Zizian attempted murder suspects obtain new counsel and trial date

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CN) —One of two defendants for the attempted murder of their landlord and involved in an anti-AI group suspected of multiple homicides throughout the country will stand in a March competency trial, a Solano County Superior Court judge ruled on Friday, while the other defendant was granted new representation, further delaying a jury trial mired with setbacks.

Suri Dao, a member of the anti-AI group known as the Zizians who was jailed in connection with the 2022 attempted murder of landlord Curtis Lind, has been wheelchair-bound for months and suffers from multiple mental and physical conditions, including possible schizoaffective disorder, anorexia and catatonia.

Dao’s attorney, Brian Ford, has said in earlier hearings that these conditions make it difficult for Dao to participate in court proceedings.

Citing a recent medical report, Solano County Superior Court Judge John Ellis said Dao, who identifies as nonbinary, has been found incompetent to stand trial.

“It’s sort of a waffley opinion,” said Ellis, noting the doctor said Dao didn’t cooperate for the entire exam.

Ellis said he is likely to order a placement report to transfer Dao to the Department of State Hospitals–Napa, a psychiatric facility better equipped to treat their conditions than their current placement at the Women’s Institute of Corrections in Chino.

Earlier this month, Ellis ordered the doctor’s report to assess Dao’s competency to stand trial alongside co-defendant Alexander Jeffrey Leatham.

Under California Penal Code Section 1368, Dao’s criminal case is suspended until a competency trial scheduled for March 3.

In the attack that led to the attempted murder charges, Lind’s skull was fractured and his chest was pierced 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, along with aggravated mayhem.

At Friday’s hearing in Leatham’s case, the court considered motions including a request to substitute counsel and to sever the defendants’ cases. On Jan. 2, Leatham retained attorneys Allison Margolin and Emily Chrim through a months-long GoFundMe campaign, replacing alternate public defender Carol Long. Leatham, a transgender woman, appeared with her hair tied up and a mask covering her face.

Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro questioned the substitution as a tactic to delay the trial, noting that fundraising began around September 2025 but was not completed until January. She added that Margolin’s chemotherapy treatment and other trial commitments would likely prevent her from representing Leatham until August.

“The timing is suspicious,” Shapiro told the court.

Shapiro said it was important for the trial to proceed in May, warning that elderly witnesses could become unavailable if they fell ill. She also criticized Margolin’s substitution motion as “one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in a motion in a while,” objecting to its reference to Borhanian as a “victim.”

During her remarks, Leatham, who has a history of courtroom outbursts, began shouting “Curtis Lind murdered Emma Borhanian” repeatedly until Ellis ordered her removed from the courtroom.

After a recess, Ellis approved the substitution of counsel and rescheduled the trial for Aug. 11.

Dao and Leatham are members of the Zizians, a loosely organized, cult-like group of radical vegans who claim artificial intelligence poses a threat to humanity. The two are among about 10 known followers of blogger Jack “Ziz” LaSota, a 34-year-old transgender woman who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016.

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. Lind had been scheduled to testify in Dao and Leatham’s case. Snyder has pleaded not guilty, and his preliminary hearing is set for April 21.

LaSota, a former aspiring tech worker, moved to the Bay Area to study the risks posed by artificial intelligence and later built 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 on charges of trespassing and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.

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.