Troopers searched Vermont home in connection with Delco murders: Court docs

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- UPDATE: Daughter of slain Delco couple arrested in Md. on trespassing, weapons charges

Court documents are revealing new details about the killing of a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, couple and the growing ties to the shooting death of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont.

Richard and Rita Zajko were both shot in the head inside their Chester Heights home back on December 31, 2022.

Pennsylvania State troopers found the couple dead in an upstairs bedroom days later on January 2, 2023.

Neighbor captures movement

According to court documents obtained by Action News, a nearby neighbor's Ring camera reportedly captured activity at the family's home on the night of the murders. At 11:29 p.m. on December 31, 2022, video appears to show an unknown vehicle arriving at the victims' home, and then the lights go off.

Minutes later, court documents say "a higher pitched voice is heard shouting what sounds like, 'Mom!" Then, authorities say a higher-pitched voice is heard exclaiming, "Oh my God! Oh, God, God."

"Movement can be seen at the front door, which appears to be opened then shut, indicating the subjects entered the house. The interior upstairs lights can be seen turning on and approximately nine 9 minutes pass until two subjects can be seen leaving the residence via the front door", the court filing states.

The people seen in the video have not yet been identified.

'Voluntary interview' with victims' child

Court documents reveal troopers found a Pennsylvania driver's license in the home with the name Michelle Zajko. Troopers identified Michelle as the victims' daughter, and it was learned she could be living in Vermont.

Nearly a week after the killings, police executed a search warrant at a residence in Orleans, Vermont, and spoke with Michelle during a "voluntary interview." She allegedly told police she was in Vermont with her roommate in the days surrounding her parent's death. She also stated that she hadn't been in Pennsylvania since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Michelle told police that she hadn't talked to her parents since January 2022, but "only after a direct question" did she admit to receiving a message from her mother, to which she didn't respond, the court filings stated.

During the interview, authorities say Michelle admitted to owning a firearm -- a Smith and Wesson "M&P" model.

"In handling and observing said firearm, it was found to be free of dust, dirt or debris appearing to be well kept and recently cleaned and/or serviced," the court filing states.

According to sale records, the gun was purchased on February 3, 2022, at Green Mountain Sporting Goods in Vermont by Michelle Zajko. Authorities allege the ammo allegedly purchased by Michelle is the same manufacture and type as the spent casings that were recovered at the scene of the Delaware County murders.

The search warrant was for the Smith and Wesson handgun and ammunition, but the court filings only state three cartridges of 9mm ammo were recovered.

Ties to shooting in Vermont

As authorities remain tightlipped about the murders of Richard and Rita Zajko, the case has gained national attention after police revealed connections to the January 20, 2025, shooting death of United States Customs and Border Patrol Agent David Maland.

Teresa Youngblut, 21, is accused of opening fire on agents during a traffic stop in Vermont, sparking a shootout that also left her companion, Felix Bauckholt, dead

Pennsylvania State Police confirm the gun used to kill Agent Maland was purchased by a person of interest in the murders of Richard and Rita Zajko.

How California could be connected

Both shootings seem to have growing connections to California.

U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher said in a court filing that both Youngblut and the gun buyer in the Border Patrol shooting are linked to someone who is of interest in another killing in California. Further details have not been provided.

But police and court records have shed some light on the connections.

Jack LaSota is currently facing charges of obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in Pennsylvania. Authorities won't say whether those charges are related to the Zajko deaths, but court records show that police were searching for a gun used in two killings when they arrested LaSota 12 days later at a hotel about 10 miles from the scene of the killings.

LaSota also has connections to some of the key players in the California case.

In 2019, LaSota and three others were arrested while protesting an event hosted by the Center for Applied Rationality at a camping retreat in Occidental, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2022, two of the others, Emma Borhanian and Alexander Jeffrey Leatham, were accused of attacking their landlord with a sword in Vallejo. The landlord, Curtis Lind, survived the November 2022 attack but was stabbed to death January 17.

Maximilian Snyder was charged last week with that killing. In November, someone with the same name applied for a marriage license with a Teresa Youngblut in Kirkland, Washington. Snyder's attorney declined to comment on the charges.

LaSota may have been present during the 2022 landlord attack, according to court documents that also suggest LaSota had been falsely reported dead three months earlier.

On August 19, 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report that LaSota had fallen out of a boat in San Francisco Bay and conducted a search but didn't find a body, according to documents included in a civil rights lawsuit LaSota and others had filed after their 2019 arrest. An obituary was published, and LaSota's mother confirmed the death to LaSota's criminal defense attorney. But months later, a prosecutor emailed the attorney and said LaSota was contacted by police in Vallejo and was "alive and well" at the site of a crime on or about November 13, the date Lind was attacked.

According to the Associated Press, Jerold Friedman, who represented LaSota in the civil case, said last week that he verified the Coast Guard report at the time and that he doesn't recall the last time he was in contact with LaSota. The attorney who represented LaSota in the 2019 criminal case did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A phone message was left at the office of the lawyer listed as representing him in the current Pennsylvania case.

Though authorities have not publicly identified the person who bought the gun used in Vermont, the VTDigger news investigative online site reported that federal authorities issued an alert to firearms dealers seeking information about purchases made by Michelle Zajko and describing her as a person of interest in the Vermont shooting.

According to a public records database, a Michelle Zajko was registered to vote in 2016 at the same home address in Pennsylvania as Richard and Rita Zajko. In 2021, a Michelle Zajko bought a half-acre piece of property in Derby, Vermont, a few miles from the Canadian border. According to town records, the land is undeveloped.

Zajko has not been charged with either of the shooting incidents. Her whereabouts are still unknown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.