\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA member of the cultlike group known as Zizians has been charged with murder in the shooting of her parents at their Pennsylvania home on her 30th birthday, and a prosecutor said Wednesday she wasn’t acting alone.Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said evidence from a neighbor\u2019s doorbell camera, ballistics and analysis of cellphone records have left investigators certain Michelle Zajko is at least partly responsible for the deaths of her parents, Rita and Richard. They were shot in her childhood playroom on New Year\u2019s Eve 2022, surrounded by her old dolls and toys.”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,\u201d Rouse said.The new charges against Zajko, who has been jailed in Maryland on other charges since February 2025, include murder, burglary and conspiracy charges in her parents\u2019 deaths. She has denied killing them, and in court filings suggested her father might have killed her mother and himself.\u201cI didn\u2019t murder my parents,\u201d she wrote in an April 2025 \u201c Open Letter to the World\u201d that her attorney sent to The Associated Press.Authorities had long described Zajko as a person of interest.The two deaths are among six linked to the Zizians, a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists who appear to share radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity and artificial intelligence. Since 2022, members have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord\u2019s subsequent killing, the Zajkos\u2019 deaths in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left a border agent and another Zizian dead.Ballistics and list of mistakes provided links to ZajkoIn the Pennsylvania case, investigators spent years painstakingly collecting evidence, Rouse said, including video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera that captured two people getting out of a car outside the Zajkos’ home in Chester Heights, a voice shouting \u201cMom!\u201d and another voice exclaiming, \u201cOh my God! Oh, God, God!\u201dAuthorities haven’t found a weapon, but Zajko made a list describing mistakes such as leaving shell casings behind, he said. Those casings matched ammunition from Zajko’s home in Vermont and from a firing range in her backyard, Rouse said.\u201cIf she wasn\u2019t the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did,\u201d he said.Online court records didn’t indicate whether Zajko had an attorney in the Pennsylvania case as of Wednesday. An attorney representing her in Maryland did not respond to a message seeking comment, and the Delaware County Public Defender\u2019s office declined to comment.Zizians face charges in multiple statesZajko, now 33, also is charged with providing the gun used to kill U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in January 2025, though nothing has happened in that case. She was arrested in Maryland a few weeks later along with Daniel Blank and Jack \u201cZiz\u201d LaSota, whom authorities describe as the group\u2019s leader. Police who responded to a landowner’s complaint about suspicious people parked in box trucks on his property described them as having \u201cties with the Zizians Cult\u201d and said they would be questioned about crimes across the country.All three have pleaded not guilty to charges of trespassing and illegal gun and drug possession, while LaSota also has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of illegal gun possession by a fugitive. A judge recently granted a defense request for a competency evaluation in the federal case.In court filings, LaSota\u2019s attorneys said their client eschews the term Zizian and denies that she and her friends have formed a cult. Zajko has claimed authorities arrested the group in Maryland to prevent them from exonerating Teresa Youngblut, who has pleaded not guilty to murder in the Vermont shooting and could face the death penalty if convicted.Zajko was living with Blank in Vermont at the time of her parents\u2019 deaths and was questioned there by police shortly after they died. A few weeks later, officers briefly took her into custody at a hotel while she was in Pennsylvania for the funeral but released her without charges. LaSota, staying at the same hotel, was charged with obstructing the homicide investigation and disorderly conduct. Her attorney at the time has said she is innocent of those charges.Family questions remain unanswered in the Pennsylvania killingsZajko had been estranged from her parents in the year leading up to their deaths, the prosecutor said. In a January 2022 text message to her father, she complained that her mother had \u201cassumed the worst\u201d about her since she was a child.\u201cEvery time I interact with mom in a nonsuperficial way she spends the time insulting a life she knows nothing about,\u201d Zajko wrote. Hours before her death, Rita Zajko apologized to her daughter and wished her a happy birthday.\u201cThat text went unanswered,\u201d Rouse said.Richard Zajko’s sister-in-law, Roseanne Zajko, thanked police and prosecutors Wednesday, saying that her family has endured \u201ccountless days of darkness and despair” waiting for justice.\u201cWe 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.\u201dThe prosecutor described their deaths as a crime that \u201cgoes beyond comprehension.\u201d\u201cI can\u2019t wrap my mind around or figure out what led to this point,” he said. “We are clearly talking about someone that has gone down an unimaginably dark road and has led to a tragedy that just defies any sort of description.\u201dSee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A member of the cultlike group known as Zizians<\/a> has been charged with murder in the shooting of her parents at their Pennsylvania home on her 30th birthday, and a prosecutor said Wednesday she wasn’t acting alone.<\/p>\n Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said evidence from a neighbor\u2019s doorbell camera, ballistics and analysis of cellphone records have left investigators certain Michelle Zajko is at least partly responsible for the deaths of her parents, Rita and Richard. They were shot in her childhood playroom on New Year\u2019s Eve 2022, surrounded by her old dolls and toys.<\/p>\n “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,\u201d Rouse said.<\/p>\n The new charges against Zajko, who has been jailed in Maryland on other charges since February 2025, include murder, burglary and conspiracy charges in her parents\u2019 deaths. She has denied killing them, and in court filings suggested her father might have killed her mother and himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t murder my parents,\u201d she wrote in an April 2025 \u201c Open Letter to the World\u201d<\/a> that her attorney sent to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Authorities had long described Zajko as a person of interest.<\/p>\n The two deaths are among six linked to the Zizians<\/a>, a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists who appear to share radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity and artificial intelligence. Since 2022, members have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord<\/a>, the landlord\u2019s subsequent killing, the Zajkos\u2019 deaths in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont<\/a> that left a border agent and another Zizian dead.<\/p>\n Ballistics and list of mistakes provided links to Zajko<\/p>\n In the Pennsylvania case, investigators spent years painstakingly collecting evidence, Rouse said, including video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera that captured two people getting out of a car outside the Zajkos’ home in Chester Heights, a voice shouting \u201cMom!\u201d and another voice exclaiming, \u201cOh my God! Oh, God, God!\u201d<\/p>\n Authorities haven’t found a weapon, but Zajko made a list describing mistakes such as leaving shell casings behind, he said. Those casings matched ammunition from Zajko’s home in Vermont and from a firing range in her backyard, Rouse said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she wasn\u2019t the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Online court records didn’t indicate whether Zajko had an attorney in the Pennsylvania case as of Wednesday. An attorney representing her in Maryland did not respond to a message seeking comment, and the Delaware County Public Defender\u2019s office declined to comment.<\/p>\n Zizians face charges in multiple states<\/p>\n Zajko, now 33, also is charged with providing the gun used to kill U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in January 2025, though nothing has happened in that case. She was arrested in Maryland a few weeks later<\/a> along with Daniel Blank and Jack \u201cZiz\u201d LaSota, whom authorities describe as the group\u2019s leader. Police who responded to a landowner’s complaint about suspicious people parked in box trucks on his property described them as having \u201cties with the Zizians Cult\u201d and said they would be questioned about crimes across the country.<\/p>\n All three have pleaded not guilty to charges of trespassing and illegal gun and drug possession, while LaSota also has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of illegal gun possession by a fugitive. A judge recently granted a defense request for a competency evaluation in the federal case.<\/p>\n In court filings, LaSota\u2019s attorneys said their client eschews the term Zizian and denies that she and her friends have formed a cult. Zajko has claimed authorities arrested the group in Maryland to prevent them from exonerating Teresa Youngblut<\/a>, who has pleaded not guilty to murder in the Vermont shooting and could face the death penalty if convicted.<\/p>\n Zajko was living with Blank in Vermont at the time of her parents\u2019 deaths and was questioned there by police shortly after they died. A few weeks later, officers briefly took her into custody at a hotel while she was in Pennsylvania for the funeral but released her without charges. LaSota, staying at the same hotel, was charged with obstructing the homicide investigation and disorderly conduct. Her attorney at the time has said she is innocent of those charges.<\/p>\n Family questions remain unanswered in the Pennsylvania killings<\/p>\n Zajko had been estranged from her parents in the year leading up to their deaths, the prosecutor said. In a January 2022 text message to her father, she complained that her mother had \u201cassumed the worst\u201d about her since she was a child.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I interact with mom in a nonsuperficial way she spends the time insulting a life she knows nothing about,\u201d Zajko wrote. Hours before her death, Rita Zajko apologized to her daughter and wished her a happy birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cThat text went unanswered,\u201d Rouse said.<\/p>\n Richard Zajko’s sister-in-law, Roseanne Zajko, thanked police and prosecutors Wednesday, saying that her family has endured \u201ccountless days of darkness and despair” waiting for justice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The prosecutor described their deaths as a crime that \u201cgoes beyond comprehension.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wrap my mind around or figure out what led to this point,” he said. “We are clearly talking about someone that has gone down an unimaginably dark road and has led to a tragedy that just defies any sort of description.\u201d<\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A member of the cultlike group known as Zizians has been charged with murder in the shooting of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[98835,98541,28,30,29,41648,54474],"class_list":["post-228138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-delaware-county-district-attorney","tag-michelle-zajko","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-tanner-rouse","tag-zizians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}