The notice to seek the death penalty filed by Acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont Michael Drescher alleged that Youngblut “intentionally killed” Maland.
Authorities leading the investigation into the shootout previously refused to confirm that Youngblut fired the shot that killed Maland.
However, the new indictment does include that allegation, stating that on Jan. 20, Youngblut, “with malice aforethought, unlawfully killed United States Border Patrol Agent D.C.M.” in violation of federal law “by shooting him while he was engaged in and on account of his performance of official duties.”
During the traffic stop leading to the shootout, according to court documents, Youngblut came out of the vehicle and opened fire, leading to an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement at the scene.
Maland was killed in the shootout, as was Felix Bauckholt, a German national who was a passenger in the vehicle Youngblut was driving.
Authorities have alleged that the firearms Youngblut and Bauckholt had at the time of the traffic stop in Vermont had been purchased by Michelle Zajko, who had lived for a time in Coventry.
Zajko
has since been charged with a federal offense in Vermont related to the purchases of firearms in Vermont. Zajko has not appeared in court in Vermont to face that charge. Zajko is currently
jailed in Maryland awaiting trial on state trespassing, drug and firearms charges.
Youngblut and Bauckholt allegedly were connected to a group of people known as the “Zizians,” an offshoot of the so-called Rationalist movement in the San Francisco Bay Area. Members of that group have been linked
to other homicides across the country, including in California and Pennsylvania.
Youngblut had applied for a license in November 2024 to marry Maximilian Snyder, another alleged Zizian member. Snyder, also formerly of Washington state, was arrested and charged days before the Vermont shooting in January in the stabbing death of a Vallejo landlord, Curtis Lind. Snyder has also been charged with
capital crimes in California state court.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had signaled early in February that federal capital charges were being considered by prosecutors in Youngblut’s case.
Shortly after taking office, Bondi issued
a directive lifting a moratorium on federal executions that had been in place during the Biden administration. Bondi also specifically cited in that directive the case involving the fatal shooting in Vermont of the border patrol agent.
“For the current charges, the maximum penalty is death, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi has authorized and directed the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont to pursue capital punishment in this case.,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
Last month, Judge Christina Reiss, who is presiding over the case in federal court in Burlington,
denied a request by Youngblut’s defense team to extend the deadline of July 28 for them to present information to a U.S. Department of Justice panel about why they believed the death penalty should not be pursued in the case.
Vermont does not have the death penalty, however, because the case was charged in federal court federal law applies. The last execution to be carried out in Vermont was in 1954.
Donald Fell was sentenced to death in 2006 in federal court in Burlington after a jury returned a verdict a year earlier on charges of carjacking and murder.
Fell’s conviction was later overturned due to juror misconduct and his case was resolved in 2018 with
a plea deal that resulted in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.
