A woman with alleged ties to an online extremist group has been charged in connection with the 2022 shooting deaths of her parents in Pennsylvania, authorities announced Wednesday.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse announced the first-degree murder and conspiracy charges against 33-year-old Michelle Zajko during a press conference on June 24. The charges follow a years-long investigation into the deaths of Richard Zajko, 71, and Rita Zajko, 69, who were killed inside their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania.
According to Rouse, the timeline of the killings began on New Year’s Eve in 2022, which was also Michelle Zajko’s birthday. Her mother, Rita, sent her a text message stating she was “sorry for the rift that had grown between them.” The text went unanswered.
Several hours later, surveillance footage captured a car pulling up to the Zajko residence. At least two people got out of the vehicle, the lights inside the house turned on, and the couple was executed. Rouse noted that audio from the scene, later enhanced by technology, captured one of the individuals saying something indistinguishable that “sounded like ‘mom’.” Michelle Zajko was the couple’s only child.
Investigators recovered two shell casings at the scene, which ballistics analysis traced back to Michelle Zajko. Rouse stated that the casings matched an unrecovered firearm previously used at her residence in Vermont.
“[The casings] were found to match an as of yet unrecovered firearm that had been used at Michele Zajko’s home in Vermont. So, we know that Michelle Zajko was with the… killer, killers to the extent that she wasn’t the one that pulled the trigger,” Rouse alleged. “She was certainly aligned with those that did.”
In an official statement, Rouse emphasized the extensive inter-agency effort behind the indictment.
“These charges did not come quickly or easily. They are the product of years of careful investigative work, methodical evidence review, and coordination across multiple agencies to ensure the case was fully supported before moving forward,” Rouse said. “At every stage, investigators remained focused on building the strongest case possible. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Rita and Richard Zajko, and we recognize the pain and loss they continue to endure as a result of this tragedy. We hope these charges represent a meaningful step toward accountability and justice in this matter.”
Zajko was briefly taken into custody and questioned shortly after the homicides in late 2022, but she was released without charges at the time. However, Jack Amadeus Lasota, whom authorities identify as the leader of the cult-like group known as the Zizians, was taken into custody during that initial period for “refusing to cooperate with officers.”
In 2025, Zajko, Lasota, and another alleged Zizian member, Daniel Arthur Blank, were arrested by Maryland State Police in Frostburg. The trio faced charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering, having a firearm in a vehicle, resisting arrest, and carrying a handgun on their person.
Those 2025 arrests occurred following a fatal shootout on January 20, 2025, in Coventry, Vermont, which resulted in the death of 44-year-old U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland. Federal authorities stated that a fourth alleged group member, Teresa Youngblut, was charged with fatally shooting Maland, while another group member, Felix Bauckholt, died during the encounter.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, the Zizians are a group primarily composed of highly intelligent computer scientists in their 20s and 30s who originally met online. Members of the group reportedly support radical veganism, gender identity, and artificial intelligence. Law enforcement agencies have linked the group to multiple homicides across several states, including Vermont and California.
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