The killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland is tied to a cultlike group that federal prosecutors have linked to five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.

A traffic stop in Vermont has cracked open a cultlike group called Zizians linked to six deaths in three states

The killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border last month and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California have been tied to a cultlike group. Interviews and online postings reveal how young computer scientists described by those who know them as highly intelligent appear to have become increasingly violent.

Here's a look at the timeline of events in a series of killings that culminated in a Jan. 20 highways shootout that killed a Border Patrol officer in Vermont. It is based on Associated Press interviews and a review of police reports,