered held without bail

2025-01-31 06:39 Last Updated At:06:42

A Washington state woman was ordered held without bail Thursday in connection with the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a case that has grown to encompass killings in multiple states.

Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces federal firearms charges in the Jan. 20 death of Agent David Maland. She’s accused of opening fire on agents during a traffic stop in northern Vermont, sparking a shootout that also left her companion, Felix Bauckholt, dead.

Pennsylvania state police said Wednesday that the gun used in the Vermont shooting was purchased by a person of interest in the Dec. 31, 2022, killings of Richard and Rita Zajko, who were shot to death in their Chester Heights home. Both Youngblut and the buyer were in frequent contact with someone who was detained as part of the Pennsylvania investigation and is a person of interest in another killing in California, U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher said in a court filing.

Prosecutors didn't elaborate during a brief hearing Thursday during which neither Youngblut nor her attorney spoke, according to NBC5-TV. Youngblut’s attorney has not responded to requests for comment on the charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7.

In the meantime, police and court records have shed some light on the connections.

Jack LaSota is currently facing charges of obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in Pennsylvania. Authorities won’t say whether those charges are related to the Zajko deaths, but court records show that police were searching for a gun used in two killings when they arrested LaSota 12 days later at a hotel about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the scene of the killings.

LaSota also has connections to some of the key players in the California case.

In 2019, LaSota and three others were arrested while protesting an event hosted by the Center for Applied Rationality at a camping retreat in Occidental, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2022, two of the others, Emma Borhanian and Alexander Jeffrey Leatham, were accused of attacking their landlord with a sword in Vallejo. The landlord, Curtis Lind, survived the November 2022 attack but was stabbed to death Jan. 17.

Maximilian Snyder was charged this week with that killing. In November, someone with the same name applied for a marriage license with a Teresa Youngblut in Kirkland, Washington. Snyder's attorney declined to comment on the charges.

LaSota may have been present during the 2022 landlord attack, according to court documents that also suggest LaSota had been falsely reported dead three months earlier.

On Aug. 19, 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report that LaSota had fallen out of a boat in San Francisco Bay and conducted a search but didn’t find a body, according to documents included in a civil rights lawsuit LaSota and others had filed after their 2019 arrest. An obituary was published, and LaSota’s mother confirmed the death to LaSota’s criminal defense attorney. But months later, a prosecutor emailed the attorney and said LaSota was contacted by police in Vallejo and was “alive and well” at the site of a crime on or about Nov. 13, the date Lind was attacked.

Jerold Friedman, who represented LaSota in the civil case, said Thursday that he verified the Coast Guard report at the time and that he doesn't recall the last time he was in contact with LaSota. The attorney who represented LaSota in the 2019 criminal case did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A phone message was left at the office of the lawyer listed as representing him in the current Pennsylvania case.

Though authorities have not publicly identified the person who bought the gun used in Vermont, the VTDigger news site reported that federal authorities issued an alert to firearms dealers seeking information about purchases made by Michelle Jacqueline Zajko and describing her as a person of interest in the Vermont shooting.

According to a public records database, a Michelle Zajko was registered to vote in 2016 at the same home address in Pennsylvania as Richard and Rita Zajko. In 2021, a Michelle Zajko bought a half-acre piece of property in Derby, Vermont, a few miles (about 6 kilometers) from the Canadian border. According to town records, the land is undeveloped.

This story has been corrected the name of Alexander Jeffrey Leatham.

CORRECTS YEAR OF KILLING TO 2022 NOT 2023 This Jan. 29, 2025 photo shows a Chester Heights, Pa., home, the scene of the 2022 killing of Richard and Rita Zajko, (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

CORRECTS YEAR OF KILLING TO 2022 NOT 2023 This Jan. 29, 2025 photo shows a Chester Heights, Pa., home, the scene of the 2022 killing of Richard and Rita Zajko, (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this undated and unknown location photo released by the Department of Homeland Security shows Border Patrol Agent David Maland posing with a service dog. (Department of Homeland Security via AP)

In this undated and unknown location photo released by the Department of Homeland Security shows Border Patrol Agent David Maland posing with a service dog. (Department of Homeland Security via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Emperor Naruhito, marking his 65th birthday Sunday, stressed the importance of telling the tragedy of World War II to younger generations, pledging to contribute to efforts to promote the understanding of history and the determination for peace as the world this year observes the 80th anniversary of the war's end.

“As the memory of the war fades today, it is important that the tragic experiences and history are passed on to the generations who do not know the war,” Naruhito told a news conference in a pre-recorded comments released Sunday.

Those who went through the ordeals during and after the war grew have grown older and it is difficult for younger generations to hear their firsthand stories, Naruhito said.

Naruhito, accompanied by his wife, Empress Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and some of his younger brother's family, waved from the palace balcony at the cheering well-wishers. Later Sunday, he was to celebrate his birthday at a palace banquet.

The war was fought in the name of his grandfather, then- Emperor Hirohito. Naruhito said he and Masako, who were born after the war, have learned from his parents by hearing their stories of wartime experiences and thoughts about peace. His father Akihito, who abdicated in 2019, was known for his devotion to making amends for the war, and Naruhito said he will follow his example.

His concern resonates especially with that of many survivors of U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945, who are worried about the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament and growing support for nuclear deterrence.

The survivors, or hibakusha, have said they hope the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to their organization, Nihon Hidankyo, for the decades-long nuclear disarmament effort would raise awareness of the younger generations.

This year, Naruhito and Masako are expected to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to pay tribute to those killed by the U.S. atomic bombings and Okinawa, the site of one of the harshest battles in the war.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, third right, accompanied by Empress Masako, second right, their daughter Princess Aiko, right, Crown Prince Akishino, third left, Crown Princess Kiko, second left, and Princess Kako, left, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, third right, accompanied by Empress Masako, second right, their daughter Princess Aiko, right, Crown Prince Akishino, third left, Crown Princess Kiko, second left, and Princess Kako, left, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, left, accompanied by Empress Masako, right, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on his 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, left, accompanied by Empress Masako, right, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on his 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Well-withers gather as Japanese Emperor Naruhito, unseen, accompanied by other royal family members, appears on the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Well-withers gather as Japanese Emperor Naruhito, unseen, accompanied by other royal family members, appears on the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, third right, accompanied by Empress Masako, second right, their daughter Princess Aiko, right, Crown Prince Akishino, Crown Princess Kiko, second left, and Princess Kako, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, third right, accompanied by Empress Masako, second right, their daughter Princess Aiko, right, Crown Prince Akishino, Crown Princess Kiko, second left, and Princess Kako, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on the emperor's 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by Empress Masako, center, and their daughter Princess Aiko, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on his 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by Empress Masako, center, and their daughter Princess Aiko, waves to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on his 65th birthday, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito poses for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito poses for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2025, ahead of his 65th birthday on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Imperial Household Agency via AP)

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