As the investigation into the disappearance of Cassandra Gross closed in on a suspect, the man eventually charged in her killing started to prepare for his potential arrest, according to evidence presented during the fifth day in the murder trial of Thomas G. Stanko.
Stanko, 55, of Unity, is on trial in Westmoreland County on charges of criminal homicide and reckless burning in connection with the alleged murder of the 51-year-old Gross. Gross was his former girlfriend who was last seen on April 7, 2018.
Her remains have never been found.
Throughout the trial this week, prosecutors were tasked with connecting Stanko to her disappearance through a trail of forensic evidence and personal belongings.
Witnesses testified Friday that Stanko reached out to a lawyer on April 9, 2018, to give his then 81-year-old mother power of attorney over his affairs.
Two days later, a search at his mother’s home near Unity Cemetery revealed a burn pit on her property, but no signs of Gross’ remains.
That same day, investigators also searched Stanko’s Macey Road home and found the groceries he was tasked by Gross to buy for a dinner she was to prepare for them the day she disappeared.
Burn barrel contents detailed
Testifying about that search, state police Trooper Matthew Pergar told jurors that investigators also discovered charred remains in an outdoor burn barrel. These items included what investigators believed to be remnants of Gross’s eyeglasses, clothing and a glass vial identical to the medication prescribed to treat her diabetic dog, Baxter.
Among the charred remains were “Good Housekeeping” and “Cosmopolitan” magazines, one of which still had a partially burned label with Gross’ address still affixed to it, Pergar said.
Investigators said the glasses that were discovered matched a pair Gross purchased a month earlier at a store in the Westmoreland Mall.
Pergar testified he found suspected blood on a tool box on the bed of Stanko’s pickup truck parked behind his home.
Meanwhile, cosmetics and medication to treat burns were found hidden behind a sink in Stanko’s bathroom during the same search. A subsequent search conducted in July 2019 turned up the same cosmetics in a medicine cabinet, along with a receipt dated April 9, 2018, detailing the purchase, testified Trooper Nicholas Iera.
The focus then shifted to April 12, when Stanko’s mother, Almira, was questioned by investigators at the state police barracks. While she was there, her son’s signed power of attorney was discovered in her vehicle.
Trooper James McKenzie, who has been called as a witness three separate times so far during the trial, testified he saw Thomas Stanko outside the barracks as he walked Almira Stanko to her car that same day.
“His face was pretty beat up with abrasions. I asked him about it and he said he got injured while riding a quad and was hit in the face with branches,” McKenzie testified.
MedExpress doctor testifies
On April 13, Stanko was treated for facial injuries at a Latrobe area MedExpress.
Dr. Anne Levri told jurors Stanko claimed he sustained his injuries when he fell from a pine tree.
“I was skeptical because they were not consistent with a fall from a pine tree. If he fell 8 feet, the scratches should all be heading in the same direction. His were not, they were all in different directions,” Levri testified.
Stanko also claimed he shaved an eyebrow to allow him to inspect his face for further lacerations. Levri said that injury resembled a burn, but conceded it also could have been a result of an infection.
“I found it unusual that a person would attempt to shave an area that injured because it would be painful,” she told jurors.
Trooper: Stanko scattered contents of grocery bag
Later that same day, state police attempted to arrest Stanko for an unrelated matter when he took off and ran, testified Trooper Michael Thompson.
Stanko was holding a yellow plastic grocery bag when he ran, Thompson said. During the pursuit, Thompson told jurors Stanko appeared to break the bag and flap his arms in an effort to empty its contents. Unidentified burned items were found near the bag when he was finally arrested, Thompson testified.
Stanko’s arrest that day was not in connection to Gross’ murder. According to court records and previous reports, police charged Stanko with theft of a quad. Those charges were later dismissed by a judge.
During the search a day earlier at Stanko’s mother’s home, investigators found more than a dozen firearms. Stanko pleaded guilty in November 2021 to federal firearm offenses and was sentenced to serve a seven-year prison sentence.
Arrested in 2022
Friday’s witnesses focused on the initial days of the Gross investigation that ultimately led to Stanko being charged with her murder in January 2022. Dozens of searches in and around Stanko’s home and his mother’s property failed to locate Gross’ remains, investigators said.
Prosecutors contend Stanko killed Gross, incinerated her body and discarded her remains with the help of his mother. Almira Stanko died last December. She was never charged in connection with the case.
A Westmoreland County judge in January 2019 declared Gross legally dead, a finding that came at the request of her mother and son.
Stanko’s trial will resume Monday before Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart II. Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar estimated the prosecution has another two days of testimony before the defense gets an opportunity to present its case.
