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A woman linked to the cultlike group known as the Zizians was charged Wednesday in the killings of her parents, with prosecutors alleging she arranged the murders on her 30th birthday and did not act alone.
Michelle Zajko, 33, faces murder, burglary and conspiracy charges in the deaths of Rita and Richard Zajko, who were found shot to death in their Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, home on New Year’s Eve 2022.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said investigators believe Zajko helped plan the killings, although authorities do not yet know who fired the fatal shots.
“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,” Rouse said.
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Michelle Zajko is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Maryland, on Jan. 16, 2026. Zajko was charged Wednesday in Pennsylvania with murder, burglary and conspiracy in the killings of her parents. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)
Prosecutors said the case was built through years of investigative work involving cellphone analysis, ballistic evidence and footage from a neighbor’s doorbell camera. According to investigators, the video captured two people arriving at the home shortly before the killings and recorded someone shouting “Mom!” moments before the shootings, according to prosecutors.
Authorities also recovered shell casings they say matched ammunition linked to Zajko’s Vermont property and backyard firing range.
“If she wasn’t the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did,” Rouse said.
The Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, home where Richard and Rita Zajko were found shot to death on Dec. 31, 2022. Their daughter, Michelle Zajko, was charged Wednesday with murder, burglary and conspiracy in the killings. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Zajko has denied involvement in the killings.
“I didn’t murder my parents,” she wrote in an April 2025 “Open Letter to the World.”
Prosecutors said Zajko had become estranged from her parents in the year before their deaths. Hours before she was killed, Rita Zajko texted her daughter to apologize for the rift between them and wish her a happy birthday.
“That text went unanswered,” Rouse said.
Richard Zajko, left, and his wife, Rita Zajko, were found shot to death in their Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, home on Dec. 31, 2022. Their daughter, Michelle Zajko, was charged Wednesday with murder, burglary and conspiracy in the killings. (Pennsylvania State Police)
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Authorities have long identified Zajko as a person of interest in the case. She is also accused of supplying the firearm used in the January 2025 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland, one of several deaths authorities have linked to alleged members of the Zizians.
Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney who has previously represented Zajko in Maryland and the Delaware County Public Defender’s Office. Neither immediately responded to requests for comment.