SCRANTON, Pa. — Testimony is underway in the case of a man accused of murdering an Old Forge restaurant owner.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from Robert Baron's wife about the day he went missing.
But Justin Schuback's defense team is placing the blame on someone else close to the Baron family.
Testimony took us back to January of 2017 and inside Baron's restaurant, Ghiagiarelli's Pizza, in Old Forge. We heard from Baron's wife and from investigators who collected a massive amount of forensic evidence found inside the restaurant after Baron was reported missing.
One year after their husband and father disappeared, Maria Baron and Robert Baron Jr. took Newswatch 16 inside Ghiagiarelli's Pizza.
They had just renovated the place and planned to reopen, but that never happened. Years went by without any answers in Robert's disappearance.
Then, last year came a break in the case. Baron's remains were found near a park in Old Forge, and prosecutors charged Justin Schuback with killing Baron inside Ghiagiarelli's in a robbery gone wrong.
On the first day of testimony in Schuback's trial, jurors were taken inside Ghiagiarelli's back in 2017. Jurors were shown photos of the shop, and to the naked eye, it looked just as it always did until prosecutors showed photos of when investigators sprayed a substance called Luminol. The chemical glows when it touches a spot where blood has been. A blue glow covered the bar, the walls, and the bathroom.
Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell described it in his opening statement as a "blood bath" that had been cleaned up, except for some blood on a baseboard and one of Robert Baron's teeth in a sink.
Maria Baron then took the stand. Mrs. Baron told jurors that she and Robert had been separated for years by 2017 but were still friendly. They had dinner the night before.
"Is that the last time you saw your husband?" Asked Powell.
"Yes," Maria Baron replied. "A few minutes after 10 o'clock January 25th, 2017."
She made a police report the next day with Old Forge Police Officer David Kimble because her husband seemed to have vanished. He did not pick up the restaurant's daily dough delivery and he left his cell phone behind at the restaurant.
Kimble saw blood. The restaurant — which had been in the family since 1961 — had become a crime scene.
In cross-examination, Schuback's defense attorney, Bernard Brown, tried to point the finger at other potential suspects, including Robert Baron Jr., who also suffered from a drug addiction and who had a key to the restaurant.
Under questioning from Brown, Maria Baron acknowledged that her son gave her cash a month after her husband disappeared. She said she does not recall how much Baron Jr. provided but Brown's questioned if she received thousands of dollars.
She testified deposited the sum in a safety deposit box, which she said authorities eventually seized.
Baron Jr. is expected to testify Wednesday. Maria Baron declined to comment to reporters as she left the Lackawanna County Courthouse.
Tuesday's testimony also saw a miscue from the defense that provoked a scolding from county Judge Terrence Nealon, who is presiding.
Brown planned to present jurors with Maria Baron's comments she made during a podcast. However, they ended up playing the wrong clip and jurors heard the podcaster repeat a theory of the case that is based on unfounded rumors.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Brown said.
Nealon briefly excused the jury and warned the lawyers that another mistake like that would warrant a "serious admonition" from him in front of the panel.
When jurors returned, they signaled the slip-up will not impact their ability to fairly judge the case and Nealon told them to disregard what they heard.
Attorneys for the defense and prosecution declined to comment after testimony concluded for the day.
There is a lot more evidence to go through and a lot more to learn about how Schuback intends to defend himself. The trial is expected to last two weeks.