A member of a cultlike group already tied to the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont now faces murder charges in the deaths of her parents in Pennsylvania.
Delaware County State's Attorney Tanner Rouse announced Wednesday that Michelle Zajko, 33, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the deaths of Richard Zajko, 72, and Rita Zajko, 69. The couple were found dead from gunshot wounds to the head in their Chester Heights home on Jan. 2, 2023, after a welfare check.
Rouse said investigators do not believe Zajko acted alone. "To the extent that if she wasn't the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did," he said. "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."
Zajko has long been a person of interest in the killings. In a letter to the media last year, she denied involvement. No attorney is listed for her in court records.
The new charges are the latest in a string of homicides linked to the Zizians, a group that has drawn national attention since a January 2025 shootout on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont, that killed Border Patrol agent David Maland. Another Zizian member, Teresa Youngblut, faces federal murder charges in that case. Zajko herself has a pending federal charge in Vermont for allegedly making false statements to buy firearms and providing one of the guns used in Maland's shooting. She has not appeared in Vermont court because she was arrested in Maryland on state gun and drug charges along with alleged Zizian leader Jack LaSota.
According to court filings, Ring camera footage from a neighbor showed a vehicle arriving at the Zajko residence at 11:29 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2022. Two minutes later, a voice was heard shouting "Mom," followed by "Oh my God!, God, God!" Police recovered two 9mm shell casings near the bodies but no firearm. A driver's license for Michelle Zajko was found at the scene; she had been estranged from her parents.
Rouse described the investigation as "exhaustive" but acknowledged, "We don't have a smoking gun. It is piece after piece after piece of evidence." He said the motive remains unclear.
Originally reported by VTDigger.
Photo: Ian Hutchinson via Unsplash. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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