Kathe Gross let out a fist pump and a cheer in a Westmoreland County courtroom Wednesday as a jury convicted Thomas G. Stanko of first-degree murder in the 2018 disappearance of her daughter, Cassandra Gross.

The verdict, delivered after four hours of deliberation, concludes a nearly eight-year legal saga for the Gross family.

Following five days of testimony, the jury of seven men and five women found the 55-year-old Unity man guilty of first-degree murder and reckless burning by arson.

Prosecutors said Stanko killed Gross, 51, on April 7, 2018, burned her belongings and discarded her body.

Gross’ remains have never been found.

Kathe Gross, who led 128 private searches for her daughter since her disappearance, cheered and embraced friends and family as the foreman announced the decision at the courthouse in Greensburg.

“There’s not words for what I am feeling right now. It took me eight years to get him,” Gross said. “I am just so happy the district attorney did a wonderful job.”

She also rebuffed Stanko’s testimony, which he delivered over three hours Tuesday.

“It was nothing but lies, one lie after another,” Gross said.

She added that, while the verdict brought a feeling of closure, she still seeks the location of her daughter’s remains.

“I want to know what he did to her,” Gross said.

Stanko appeared to show little emotion as the verdict was read and had nothing to say as he was escorted to a sheriff’s van for his return to the Westmoreland County Prison.

He will be formally sentenced this year and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar, speaking after the case’s conclusion, conceded there are still no answers as to the location of the remains but said he expects searches will continue and state police will follow up any leads.

He acknowledged the difficulties of securing a guilty verdict without a body and noted Stanko remained tight-lipped in the years since he was named a suspect and charged in 2022.

“This was a long fight,” Lazar said, “and we’re just happy the Gross family has the closure we could never get out of Tom Stanko.”

Because Cassandra Gross’ body was never recovered, prosecutors relied on a mosaic of circumstantial evidence to secure the conviction. The case focused on Stanko’s digital footprints, forensic evidence from a burn barrel and a pattern of past domestic violence.

A Westmoreland County judge declared Gross legally dead in January 2019, paving the way for the murder prosecution.

The prosecution’s case, presented by Lazar and Assistant District Attorney Katie Ranker Ellwood, featured 32 witnesses and more than 360 court exhibits. These included the burned remnants of Gross’ eyeglasses, clothing and other belongings recovered from a burn barrel on Stanko’s Macey Road property in the days after she was reported missing.

In his closing argument, Lazar outlined a meticulous cover-up in which he suggested Stanko killed Gross, moved her body to his mother’s property the following morning and was forced to burn her SUV near Twin Lakes Park after a downed tree blocked his path.

Gross’ blind, diabetic dog, Baxter, was later found walking through a mud puddle on the road between Stanko’s mother’s home and where the burned SUV was found.

“The murder of Cassandra Gross was a possessive act that made her his forever,” Lazar told the jury. “The only reasonable explanation is that (Stanko) killed Cassandra Gross and destroyed all the evidence of it he could and concealed her body.”

Prosecutors did not attempt to prove how Gross was killed but said the circumstances of her disappearance mirrored actions Stanko took against his now-former wife during their three-year romantic relationship.

Cathy Vokes, 54, testified Stanko physically assaulted her when she attempted to break off their relationship and threatened to kill her and discard her body so it would never be found.

Evidence showed Stanko worked as a landscaper at the housing complex where Gross lived in May 2017. Prosecutors said they became romantically involved, but the relationship was turbulent. It included a written promise by Stanko not to verbally and physically abuse Gross.

Gross was last seen having lunch with a friend at the Parkwood Inn restaurant in Southwest Greensburg on April 7, 2018. Her phone was last used shortly after 4 p.m. that afternoon less than 2 miles from Stanko’s home.

Stanko, the lone witness to testify in his defense, denied any role in the disappearance or murder. He testified that Gross left his Macey Road home after 7 p.m. on the night she disappeared to go shopping and that he never saw her again.

He attempted to place blame on another man, suggesting an individual with whom he and Gross had a prior dispute was responsible for her fate.

Stanko also claimed Gross’ designer Coach eyeglasses accidentally fell into a burn barrel at his home that evening. Throughout cross-examination, he repeatedly offered to take a lie detector test.

Defense attorney Marc Daffner, in a 25-minute closing argument, told jurors the district attorney failed to meet the burden of proof. While Daffner conceded Gross is likely deceased, he maintained the prosecution’s case was built on assumptions.

“None of this shows he did anything to Cassandra Gross,” Daffner argued. “It’s not up to us to solve this mystery. … Sometimes, if you don’t find something, it’s because it was never there.”

District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli issued a statement following the verdict, commending investigators.

“This has been a long, exhausting eight years for the Gross family waiting for justice and I am proud justice was finally served,” Ziccarelli wrote. “The Pennsylvania State Police did an impeccable job investigating this case since the beginning, leaving no stone unturned, and I commend them for their relentless efforts.”

Staff writer Renatta Signorini contributed.

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