Daughter of slain Pennsylvania couple arrested with leader of cult-like group

Michelle Zajko was a person of interest in the killings of her parents, 71-year-old Richard Zajko and his wife, 68-year-old Rita Zajko, on Dec. 31, 2022 in their Delaware County home.

BOSTON — The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said Monday.

Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, of Media, Delaware County. They face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.

A bail hearing for the two is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Allegany District Court.

The Zizians have been tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and homicides in Vermont, California, and the 2022 murders of Zajko’s parents — 71-year-old Richard Zajko and his wife, 68-year-old Rita Zajko — in Delaware County.

The couple was shot to death inside their Chester Heights home on Dec. 31, 2022. Michelle Zajko was eventually identified by authorities as a person of interest in the killings and was taken into custody along with Lasota in January 2023, but the pair were not charged with their murders at the time.

Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles from the Canadian border.

Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of Maland. Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.

Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.

At the middle of it all is “Ziz,” who appears to be the leader of the strange group members who called themselves “Zizians.” She has been seen near multiple crime scenes and has connections to various suspects.

LaSota published a dark and sometimes violent blog under the name Ziz and, in one section, described her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other.”

LaSota, who used she/her pronouns, and in her writings says she is a transgender woman, railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operate mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some are concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.

LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent weeks, and her attorney Daniel McGarrigle declined to comment when asked whether she is connected to any of the deaths. Before her weekend arrest, she missed court appearances in two states, and bench warrants have been issued for her arrest.

Reached on Monday, McGarrigle would only confirm that he has represented LaSota and wouldn’t confirm her arrest or any details of the latest case.