Daughter with ties to cultlike group charged in parents' murder in Pennsylvania

A woman with ties to a cultlike group called the Zizians has been charged with the murder of her parents, Richard and Rita Zajko, inside their Pennsylvania home in December 2022.

Michelle Zajko, 33, was charged with murder, conspiracy and related offenses in the death of her parents in their Delaware County home, court documents show.

"We are finally at the point where we can say beyond any doubt that Michelle Zajko was at least in part responsible for the death of her parents," Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said Wednesday. "She did not act alone. At this time, we do not know who her co-conspirators were, but we are very certain that Michelle Zajko was in the home and arranged for the death of her parents."

Prosecutors said Richard and Rita Zajko were found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads in their Chester Heights home on Jan. 2, 2023. Pennsylvania State Police responded to a wellness check after the couple failed to show up to take care of a family member.

The Delaware County medical examiner ruled their deaths a homicide. Investigators said the Zajkos were killed on New Year's Eve in 2022, several days before they were found. That is also Michelle Zajko's birthday.

"It does not seem to be a spur-of-the-moment operation," Rouse said. "There was clearly quite a bit of thought put into this. When that started, I can't say. What spurred that, I can't say. But it certainly wasn't sloppy."

Rouse said Michelle Zajko became estranged from her parents and hadn't spoken with them since sometime in early 2022.

That year, Rouse said, Zajko became affiliated with Jack LaSota, Daniel Blank and an extremist group called the Zizians, living in Vermont. LaSota is "commonly accepted to be the leader of that group," the DA said.

Investigators said early on Dec. 31, 2022, Rita Zajko texted her daughter to express sorrow about their relationship and attempt to make amends. Rouse said Rita Zajko texted her daughter "seeking to bury the hatchet, whatever that hatchet may have been."

"That text message went unreturned," Rouse said.

Several hours later, around 11:30 p.m., a car was seen on a security camera approaching the Zajkos' home in Chester Heights and two unidentifiable people exited the vehicle, Rouse said.

One of the two could be heard yelling "Mom" before the lights went on in the Zajkos' home, Rouse said.

"They only have one child," the district attorney said. "That's Michelle Zajko."

The two individuals left the home after about nine minutes, according to prosecutors. The surveillance video did not capture the sounds of gunshots, prosecutors said.

Rouse said during the yearslong investigation, they were able to confirm Michelle Zajko was one of the two people inside the home. He said at this point, the other individual remains unidentified.

"We are going to need more than we have to identify them," Rouse said.

The investigation found that Michelle Zajko exchanged a number of text messages before and after the alleged murder, "explaining things she wishes she could have done differently surrounding the homicide," Rouse said.

She went dark around the time of the murders, according to Rouse, leaving her cellphone in Vermont. The DA said she made neither outgoing nor returned phone calls during the time of the shootings.

Rouse said two shell casings found at the scene matched an unrecovered gun that Michelle Zajko used at a firing range in the backyard of her home in Vermont.

According to the DA, Michelle Zajko allegedly created a list of things they "f***** up," including not getting rid of the shell casings, ammunition found in the Vermont home and not sending fake text messages from her phone left behind.

Michelle Zajko was previously questioned but not charged in her parents' deaths. In April 2025, she released a 20-page handwritten letter through her attorney in which she said she was falsely accused of killing her parents.

Rosanne Zajko, Rita and Richard Zajko's sister-in-law, released a statement on behalf of the family that said, in part:

In the three-plus years since the murders of our beloved Rick and Rita, we have lived with unspeakable grief and sorrow. There were countless days of darkness and despair, days when it was difficult, almost impossible, to hold on to the belief and hope and expectation that this day would eventually arrive.

We are deeply and forever grateful and thankful for those public servants who carried us through the dark days to this long-awaited day when charges would be filed. …  

There has been much speculation, misinformation and disinformation about our Rick and Rita and our niece. It has been difficult and challenging to hear and read and not comment until the appropriate time. That time is now. The evidence will speak loudly and decisively for us, as it will for Rick and Rita. Now is the time for the facts and the truth to be known.

We don't know yet if the trial will begin to heal the void in our lives and the ache in our hearts. But we do know that the detectives, the DA's office and we, the family, have done everything possible to achieve justice for Rick and Rita.

The deaths of Richard and Rita Zajko are among six deaths connected to the Zizians in Pennsylvania, California and Vermont.

Authorities claim Michelle Zajko provided the gun used in the shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in Vermont in January 2025.

Michelle Zajko was arrested in Allegany County, Maryland, in 2025 on separate charges. She remains in custody awaiting trial with LaSota and Blank in Maryland. She also faces federal charges in Vermont in a separate case.

Rouse said Michelle Zajko will await extradition in Maryland.