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, according to court documents.

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

Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to provide a "significant development" in the investigation. Watch live on CBS News Philadelphia or wherever we're streaming.

Richard, 72, and Rita Zajko, 69, were found dead during a wellness check in Chester Heights on Jan. 2, 2023. The Delaware County medical examiner ruled their deaths a homicide. They were killed on New Year's Eve in 2022, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Investigators did not consider their death a random act of violence, state police previously said.

The Delaware County couple's deaths are among six deaths connected to a cultlike group called the Zizians in Pennsylvania, California and Vermont.

Michelle Zajko, the couple's daughter, 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.

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.

Zajko remains in custody in Maryland with two other members of the extremist group Zizians.

This is a developing story and will be updated.