--- title: "The Woman Accused of Running a Murderous Cult Linked to Roko’s Basilisk Faked Her Own Death Before “Coming Back to Life”" description: "The leader of the Zizians, an alleged cult that hoped to usher in a murderous AI, once faked her own death." date: "2025-03-08" modified: "2025-03-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/zizians-rokos-basilisk-faked-death" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "cults" - "rationalism" - "roko's basilisk" - "zizians" --- # The Woman Accused of Running a Murderous Cult Linked to Roko’s Basilisk Faked Her Own Death Before “Coming Back to Life” ![The leader of the Zizians, an alleged cult that hoped to usher in a murderous AI, once faked her own death.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* The leader of an alleged cult informed by the murderous hypothetical artificial superintelligence of "[Roko's Basilisk]()" once faked her death in the months before the first of several killings that have been linked to her followers. As [*The Guardian* notes](), Jack "Ziz" LaSota — the alleged leader of the "Zizians," a militantly vegan group of computer scientists who have now been linked to [six deaths in three states]() — was believed to be dead after her sister and friend claimed that she'd fallen from her sailboat in the San Francisco Bay. After a 30-hour search that involved the Coast Guard and multiple fire departments, LaSota's "body" was never found. Though the nature of her alleged death-faking scheme is unclear, Ziz was nevertheless considered dead by her family, who [published an obituary for her]() in her hometown newspaper in Alaska. In an interview with the [Silicon Valley nonprofit news site *Open Vallejo*]() in January, Coast Guard official Hunter Schnabel explained that the branch doesn't have the authority to declare a person's death and "isn't going to investigate" further — a convenient procedural situation that would make it easy for someone who "didn't want to be found" to "disappear." A few months after that purported boating accident, Ziz seemingly sprang back to life when she was arrested at the scene of a different disaster: the [sword stabbing of then-80-year-old Curtis Lind](), a man who owned the property where some of her friends (or followers, depending on how you see it) were living days before they were set to be evicted for failing to pay rent. The landlord lost his eye during the attack, and two of Ziz's alleged associates, Suri Dao and Alexander Leatham, were charged with his attempted murder. More than two years later, Lind was stabbed again — [this time fatally]() — ahead of his upcoming testimony against Dao and Leatham. It remains unclear who killed him or why, but his murder happened just a day after prosecutors noted that he was the sole witness to his initial stabbing and that the people accused of it were "extremely dangerous." In Lind's case, and that of the five others involving Zizians, it does not appear that the group's leader was directly involved. As this story unravels, it looks a lot like [LaSota is a Charles Manson type](): a charismatic leader whose ideas might have infected the minds of her followers to the point that they were willing to go to extremes for the woman who believes, [among other startling things](), that she is [one of the only righteous people alive](). **More on Ziz:** [*Alleged Leader of Roko’s Basilisk Murder Cult Says She Did Nothing Wrong, and Would Appreciate Some Vegan Food in Jail*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()