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 known as the Zizians.

The group, described as a fringe group of radical Berkeley pseudo-intellectuals, is believed to be behind the double homicide of a wealthy Pennsylvania couple, two knife attacks on a landlord in California and the shootout in Vermont that left one member dead.

Four alleged members of the group are already in custody on murder charges while three are on the run, including Jack Amadeus “Ziz” LaSota, 34, who goes by she/her pronouns and is the group’s apparent leader. Some of the members have worked at the tech giant Google, and many have advocated for veganism and identify as transgender.

Along the way, the group is believed to have bought a tugboat in Alaska under a plan to live on it to avoid high rents in northern California. The tugboat, part of the group’s “Rationalist Fleet”, now sits half-submerged near Pillar Point Harbor near San Jose.

Much of what is known about the Zizians’ philosophy is gleaned from online postings in which LaSota wondered what would happen to society if it were stripped of morality through “evil people ganging up to kill off good people” or if the group’s goals “ultimately required sociopathy”.

In one instance, according to an article in SFGate published earlier in February, LaSota faked her death. An obituary posted online mentioned a boating accident and spoke of LaSota “loving adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals”.

But an analysis of interviews and online postings published by the Associated Press on Friday revealed how the group of young computer scientists appeared 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 Ophelia Bauckholt. Both had connections to LaSota. 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.

According to SFGate, they wore all black, carried weapons openly and wrapped their phones in aluminium foil. Investigators also said a night vision device and laptops were found in their Toyota Prius. Court records note that Youngblut’s diary contains several references to taking LSD.

Bauckholt, 26, 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, LaSota; 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 had 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, an Oxford-educated data scientist, who had 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. She 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”. She has missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest.

Authorities attempting to piece together the pieces of the Zizian puzzle have acknowledged the potential connections between the Vermont shooting and previous incidents.

“Teresa Youngblut is believed to have associations with other individuals suspected of violent acts in multiple states, to include Pennsylvania and California,” Sarah Ruane, a spokesperson for the FBI in Albany, New York, told USA Today.

“The FBI is coordinating information sharing on any case-related details with our partners from various law enforcement agencies to effectively follow every lead and aggressively investigate these connections,” Ruane added.

What is our society in for?