Prosecutors were set to argue on Thursday that a Washington state woman should remain jailed in connection with the death of a U. 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. Pennsylvania state police said Wednesday that the gun used in the Vermont shooting was purchased by a person of interest in the Dec. And 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, a federal prosecutor said in a court filing. 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. LaSota also has connections to some of the key players in the California case. In , 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 , two of the others, Emma Borhanian and Jeffrey Leatham, were accused of attacking their landlord with a sword in Vallejo, California. The landlord, Curtis Lind, survived the November attack but was stabbed to death Jan. 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.
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 at the same home address in Pennsylvania as Richard and Rita Zajko.
