A woman who is reportedly affiliated with a sect known as the Zizians has been charged with orchestrating the murder of her parents, as claimed by prosecutors on Wednesday. They allege that she organized the tragic event to coincide with her 30th birthday and had accomplices.
Michelle Zajko, now 33, is facing charges of murder, burglary, and conspiracy related to the deaths of her parents, Rita and Richard Zajko. The couple was discovered fatally shot in their Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, residence on New Year’s Eve in 2022.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse commented that authorities suspect Zajko played a role in the planning of these murders, although the identity of the shooter remains unknown.
“Currently, we have not identified her accomplices, but we are confident that Michelle Zajko was present in the home and orchestrated her parents’ deaths,” Rouse stated.
Michelle Zajko is seen being led into court for a pretrial hearing regarding charges of trespassing, firearms, and drugs in Cumberland, Maryland, on January 16, 2026. On Wednesday, Pennsylvania authorities charged Zajko with murder, burglary, and conspiracy in connection with her parents’ killings. (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)
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.
News Media 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.