Woman charged in 2022 New Year's Eve murder of parents
A woman is accused of killing her parents, taking her mother to her childhood playroom where she "executed her," prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Michelle Zajko, 33, has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the 2022 death of her parents, officials announced Wednesday afternoon.
She is facing other charges, including criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide.
"I can’t wrap my mind around or figure out what led to this point. 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," Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
Investigators believe the killings took place on New Year’s Eve of 2022 in Pennsylvania, Rouse said.
Michelle Zajko had been estranged from her parents ahead of the murders, investigators said.
Rita Zajko had reached out to her daughter on her birthday -- which fell on New Year’s Eve -- apologizing for the rift between them and seeking to mend their relationship, according to Rouse. That text went unanswered, Rouse said.
Rouse said there was more than enough time after the message was sent for Michelle Zajko to travel to Pennsylvania, where the murders were committed.
Hours after the message was sent, visual evidence shows a car approaching the Zajko home and at least two individuals, including Michelle Zajko, are seen exiting the vehicle, Rouse said.
Audio evidence revealed a voice saying "Mom" outside of the home before the two entered, Rouse said. Michelle Zajko is the couple’s only child, Rouse said.
Ballistics evidence collected from the scene was ultimately connected to shell casings found in the backyard of her home in Vermont, Rouse said. The firearm has not yet been found, Rouse said.
Rouse said there appears to have been some planning of the murders with the firearm purchased about a year before the killings, practice rounds being fired in the backyard of Michelle Zajko’s home and evidence that Michelle Zajko and her alleged coconspirator had arranged for someone to send texts from their phones, which they had left behind.
Investigators said they also found text messages on Michelle Zajko’s phone listing things she believes could have been done differently in the killing. There was also a list of things that had been done wrong in the murder, including not removing the shell casings from the scene, Rouse said.
"We are finally at the point where we can say beyond any doubt that Michelle Zajko was at least in part responsible for the death of her parents. She did not act alone. 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.
"We don't have a smoking gun. It is piece after piece after piece of evidence that has been collected painstakingly over years," Rouse said.
