Zizian Cult Member Charged In 2022 Murder Of Parents

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

The murders of Richard and Rita Zajko, at the heart of the Zizian cult saga, came into sharper focus this week as prosecutors charged their daughter, Zizian follower Michelle Zajko, with killing them.

Michelle Zajko, 33, is charged with murder, burglary, and conspiracy in the Dec. 31, 2022, shooting deaths of her parents at their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press.

“I can’t wrap my mind around or figure out what led to this point,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said, according to AP. “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.”

Rouse said Michelle Zajko did not act alone, though no one else has been charged yet.

“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.

Richard and Rita Zajko were found shot in their daughter’s childhood playroom, surrounded by her old dolls and toys, AP reported.

The actions of the alleged cult members have captured the attention of New Englanders since Zizians Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt were involved in a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont last year. Maland encountered the pair during a traffic stop on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont, and prosecutors say Youngblut opened fire.

Maland and Bauckholt were killed, and Youngblut was injured. Youngblut has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Maland’s death. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the death penalty.

Michelle Zajko was arrested in Maryland last year along with Jack “Ziz” LaSota and Daniel Blank. They are awaiting trial on trespassing, gun, and drug possession charges stemming from those arrests. LaSota, whom authorities have described as the apparent leader of the Zizians, also faces a federal gun charge. A federal judge has ordered LaSota to undergo a psychological examination to determine competency to stand trial.

According to Rouse, police linked shell casings from the Zajko murders to ammunition from Michelle Zajko’s Vermont home and from a backyard firing range where she lived with Blank. The gun used in the killings has not been found. Authorities also found a list Zajko allegedly wrote describing mistakes people could make while committing a murder, including leaving shell casings behind.

Additionally, a neighbor’s doorbell camera captured two people getting out of a car outside Richard and Rita Zajko’s home on the night of the murders. Investigators enhanced audio from the video and heard one person say, “Mom,” according to prosecutors.

A few weeks after the murders, Zajko returned to Pennsylvania for the funeral and was briefly taken into custody at a hotel before being released without charges. LaSota, who was staying at the same hotel, was charged with obstruction and disorderly conduct related to the Zajko investigation.

LaSota and Zajko had been considered persons of interest in the crimes since the beginning. Zajko has denied killing her parents. In a 2025 handwritten “Open Letter to the World” provided to AP by her attorney, she wrote, “I didn’t murder my parents.”

The so-called Zizians began in the Bay Area of California, attracting young, tech-savvy followers from the rationalist and effective altruism communities. Authorities and media reports have described the group as sharing radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity, and artificial intelligence.

LaSota, who used the name “Ziz,” was associated with a group of followers who lived aboard boats, including a World War II-era tugboat, as part of a planned seasteading community. When that project collapsed, some associates moved into trailers and box trucks.

The group has been linked by authorities to six deaths in California, Pennsylvania, and Vermont since 2022.

In California, Zizian associates moved onto property owned by 82-year-old landlord Curtis Lind. In November 2022, Lind was attacked with knives and a sword during a dispute on the Vallejo property, according to authorities. Lind survived, though he was severely injured and partially blinded. He shot and killed Emma Borhanian, one of the attackers, in what authorities determined was self-defense.

Two other Zizian associates, Suri Dao and Alexander Leatham, were later charged in the case. Their trial has been delayed.

Lind was later expected to testify against his attackers. But in January 2025, before he could take the stand, Lind was stabbed to death. Maximilian Snyder, another alleged Zizian associate, is charged with killing him.

Meanwhile, LaSota had turned up alive in Pennsylvania after being reported dead in an alleged drowning in California. Authorities say LaSota faked his death to avoid prosecution.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.