Jack LaSota, left, Michelle Zajko, top and Daniel Blank, bottom were arrested Sunday in Allegany County, Md. They are linked to multiple murders across the country, including two in Delaware County. (Credit: Allegany County Sherriff's Department)
The daughter of a Delaware County couple that were murdered on New Year's Eve, 2022, was arrested in Western Maryland on Sunday night.
Michelle Zajko, 33, was arrested along with Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkley, Calif. and Daniel Arthur Blank, 26, of Sacramento, Calif. in Frostberg Md., according the Allegany County Sherriff's Department.
All three were arrested on trespassing, obstruction and hindering charges and Zajko and LaSorta also had weapons charges, but all three have been linked to three unsolved murders - two in Delco and one in California, and also the shooting death of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont on Jan. 20.
The three were located in two, white, box trucks. They had asked a landowner of they could camp out on his property for about a month, but the landowner became suspicious of their activities and intentions, and contacted local law enforcement.
According to VTDigger, an investigative news website, a Maryland state trooper approached the first box truck and discovered Blank, sitting in the passenger seat.
Zajko and LaSota were found inside the other truck by other troopers, and the two were dressed in black, were wearing gun belts stocked with ammunition.
After being asked to exit the truck, the two were not compliant. Zajko was eventually taken down to the ground by troopers via a controlled takedown. According to charging documents, a Sig Sauer handgun was found in her waistband.
Additionally, troopers noted a long rifle in the back of the truck, and a handgun on the floorboard where LaSota was sitting.
All three individuals refused to give their names to police, but were later identified through photographs by the FBI.
According to the filings, Blank is under investigation in connection with a double homicide in Delaware County and had previously been reported as a “missing endangered person” in a police database,
LaSota, who is also known as "Ziz" is the leader of a cultish group known as the Zizians who have a strange and sordid background that links them to acts of violence. The Zizians have been connected to six different homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and Claifornia, according to authorities.
A bail hearing was set for Tuesday morning at the Allegany District Court.
The border patrol agent, David Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout with Zizian members following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a town close to the Canadian border.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, is accused of opening fire on agents during the traffic stop. Also killed in that shootout was Felix Bauckholt, a German national who was a companion of Youngblut.
The murders of Richard and Rita Zajko on New Year's Eve, 2022, remains unsolved. Both were found dead inside their Chester Heights home with gunshot wounds to the head. Their daughter Michelle's driver's license was found at the residence.
No arrests have been made yet, but investigators from the Pennsylvania State Police publicly announced thar the gun that was used to kill Maland was purchased by a person of interest in the murder of the Zajkos.
According to court documents, PA state troopers searched a Vermont home affiliated with Michelle the week after her parents were killed.
Police say that during a voluntary interview, Michelle Zajko admitted to owning a Smith and Wesson gun, which, according to sale records, she purchased at Green Mountain Sporting Goods in Vermont in February, 2022. Authorities have alleged that the ammunition allegedly purchased by Michelle Zajko matches the shell casings that were recovered at the scene of her parents' murders.
LaSota was charged in January, 2023 with obstruction and disorderly conduct when he was arrested at a hotel close to the Zajko murder scene, at a time when police were searching for the weapon used in the shootings.
According to VTDigger, federal authorities had issued an alert to firearms dealers regarding Michelle Zajko and had identified her as a person of interest in the Maland murder.
Michelle Zajko has not been charged in any shooting incident at the time of this publication.
Information from the Associated Press and MarylandMatters.org was also used in this report.
