Delco DA charges woman allegedly tied to extremist Zizian group with murder of her parents

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Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse announced Wednesday that Michelle Zajko has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2022 shooting deaths of her parents, Richard and Rita Zajko.

“We don’t have a smoking gun,” Rouse said at a press conference Wednesday. “It is piece after piece after piece of evidence that has been collected painstakingly over years.”

According to Rouse, Zajko had become estranged from her parents in 2022, and that same year became involved with members of an extremist cult-like group referred to as the Zizians, who have been linked to a total of six killings across the country.

Rita Zajko, Michelle’s mother, sent a text message to her daughter on Dec. 31, 2022, Michelle’s birthday, expressing regret for the rift that had grown between them, Rouse said.

Video footage shows later that day two individuals exiting a car outside of the Richard and Rita Zakjo’s home in Chester Heights, Delaware County. Investigators enhanced audio to reveal that one of the people said, “Mom,” after exiting the car, Rouse said.

Detectives from Vermont State Police and Pennsylvania State Police found other evidence that led to charging Zajko in her parents’ deaths, Rouse said, including shell casings matching those found at the crime scene in Michelle Zajko’s backyard in Vermont, as well as text messages from Zajko’s cellphone.

“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,” Rouse said.

“She did not act alone,” he added. “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 at this time.”

Richard and Rita Zajko were “loving” and “extremely generous,” said Rosanne Zajko, Richard’s sister, at the press conference Thursday.

“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 Rita and Rick,” Rosanne Zajko said.

Zajko was taken into custody in western Maryland in February 2025 and charged with trespassing and weapons offenses, along with Jack LaSota, whom officials have described as the leader of the Zizians.

In a handwritten letter made public several months later, Zajko said she has been falsely accused of killing her parents and maintained her innocence.

Authorities say Zajko supplied the guns used in a shootout that led to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a car passenger in Vermont in January 2025.