Jury finds Thomas Stanko guilty of first-degree murder in Cassandra Gross' 2018 death

A jury found Thomas Stanko guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra Gross, who was declared legally dead months after she went missing, though her body has never been found.

The Westmoreland County jury deliberated for four hours, making its decision after a weeklong trial. Stanko was also found guilty of reckless burning, but not guilty of third-degree murder. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction. He'll be sentenced in 90 days.

Gross, of Unity Township, was first reported missing in April 2018, and she was officially declared dead in January 2019. Her car was found burned days after her disappearance, and despite never finding her body, officials charged Stanko with homicide in 2022.

Family reacts to verdict

Gross' family held onto each other in the moments leading up to a verdict being read.

"There's not words for what I'm feeling right now," said Cassandra Gross' mom, Kathe Gross. "It took me eight years to get him. I'm just so happy that the DA did a wonderful job." 

Kathe Gross called Stanko's testimony on Tuesday "nothing but lies," and said she still wants to know exactly what he did to her daughter.

Stanko had no comment as he was escorted back to the Westmoreland County Jail. He didn't answer questions from reporters about where Cassandra Gross' body is. 

"I'm sure that people will continue to search and state police will continue to follow up on any leads," Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said.

Defense argues "there's no evidence"

Closing arguments were heard on Wednesday morning for nearly two hours from the defense and prosecution.

Stanko's attorney, Marc Daffner, went first and started by pointing out to jurors that the Commonwealth had to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"If you have to stop and think about it, you have reasonable doubt," Daffner said to jurors.

Daffner continued by saying that while this is a homicide case, there's no body. He said the Commonwealth has made Stanko out to be some sort of "criminal mastermind," who left no blood evidence, no DNA, no murder weapon and no body linking him to the crime.

"There's no evidence that shows Stanko did anything to Gross," Daffner said to jurors. "There's no evidence that shows a murder even took place, especially by Stanko."

Stanko destroyed evidence, prosecution says

Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar then spoke to jurors, breaking down the timeline and accusing Stanko of killing and disposing of Cassandra Gross' body.

More than 30 witnesses testified over the course of six days while Lazar presented more than 300 pieces of evidence in his case against Stanko, including cell phone messages, letters to Cassandra Gross, photos of her burned car and burnt items found in a burn barrel on his property like the remnants of her eyeglasses, clothing, magazines and a vial of her dog's insulin. 

"Anything we don't have, we have evidence that he destroyed it," Lazar said. "Anything we do have, it's evidence he failed to destroy."

Lazar insinuated that Stanko has been thinking of this trial since April 2018, when Cassandra Gross disappeared. Lazar explained that when Stanko left Cassandra Gross voicemails after she went missing, it was part of a plan to cover his tracks "after he already destroyed her phone."

"It was challenging because he destroyed every piece of evidence that we would want," Lazar said. "But luckily, they were able to find most of the remnants of what it was that he destroyed, so we presented that, we presented what we had, his conduct, and the jury saw through his lies."

When Stanko had taken the stand on Tuesday, Lazar said he used it to his advantage.

"It was a matter of just demonstrating the lies and just who he is as a person," Lazar said.