Judge to rule if lack of remains prevents continuation of murder case against Thomas Stanko

A Westmoreland County judge will decide early next year whether there is sufficient evidence for the murder case to proceed against a Unity man charged with killing his former girlfriend.

Defense attorney Marc Daffner argued during a court appearance Monday for Thomas Stanko, 53, that, because the body of his client’s former girlfriend remains missing, there is no evidence to support charges of first-degree murder.

Stanko was charged in 2022 with killing 52-year-old Cassandra Gross and burning her remains.

Daffner said because Gross’ body is missing, the case against Stanko cannot proceed.

“In order to prove homicide, you have to prove these acts happened in this case. In this case, there is no body, there is no time of death, there is no location of a crime. All these things they have to prove, not only for the commonwealth to have jurisdiction but also for this court to have the proper venue,” Daffner argued.

Gross was last seen April 7, 2018. The Unity woman’s burned-out vehicle was discovered days later near Twin Lakes Park, a short distance from where her diabetic dog was found unattended by a motorist. Authorities say circumstantial evidence links Stanko to the murder of Gross, who in 2019 was declared dead by a Westmoreland County judge.

County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered the lawyers to submit written legal arguments before he decides whether the murder case against Stanko will proceed to trial.

Those arguments will be required to be filed by mid-January.

Prosecutors said evidence links Stanko to Gross’ murder, including allegations they dated before her disappearance and were involved in what authorities suggested was an abusive relationship.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said investigators also collected physical evidence, including pieces of Gross’ clothing and her eyeglasses, charred in a burn barrel on Stanko’s property.

Meanwhile, prosecutors claim they collected other evidence that links Stanko to her killing, including a handwritten note he wrote to Gross in 2017 in which he promised not to beat or abuse her. Four months before her disappearance, Gross appeared at the Latrobe police station, claiming she feared Stanko, according to police.

Prosecutors, in court documents, revealed evidence from two former spouses who claimed Stanko previously threatened their lives.

“We concede the entire case is circumstantial, but it all points to these crimes happened here and the defendant did it,” Lazar said.

Prosecutors, citing concerns over the statute of limitations, dismissed two lesser charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. The homicide and arson charges remain.

Stanko is in jail without bond as he serves a seven-year federal prison sentence for gun offenses related to the illegal possession of weapons found on his property during ongoing searches in connection with Gross’ disappearance.