Competency review ordered for leader of cultlike Zizians group that has been linked to 6 deaths

A lawyer representing the leader of the cultlike Zizians group that has been linked to six deaths told a judge Thursday that there is reason to believe his client is mentally incompetent to stand trial. Jack LaSota, a transgender woman who goes by “Ziz,” was supposed to be in federal court for a two-day hearing on whether to suppress evidence collected as a result of her arrest in Frostburg, Maryland, last year. Instead, U.S. District Court Judge James Bredar granted a motion filed late Wednesday seeking a competency evaluation.