PA- Richard Zajko, 72, and wife Rita Zajko, 69, victims of double homicide, Chester Heights, 2 January 2023

[Rush4087]

I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know about the process of obtaining a search warrant, but can anybody explain to me why a search warrant was not obtained to search MZ’s residence until January 12, 2023?

From the crime scene I presume that LE was able to quickly determine that the Zajko’s had been shot, and that the murders had likely been committed in the last couple of days. With that info, I assume they immediately looked for - and found - the neighbor’s ring doorbell video

If the ring camera recorded a voice in Rita and Richard’s house at 11:30 pm on New Year’s Eve shouting “Mom!”, don’t you think LE would have immediately wanted to talk to MZ? Maybe they did, but she apparently was not interviewed until 2-3 days later on January 5, 2023.

When LE did eventually interview MZ (on the day after the autopsies were completed) they already knew that the weapon used had been a 9mm handgun, and that the ammo used had been hollow point. MZ had a 9mm handgun in her possession during the interview - that she even allowed LE to handle.

Given all that, wouldn’t you think that a search warrant for MZ’s residence seeking to recover the (likely) same weapon that LE already knew she owned - could have been obtained prior to 1/12/2023?

Jmo

 

[Cedars]

I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know about the process of obtaining a search warrant, but can anybody explain to me why a search warrant was not obtained to search MZ’s residence until January 12, 2023?

From the crime scene I presume that LE was able to quickly determine that the Zajko’s had been shot, and that the murders had likely been committed in the last couple of days. With that info, I assume they immediately looked for - and found - the neighbor’s ring doorbell video

If the ring camera recorded a voice in Rita and Richard’s house at 11:30 pm on New Year’s Eve shouting “Mom!”, don’t you think LE would have immediately wanted to talk to MZ? Maybe they did, but she apparently was not interviewed until 2-3 days later on January 5, 2023.

When LE did eventually interview MZ (on the day after the autopsies were completed) they already knew that the weapon used had been a 9mm handgun, and that the ammo used had been hollow point. MZ had a 9mm handgun in her possession during the interview - that she even allowed LE to handle.

Given all that, wouldn’t you think that a search warrant for MZ’s residence seeking to recover the (likely) same weapon that LE already knew she owned - could have been obtained prior to 1/12/2023?

Jmo

IMO, the doorbell cam is, on it's own, not evidence of anything.

1. Police would need other proof of the exact timing of the crime in order to use the doorbell cam audio as evidence of the crime. Otherwise, it could have come from someone else on the street, before or after

2. Was there evidence anything happened outside the home, that the doorbell cam might have recorded? The Zajko home appears to be a mansion, would the neighbour's cam normally pick up sound from outside there?

3. The use of the word 'Mom' doesn't in any way prove who said that word. Try to present that as evidence in court and the defence will say 'my client was estranged from her parents and did not address her mother with that term, she called her Rita', or some such thing. Or perhaps Mr. Zajko called his wife Mom, as an endearment. Or the attackers were a mother/son duo. All equally likely, equally unproveable.

IMO, a judge would look at that evidence and say no, you need something stonger than that before I issue a search warrant. Phone pings, video footage of her vehicle entering the driveway, DNA at the scene...

JMO

 

[Parsnip]

IMO, a judge would look at that evidence and say no, you need something stonger than that before I issue a search warrant. Phone pings, video footage of her vehicle entering the driveway, DNA at the scene...

Apparently, a search warrant was issued, so a judge was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to conduct a search in VT. I have looked for and cannot find the documents referenced in the msm articles. I will keep looking.

 

[Rush4087]

IMO, the doorbell cam is, on it's own, not evidence of anything.

1. Police would need other proof of the exact timing of the crime in order to use the doorbell cam audio as evidence of the crime. Otherwise, it could have come from someone else on the street, before or after

2. Was there evidence anything happened outside the home, that the doorbell cam might have recorded? The Zajko home appears to be a mansion, would the neighbour's cam normally pick up sound from outside there?

3. The use of the word 'Mom' doesn't in any way prove who said that word. Try to present that as evidence in court and the defence will say 'my client was estranged from her parents and did not address her mother with that term, she called her Rita', or some such thing. Or perhaps Mr. Zajko called his wife Mom, as an endearment. Or the attackers were a mother/son duo. All equally likely, equally unproveable.

IMO, a judge would look at that evidence and say no, you need something stonger than that before I issue a search warrant. Phone pings, video footage of her vehicle entering the driveway, DNA at the scene...

JMO

I never said the ring doorbell recording of a high pitched voice shouting “Mom!” was sufficient “evidence” to convict or even establish probable cause to take an action, whether search or arrest. I mentioned at the beginning of my post that I didn’t claim to know the exact requirements to obtain a search warrant. I guess we have different opinions about what level of evidence might actually be required. All I know is that by the time LE searched MZ’s residence, her 9mm handgun was gone

Imo, the recording combined with the fact that LE also knew (as of the 5th anyway) that MZ owned a handgun of the same caliber (9mm) as the murder weapon, should have been sufficient “probable cause to search” and to obtain a search warrant. Again, jmo. The search occurred on the 12th. Who knows, maybe the gun had not yet gone missing as of the 6th or 7th or 8th..

A search warrant obviously was issued sometime after LE interviewed MZ on the 5th. If the recording of the high pitched voice shouting “Mom!” combined with the knowledge of MZ owning the same caliber handgun was not sufficient to issue a search warrant, I would be interested to know what new (added) info was? I don’t know when the evidence about the signal app messaging re: savings bonds was known by LE (messaging which MZ denied), but I don’t think it was before the 5th.

We can speculate all day about whether additional gps or phone / digital evidence became known only after the 5th but prior the 12th, but I don’t think you know anymore about that than I do. I would think that probable cause is certainly required for issuance of an arrest warrant. I don’t know what different (perhaps lesser?) degree of probable cause would be required for a search warrant.

I’m curious, re: the high pitched shout “Mom!” heard on the recording, what other person inside the Zajko’s home at 11:30 pm New Year’s Eve do you suggest might’ve shouted the word?

There was other info on the recording: a vehicle pulling up in the curved driveway adjacent to the front door, a light going on upstairs, and two individuals coming out of the house approx 10 min later, getting into the vehicle, and leaving. It certainly is possible that a child of Rita Zajko entered an upstairs room and found that Rita had been shot, and screamed. But MZ denied even being in the State of PA for nearly a year leading up to that New Year’s Eve.

‘Mom!’ Shouts were heard on night of unsolved double killing now linked to Bay Area fringe group

All jmo

 

[Parsnip]

All I know is that by the time LE searched MZ’s residence, her 9mm handgun was gone

Actually, she offered the gun. However, LE had no pc to confiscate it at the time of the interview in VT.

 

[Rush4087]

Actually, she offered the gun. However, LE had no pc to confiscate it at the time of the interview in VT.

Right, but I said: “by the time they searched MZ’s residence”.

She offered the gun in the interview on the 5th, when LE had no warrant. But could LE have then obtained a search warrant the next day with that additional knowledge?

Knowledge of the gun combined with the high pitched scream “Mom!” imo should have been enough to ask a judge if it was okay to search her residence for that same weapon for testing. Just my opinion though

 

[Cedars]

Knowledge of the gun combined with the high pitched scream “Mom!” imo should have been enough

I guess I just don't automatically blame the police for why crimes remain unsolved. I don't assume it's always police incompetence, but believe that other factors are more likely at play, and explore what those factors might be.

JMI

 

[Rush4087]

I guess I just don't automatically blame the police for why crimes remain unsolved. I don't assume it's always police incompetence, but believe that other factors are more likely at play, and explore what those factors might be.

JMI

Are you suggesting I DO automatically blame the police? Because if you are, you are wrong. I’m am very supportive of LE. I just wondered aloud why they didn’t (or couldn’t yet?) obtain a search warrant and search MZ’s residence until the 12th.

LE had held MZ’s Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm handgun in their hands on the 5th. They knew from the autopsies on the 4th that the ammo used was 9mm hollow point. They heard the ring camera recording with the high pitched voice shouting “Mom!”. By 1/12, the gun they had held in their hands on the 5th was not found.

I only wondering aloud: why so long?. Your post suggested that you knew the answer to that question - but you didn’t, and don’t. Suggest we move on

Jmo

 

[acutename]

IMO, the doorbell cam is, on it's own, not evidence of anything.

1. Police would need other proof of the exact timing of the crime in order to use the doorbell cam audio as evidence of the crime. Otherwise, it could have come from someone else on the street, before or after

2. Was there evidence anything happened outside the home, that the doorbell cam might have recorded? The Zajko home appears to be a mansion, would the neighbour's cam normally pick up sound from outside there?

3. The use of the word 'Mom' doesn't in any way prove who said that word. Try to present that as evidence in court and the defence will say 'my client was estranged from her parents and did not address her mother with that term, she called her Rita', or some such thing. Or perhaps Mr. Zajko called his wife Mom, as an endearment. Or the attackers were a mother/son duo. All equally likely, equally unproveable.

IMO, a judge would look at that evidence and say no, you need something stonger than that before I issue a search warrant. Phone pings, video footage of her vehicle entering the driveway, DNA at the scene...

JMO

if she was that estranged, would her DNA still be there ?

 

[Cedars]

if she was that estranged, would her DNA still be there ?

I see I did not succeed in making my point.

My understanding of police investigations, is that they are very focussed on collecting the kind of evidence that can be used to convict someone.

Whenever police collect evidence, such as doorcam footage, they instinctively evaluate it: is this the smoking gun we need to arrest and successfully get a guilty verdict? Or is this just a lead, that we can follow up to try to find that 'gotcha' evidence that we feel confident will get a guilty verdict.

I do not believe LE just randomly collect evidence, arrest someone because they personally believe they are guilty, and then hand it off to prosecutors to try to make a case out of it as best the prosecutors can.

In fact, in a major case like this, LE must present the evidence to prosecutors before they arrest anyone or even bring them in for questioning. Prosecutors will not take a case to trial if they don't believe they can win.

My point is that, since there has been no arrest, that means prosecutors do not believe there is sufficent evidence to win a case.

I was pointing out why the doorcam audio that I learned about, would likely be evaluated as insufficient to convince a jury of guilt. I was pointing out how any defense attorney could easily explain it away to a jury.

I was not in the home when the crime was committed, I did not accompany police during their investigations or listen in on their discussions with prosecutors. So I have no knowledge of the crime and never claimed to have.

I am just pointing out that, since there has been no arrest, there must be a reason, and IMO it is not police incompetence. IMO, this is a major crime, and the FBI or at least the state police, would be involved.

JMO

 

[Parsnip]

…
According to probate court records in Pennsylvania, Zajko was listed as the sole beneficiary of her parents’ estates.
…
According to Coventry town records obtained by VTDigger, Zajko and another individual named Alice Monday filed proof of residency forms at the Webster Road home in early 2021.
…
Both Monday and Zajko had registered to vote in Coventry the previous October, and both remain registered in the town. Zajko voted at the address in 2020, according to Deb Tanguay, the Coventry town clerk. (Tanguay said she had no record of a Daniel Blank living at that address.)

Court records show police searched Coventry property as part of probe in Pennsylvania double-homicide - VTDigger

 

[Parsnip]

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.

Troopers searched Vermont home in connection with Delco murders: Court docs | 6abc.com

Court%20documents%20are%20revealing%20new%20details%20about%20the%20killing%20of%20a%20Delaware%20County%20couple%20and%20the%20growing%20ties%20to%20the%20shooting%20of%20a%20Border%20Patrol%20agent.

6abc.com

 

[caradana]

Maybe this hasn’t been said yet: imagine, MOO, hypothetically, dying with your husband at the hands of [the person of interest who is] your daughter. Who MOO commissioned help to do it. For MOO money.
I mean … I’m typing that hypothesis while sitting next to my three daughters as we watch the Super Bowl. They are young teenagers. I have to imagine that Rita sat next to her daughter and did things together when she was a teen, and … here we are.
The enormity of what may have happened in this case, emotionally, plus the accomplice element. The border element. The delayed legal action element. Wow. I agree with an earlier poster, this case has all the potential to get quite big in media.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

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

Further details on what led to the arrests were not immediately released.

According to the Associated Press, Lasota is the apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians. Zajko is also reportedly a member of the group, the AP said.

Back on December 31, 2022, Michelle Zajko's parents, Richard and Rita, were both shot in the head inside their Chester Heights home.

No arrests have been made in the case, but Pennsylvania State Police recently announced the gun used to kill Agent Maland was purchased by a person of interest in the murders of Richard and Rita Zajko.

Daughter of slain Delco couple arrested in Md. on trespassing, weapons charges

According to the Associated Press, Lasota is the apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians. Zajko is also reportedly a member of the group, the AP said.

6abc.com

 

[Parsnip]

…
Michelle Zajko, 32, allegedly provided a false address when buying three firearms from the Last Frontier gun store in Mount Tabor in February 2024, according to charging documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Burlington.
…
When buying the guns, Zajko allegedly signed a statement affirming that she was not buying them on behalf of anyone else, according to court records.
…
“Michelle Zajko may have returned to Vermont specifically to purchase the firearms using her still-valid Vermont Driver’s License that bore the address of her previous residence,” the court records read.
…
Loomis, the ATF agent, wrote in the charging documents filed Tuesday in Vermont that Zajko is a “person of interest” in her parents’ deaths.
…

Former Vermont resident faces federal firearm charge related to killing of border patrol agent - VTDigger

Federal prosecutors charge that Michelle Zajko provided false information to a federally licensed firearms dealer in Mount Tabor when she purchased firearms that were later traced back to two people involved in a fatal shootout in Coventry last month.

vtdigger.org

When released from custody in PA, Michelle left before police could return her car to her. The car contained $40,000 in cash.