In the wooded outskirts of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a perplexed landlord noticed odd sights at two of his rental properties. Tenants wore long black coats and parked box trucks outside the duplexes.

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.

The killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border last month has been linked to a cultlike group at the center of five other homicides in three states. (AP Video: Rodrique Ngowi, Matt Rourke,

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.

Agent David “Chris” Maland died in a shooting following a traffic stop, the FBI said. A second person killed in the incident was a German national in the country on a current visa, authorities said.

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