SCRANTON, Pa. — A jury in Lackawanna County began deliberating Tuesday afternoon a slate of murder, robbery, and burglary charges against Old Forge resident Justin Schuback for allegedly killing a borough business owner seven years ago.
The panel of six men and six women began their work at 12:33 p.m. The moment comes after a week of testimony into the events surrounding the January 2017 death and disappearance of Robert Baron Sr.
At 2:20 p.m., the panel asked its first question, seeking cell phone records that helped lead to the discovery of Baron’s remains last year and to Schuback’s arrest for allegedly killing him.
Prosecutors with the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office called two dozen witnesses during the trial to try and prove to the jury that Schuback, 38, murdered Baron during an after-hours robbery at Baron’s restaurant, Ghigiarelli’s.
After the killing, Schuback allegedly stole Baron’s money, bought drugs, tried to clean up the bloody crime scene, and deposited Baron’s body in the woods outside Pagnotti Park, where investigators discovered his bones last year.
"We know what happened,” District Attorney Mark Powell repeated to the jury during his closing arguments.
Pointing straight at Schuback, Powell boomed: "Who does the evidence point to?”
Defense attorney Bernard Brown stressed in his closing argument that the answer to that question is not so clear cut.
Brown and his co-counsel, Jordan Leonard, sought to raise doubt over the last week by suggesting that others may have had a hand in the crime.
During his 40-minute address to the jury, Brown raised a series of points that he argued should cause the jury to question if the district attorney’s office has the right man.
There is no evidence that Schuback was inside Ghigiarelli’s, Brown argued – a fact Powell acknowledged but explained by suggesting Schuback took caution to wear rubber gloves.
Despite evidence of a "blood bath” inside Ghigiarelli’s, Schuback somehow managed to carry out the grim task without getting any blood on his clothing, Brown said.
The prosecution’s theory, Brown argued, also requires the jury to believe that Schuback – a heroin addict who was strung out in withdrawal – fought a man to the death, cleaned up the crime scene, and hid the body in the span of a few hours.
Once at Pagnotti Park, Brown said the prosecution’s theory suggests Schuback carried a dead body more than 400 feet into the woods.
As Brown spoke, he pantomimed dragging a body across the floor in Judge Terrence Nealon’s stately courtroom. The attorney’s dress shoes went thump, thump, thump against the room’s red carpeting.
“It’s your job to determine the truth,” Brown argued.
The truth is that Schuback killed Baron, Powell stressed in his roughly one-hour argument.
Schuback’s actions and movements fit well within a timeline of that night and are corroborated by multiple sources of evidence – phone data, text messages, witness statements, DNA, and video surveillance.
Schuback "almost got away with murder,” Powell said. An analysis conducted last year by the FBI of Schuback’s cell phone data helped lead law enforcement right to the spot where Baron’s remains were found.
“I’m going to ask you to hold the defendant accountable for this murder,” Powell said."The Baron family deserves closure.”
"You get to this point, and you just hand it over to them, to the 12 we picked, and believe that justice will be served," said Brown after the jury began deliberations.
After deliberating for a little more than five hours, jurors were sent home for the night around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening and will reconvene on Wednesday morning at the Lackawanna County Courthouse.
CLICK HERE for the complete timeline of the case.