Judge adds attempted escape to list of charges for Zizian murder suspect

The long-delayed trial of two members of the anti-AI group the Zizians is tentatively scheduled to start in January.FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CN) — A Solano County Superior Court judge agreed Friday to combine a murder suspect’s latest escape attempt with her existing case, after prosecutors argued her two previous escape attempts had already been consolidated with the murder charges.Alexander Jeffrey Leatham, whose third escape attempt from county jail occurred earlier this year, is charged with the 2022 attempted murder of their landlord, Curtis Lind, and is involved with an anti-AI group suspected of multiple homicides across the country.Co-defendant Suri Dao is also charged with attempted murder and is a member of the group, known as the Zizians. Both appeared in court Friday, shackled and in prison attire.Solano County Superior Court Judge John Ellis was not persuaded by the defense’s argument that Leatham’s third escape attempt was too far removed from the previous two.“They are the same class of crimes,” he said.“I don’t see it as prejudicial at all,” he told Leatham’s attorney, Allison Margolin. She said via Zoom she would likely file a motion to sever the escape attempt, citing prejudice.Leatham is a transgender woman who has previously had outbursts in the courtroom. On Friday, after Ellis and Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro discussed the motion to consolidate, Leatham’s attorney, Emily Chrim, began entering a “not guilty” plea to the latest escape attempt charge, but Leatham interrupted.“If anyone enters any plea on my behalf at all, they are saying something false,” she said.Ellis and the attorneys went into a closed session to discuss Leatham’s comments after the suspects were escorted from the courtroom.In the attack that led to the attempted murder charges, Lind suffered a fractured skull and was stabbed in the chest with a samurai sword. Lind shot and killed another Zizian member, Emma Borhanian, and wounded Leatham during the incident. Leatham and Dao are both charged with Borhanian’s murder and aggravated mayhem. Leatham’s first escape attempt occurred while in custody at the hospital afterward.Dao and Leatham are members of the Zizians, a loosely organized, cult-like group of radical vegans who claim artificial intelligence threatens humanity. They are among about 10 known followers of blogger Jack “Ziz” LaSota, a 35-year-old transgender woman who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016.As Leatham left the courtroom Friday, she repeatedly yelled that her four-year imprisonment had caused her to “forcibly detransition,” claiming she had been denied access to hormones.The group has been linked to six killings nationwide, including Lind’s death. Fellow Zizian Maximilian Snyder is accused of fatally stabbing Lind in Vallejo on Jan. 17, 2025, before Lind was scheduled to testify in Dao and Leatham’s case. Snyder has pleaded not guilty, with a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 4.LaSota, a former aspiring tech worker, moved to the Bay Area to study the risks of artificial intelligence and later gained a following among AI theorists and tech bloggers for her extreme views on AI, veganism and gender.In August 2022, LaSota faked her death and disappeared. She was arrested in Maryland in February 2025 on trespassing and handgun possession charges.Another member of the Zizians accused of killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against her.After over a year of delays, including Dao’s institutionalization for catatonia and anorexia, and Leatham retaining new counsel, a readiness conference for a jury trial is set for Nov. 13. The jury trial is tentatively scheduled to begin Jan. 26, 2027.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads