Exclusive | Zizian cult defector believed to have died in 2022 has been in hiding, fearing maniac vegan group’s revenge

A former Zizian cult member widely believed to have died by suicide is actually alive and hiding from the “dangerous” group, The Post can reveal.

Gwen Danielson was thought to be dead in 2022 even by a lawyer representing her in an active case, but has instead been laying low at an undisclosed location.  

Danielson – who, like many Zizians, is transgender and legally became a woman in 2017 according to court papers – still “fears for her life,” according to her father, Brett Danielson.

“She checks in regularly and I heard from her very recently but she’s not ready to come out of hiding just yet,” he told The Post.

Danielson split from the increasingly unhinged group of ‘rationalist’ computer scientists over an argument within the group, according to her father.

“Their political ideology was that killing animals is just as violent as killing people and therefore everybody is guilty of violence,” he said.

“And that probably led some of them to a self-justification for their own propensity for violence.” 

Authorities are now investigating four killings across the US linked to various members of the loose-knit group, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a murder in California, and a shootout which left a US border guard dead in Vermont.

Jack “Ziz” Lasota, 34, who has been described as the leader of the group, was arrested on February 16 alongside Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, in Maryland after they were seen trespassing, raising suspicion. A gun was also found in their vehicle.

Prosecutors in different jurisdictions across the country are now thought to be preparing further charges.

Zajko is a suspect in the murder of her parents in Pennsylvania but has not been charged in that case. Two others tied to the group are also in custody, both for murder.

Maximillian Snyder is charged over the Jan. 17 death of Curtis Lind, who had at one time let the group camp on his property, and Teresa Youngblut over the shooting of the David Maland, the Border Patrol guard, on Jan. 20. Youngblut has pleaded not guilty, Snyder has yet to enter a plea.

Now the apparent Zizian ringleaders are facing justice, Danielson’s father is hoping their family can move on.

“Hopefully [the recent arrests] are the end of their activities and those who really were somewhat innocently pulled into the vortex of this can get their lives straightened back out again.

“I’m hoping this this allows [Gwen] to come out of hiding, put things behind her and move on,” he added.

Brett said his understanding of why the Zizians mostly happen to be transgender or non-binary is that, as part of their “rationalism” interests, they believe taking estrogen led to “clearer thinking.”

“Gwen spoke a lot about the difference in the way of mental acuity with estrogen versus testosterone,” he told The Post.

The rumors of Danielson’s death started soon after Lasota was reported missing by his sister, who said he had gone overboard a boat in the San Francisco bay, according to court papers seen by The Post.

An extensive search by the Coast Guard could not find LaSota’s body and an obituary was published for him which stated he loved “adventure … music, blueberries, biking, computer games, and animals.”

An attorney presenting both Lasota and Danielson on charges related to a protest they had staged in 2019, Jerold Friedman, noted both were apparently dead from separate incidents at the time.

“Mr. Friedman believes that Ms. Danielson may have committed suicide and would like time to investigate,” a court order dated August 2022 read.

Friedman did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

However, LaSota was found to be alive and arrested at a Pennsylvania hotel in January 2023 and questioned about the double homicide of Zajko’s parents.

He was eventually let go, but now stands charged with trespassing and obstruction as well as having a gun in a vehicle stemming from the Maryland arrest. A judge ordered Lasota, Zajko and Blank held without bail, describing them as flight risks.

Lasota’s current attorney, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to answer any questions regarding his client’s case.

Jessica Taylor, an artificial intelligence researcher who knew several of the group members, first met at least four Zizians around 2015 at the Center for Applied Rationality, an organization in the city which hosts workshops on cognitive science and “de-biasing” with a mission to “develop clear thinking for the sake of humanity’s future,” according to its website.

She told The Post the group had a “high death count” which included several suicides.

Two people in the group’s orbit who took their own lives were named Maia Pasek, who left a quasi-suicide note in 2018 referencing rational thought processes, and Jay Winterford — also known as Jacob Pekarek — a math and science graduate in 2021.

“I knew about the suicides in the group … but before [Lind was attacked and murdered] I didn’t generally have the sense they could be violent,” she said.

“Now I think they are a criminal gang.”