Delaware County officials say Michelle Zajko, 33, helped align with the people they believe killed her parents in 2022 and now faces first-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors describe years of investigation, including enhanced audio, text message
When prosecutors announced that Michelle Zajko. 33. is facing first-degree murder charges. the courtroom details landed with a steady weight: an “exhaustive” investigation. a trail of messages prosecutors say were tied to the killings. and a timeline that stretches back to 2022. Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said Zajko did not act alone in the deaths of her parents. Richard and Rita Zajko. in Pennsylvania.
At a news conference on June 24. Rouse said Zajko was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder related to the 2022 deaths. Her name is also tied to a group prosecutors and researchers have described as cult-like. known as the “Zizians. ” named after its purported leader. Jack “Ziz” LaSota.
Rouse told reporters that authorities don’t yet know who else prosecutors allege was involved. “We know Michelle Zajko was with the killers – killer, killers – to the extent that she wasn’t the one that actually pulled the trigger. She was certainly aligned with those who did,” he said.
Zajko was arrested earlier in 2025 on separate charges. and prosecutors say she has been on their radar as a person of interest for some time. What changed. Rouse said. was the effort required to bring the evidence together—work he described as spanning multiple agencies. including state police in Vermont and Pennsylvania.
The investigation, he said, traced to the period around New Year’s Eve 2022, when Zajko became estranged from her parents. Rouse said her mother reached out by text message to resolve the conflict on New Year’s Eve 2022. which was also Zajko’s birthday. Hours later. Rouse said. a vehicle approached the couple’s home and two people could be seen on video getting out.
Investigators, Rouse said, had footage captured by a neighbor’s doorbell camera. One person could be heard speaking, though the audio was unclear at first. Investigators were able to enhance the audio, Rouse said, and determined the speaker said “mom.”
Rouse also described other steps prosecutors believe proved Zajko’s connection to what happened. He said investigators found text messages from Zajko about the killings and a list of items she believed the killers did wrong. He further said ballistic analysis matched two shell casings found at the scene to a weapon used at a firing range in Zajko’s home in Vermont.
“There’s no smoking gun,” Rouse said. “It is piece after piece after piece of evidence that’s been painstakingly collected over years.”
Zajko’s legal position has been firm. After her arrest, she denied killing her parents in a letter provided to the Associated Press by her attorney. In earlier reporting about her arrest in Maryland, the attorney listed as representing her there did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Federal scrutiny has also followed the case beyond Pennsylvania. The Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives is pursuing federal charges against Zajko. according to earlier reporting. over allegations that she lied on purchasing paperwork for several guns bought in 2024. Those firearms. prosecutors have alleged. were later used by two other people in Vermont during a double-fatal shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
The charges in Maryland came before the murder case. Zajko was taken into custody in Maryland in February 2025 on separate allegations, arrested alongside Jack LaSota and another person. Prosecutors said she was charged with trespassing, resisting or interfering with an arrest, obstruction, and carrying a handgun.
Rouse’s comments also tied the case to the broader network that authorities say includes members charged with violent offenses across state and federal systems. Zajko is reportedly part of a small group linked to at least six deaths nationwide that is named after their purported leader. Jack “Ziz” LaSota.
Descriptions of the group’s internal culture vary in the public record. but some details have emerged: many of the group’s members are vegan. and either have degrees in computer science or have studied related fields. Some members are transgender, or have rejected binary sexuality. Rouse’s case adds legal weight to those public descriptions by focusing on how prosecutors say communication and participation fit into a violent outcome.
According to previously published accounts, the group at one time was based in the San Francisco area, living in box trucks on a landlord’s property. Members also reportedly lived in North Carolina and Vermont.
For now. prosecutors say they have a clearer picture of Zajko’s alleged role in a killing that occurred years ago—while leaving open who else. if anyone. she may have conspired with. The case also keeps overlapping legal tracks running at the same time: state charges in Pennsylvania and separate federal pursuit tied to firearms purchases and a later shootout in Vermont.
The stakes in this case are not only the pending charges for Zajko, but the way prosecutors say a community’s internal ties can become part of a criminal story—one they describe as built slowly, piece by piece, until it reached a point where charges could follow.
Michelle Zajko Zizians Jack LaSota Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse first-degree murder conspiracy Vermont weapon ballistic analysis ATF U.S. Border Patrol double-fatal shootout guns purchase paperwork Maryland arrest cult-like group