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Prosecutors say woman charged in killing of Border Patrol agent was in contact with homicide suspect
A Washington state woman charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a U.S. border patrol agent in Vermont had been in frequent contact with someone whom authorities have linked to homicides in Pennsylvania and California, a federal prosecutor said in court documents Monday.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the death of Border Patrol Agent David Maland, 44, who died Jan. 20 during the shootout in Coventry, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border. She had been traveling with Felix Bauckholt, a German citizen who also was killed, and the pair had been under surveillance for several days.
In a motion filed Monday, U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher said Youngblut should be detained as the case proceeds due to the nature of the crime, the weight of evidence against her, her lack of ties to Vermont, and the danger she poses to the community.
According to the motion, the gun used by Youngblut and one that Bauckholt was carrying were purchased by a third person in Vermont last February. The buyer is a person of interest on a double homicide investigation in Pennsylvania, Drescher said.
And both Youngblut and the buyer “are acquainted with and have been in frequent contact with” someone who was detained during that investigation and who also is a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Vallejo, California, the motion said.
“The defendant’s possession and use of a firearm, combined with her itinerary and associations, suggests she poses a current and substantial danger to the community that could not be addressed by a condition or a combination of conditions of pretrial release,” the prosecutor wrote.
Youngblut was scheduled to appear in federal court Monday. The public defender assigned to represent Youngblut in U.S. District Court in Burlington did not return emails seeking comment. A spokesperson for the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont declined to comment.
According to an FBI affidavit, a border agent pulled over Youngblut and Bauckholt on Interstate 91 to conduct an immigration inspection. At the time, Bauckholt appeared to have an expired visa, according to a Department of Homeland Security database, but investigators later confirmed that his visa was current, the FBI said.
Youngblut, who had been driving Bauckholt’s car, got out and opened fire on Maland and other officers without warning, the FBI alleges. Bauckholt tried to draw a gun but was shot, the affidavit states.
At least one border agent fired on Youngblut and Bauckholt, but authorities haven’t specified whose bullets hit whom. “This investigation remains very active, and the legal process continues,” FBI spokeswoman Sarah Ruane said in a statement over the weekend.
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