HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KRON) — A ship deserted in waters of Pillar Level Harbor close to Half Moon Bay ties collectively items of a mysterious Vallejo homicide case and radical neighborhood referred to as the “Zizians.”
The Zizians have well-educated followers who consider in a radical offshoot of “Rationalism,” in addition to “vegan Sith” ideologies, based on Open Vallejo and the San Francisco Chronicle. A number of followers are reportedly vegan and transgender.
One alleged follower of Zizian ideology, Maximilian Bentley Snyder, appeared in court docket on Thursday to face homicide costs. The 22-year-old information scientist is accused of stabbing a property proprietor, 82-year-old Curtis Lind, to dying in Vallejo.
The Caleb is seen close to Half Moon Bay on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photograph by Ryan Mense / KRON4)
The Zizians’ chief, laptop engineer Jack “Ziz” Amadeus LaSota, and her followers anchored their tugboat, named The Caleb, in Pillar Level Harbor in 2017, based on a civil lawsuit filed by harbor officers. The crew arrived “seeking safe harbor from a dangerous sea,” the swimsuit states.
LaSota’s crew lived on the 94-foot-long boat inside Pillar Level Harbor illegally for years, based on the lawsuit.
Lind befriend the crew whereas Lind was residing on his massive boat and the group was residing aboard The Caleb, the Chronicle reported.
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“Curt found joy in interesting conversations with anyone he came across. He was the type of man who could easily engage in a conversation with a complete stranger and leave with a new friend. Curt had a deep love of the ocean and lived many years on boats and ships he refurbished himself,” the sufferer’s family members wrote on a GoFundMe web page.
An deserted boat, The Caleb, is seen close to Half Moon Bay on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photograph by Ryan Mense / KRON4)
Regardless of efforts from the U.S. Coast Guard and harbor officers, The Caleb regularly brought about issues. Throughout one incident on December 14, 2018, “The Caleb dragged anchor and was out of control in the outer harbor, striking an unoccupied mooring ball. The owners of nearby vessels reported the Caleb drifting and were worried for their safety.”
LaSota offered her possession stake within the boat in 2021, and the crew deserted the vessel by early 2022, the lawsuit states. On the morning of Might 27, 2022, The Caleb partially sunk within the outer harbor.
An deserted boat, The Caleb, is seen close to Half Moon Bay on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photograph by Ryan Mense / KRON4)
“The Caleb is unseaworthy and is not reasonably capable of being made fit to be used as a means of transportation by water, as evidenced by its sinking. In its current state and position, the Caleb presents a danger to navigation, health, safety, and the environment,” the lawsuit states.
After promoting her possession stake within the boat, LaSota allegedly faked her personal dying. Her household filed a petition in San Mateo County Courtroom in 2022 requesting for LaSota to be legally declared useless, court docket data present. The petition claims to LaSota was residing in Half Moon Bay when she died on August 20, 2022.
Lind later offered his boat and allowed crewmembers of The Caleb to maneuver from the harbor to his Vallejo property and dwell in field vans, based on the Chronicle.
Curtis Lind (Photograph through GoFundMe)
Lind was 80 years outdated when he was stabbed with a sword on his Vallejo property in late 2022. The GoFundMe web page says the assault was carried out by three younger adults. “He miraculously survived being stabbed multiple times, had a sword impaled through his chest and ultimately lost his right eye,” the web page states.
On January 17, 2025, Lind’s Vallejo property on Lemon Avenue grew to become a homicide scene when Lind was “viciously attacked in front of his property in Vallejo,” the GoFundMe web page writes. Police stated the sufferer was stabbed to dying. Solano County prosecutors charged Synder with homicide.
Snyder was booked into the Solano County Jail on January 24, inmate data present.
Maximillian Bentley Snyder (Mugshot through Vallejo Police Division)
Investigators are digging into the group’s historical past making an attempt to find out whether or not it’s a dying cult.
Final yr, Snyder sought a wedding license with a girl who’s now charged with murdering a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont close to the Canadian border. The girl, Teresa Youngblut, 21, fatally shot 44-year-old Border Patrol Agent David Maland on January 20, investigators stated.
Youngblut had been touring with Felix Bauckholt, who additionally was killed within the Jan. 20 capturing. It’s unclear after they arrived in Vermont, however the FBI stated the pair had been below surveillance there for a number of days.
LaSota’s present whereabouts are unknown.
Boat-LawsuitDownload
Snyder is being held within the Solano County Jail with no bail. He’s scheduled to seem in court docket on February 21.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
