Daughter of slain Pa. couple arrested with murderous cult leader, officials say
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Michelle Zajko, the daughter of a slain Pennsylvania couple, as well as Jack Lasota, an apparent cult leader tied to multiple murders, were both arrested in Maryland
A Pennsylvania woman who was a person of interest in her parents’ murders was arrested along with an apparent cult leader connected to multiple homicides across three states, including the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, officials said.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, shortly after 2:30 p.m., Maryland State Police troopers arrested Jack Lasota, 34, of Berkely, California, Michelle Zajko, 32, of Media, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Blank, 26, of Sacramento, California, on Piney Mountain Road in Frostburg, Maryland.
Lasota was charged with trespassing, obstructing and hindering and firearm in vehicle. Zajko was charged with trespassing, obstructing and hindering, resisting arrest and handgun on person. Blank was charged with trespassing, obstructing and hindering. All three were transported to the Allegany County Detention Center in Maryland. A bail hearing for Lasota and Zajko is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m.
Lasota is the apparent leader of the cultlike group known as the Zizians while Zajko is a member, according to investigators. The Zizians have been tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January 2025.
Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border. Teresa Youngblut, 21, was arrested and charged in Maland’s murder. She had been traveling with Felix Bauckholt, a German citizen who also was killed, and the pair had been under surveillance for several days.
According to an FBI affidavit, Maland pulled over Youngblut and Bauckholt on Interstate 91 to conduct an immigration inspection. At the time, Bauckholt appeared to have an expired visa, according to a Department of Homeland Security database, but investigators later confirmed that his visa was current, the FBI said.
Youngblut, who had been driving Bauckholt’s car, got out and opened fire on Maland and other officers without warning, the FBI alleges. Bauckholt tried to draw a gun but was shot, the affidavit states.
Content retrieved from: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/michelle-zajko-pennsylvania-jack-lasota-zizians-murders-vermont-california-cult-border-patrol/4111931/.
