SCRANTON, Pa. — The Lackawanna County district attorney's office rested its case Monday against alleged killer Justin Schuback.
Schuback, replying to questions from Judge Terrence Nealon, said he will not testify to defend himself against charges he murdered Old Forge restaurant owner Robert Baron Sr. in 2017.
The prosecution rested at about 12:26 p.m. Defense attorney Bernie Brown said the defense will not call witnesses to make their case. Closing arguments are expected Tuesday.
Baron's remains remained lost until last year, when a search of Pagnotti Park in Old Forge yielded his bones.
Schuback's trial began Monday last week. He's facing counts of first-, second- and third-degree murder, burglary and robbery. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
During the last week, prosecutors called two dozen witnesses in hopes of making the case Schuback killed Baron in January 2017 in a robbery gone wrong.
Schuback's defense, meanwhile, pressed those witnesses to whether others could have been involved in Baron's death and disappearance.
On Monday, the district attorney's office called its last witness, FBI Special Agent Michael Sabric, to the stand. Sabric testified he helped analyze Schuback's cell phone records to try and map where Schuback's phone was the night Baron vanished.
In a series of maps presented to the jury, Sabric illustrated that Schuback's may have been at key locations that night and early morning. Those included Pagnotti Park, the streets where Baron's Hyundai was seen and later found and Baron's restaurant, Ghigiarelli's.
The cell phone data helped investigators finally find Baron's bones because they decided to search an area where Schuback's phone may have been, Sabric testified.
The teams of investigators stumbled across his remains within minutes of starting the search in March 2023, he continued. That they found Baron did not surprise him. However, Sebric testified he was "shocked" by how quickly they found Baron's remains.
Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland testified he determined Baron died of traumatic injuries. The manner of death: homicide.
Jurors will return to the Lackawanna County Courthouse on Tuesday morning to hear Nealon's instruction on the law and closing arguments from the defense and prosecution. They'll begin deliberating the case after that.
Brown and District Attorney Mark Powell declined to comment after court Monday, as did members of the Baron family.