Feds to Seek Death Penalty in Killing of Border Patrol Agent

The feds will seek the death penalty against the 21-year-old woman who they say shot and killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a Vermont traffic stop in January.

The news comes after a federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Teresa Youngblut of Seattle, Wash., on four new criminal counts, including the murder of border patrol agent David “Chris” Maland.

Michael P. Drescher, the acting U.S. attorney for the district of Vermont, filed notice with the court that the government would seek to execute Youngblut if she is convicted, in part because Maland was a law enforcement officer.

The federal government has executed only one woman in the past 72 years. However, shortly after Maland’s death, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi lifted a moratorium on capital punishment in federal cases that had been enacted under the administration of former president Joe Biden.

In announcing the change, Bondi directed U.S. attorneys throughout the country to pursue the death penalty under certain circumstances, including when the victim is a law enforcement officer. Her memo specified that the directive would apply to the Vermont case.

Felix Bauckholt and Youngblut had drawn the attention of authorities in the Northeast Kingdom by donning black tactical gear. Law enforcement officers surveilled them for days. Authorities have said that on January 20, agents stopped Youngblut and Bauckholt’s vehicle near Coventry because they believed Bauckholt’s visa was expired. (It was not.)

Youngblut allegedly drew a Glock pistol and opened fire at Maland. Other border patrol agents returned fire, killing her companion, Bauckholt, a German citizen. Youngblut was wounded.

The shooting brought international attention to the cultlike extremist group of philosophers known as the Zizians, who authorities have linked to murders in California and Pennsylvania. Prior to the shootout, Youngblut and Bauckholt appear to have been living with other Zizian adherents, who took special interest in veganism, gender identity, artificial intelligence and rationalist philosophy.

Youngblut has been imprisoned on lesser charges since the shootout. No trial date has been set.