Opening statements and testimony began Wednesday in the trial of Thomas G. Stanko of Unity, who is charged in the death of Cassandra Gross.
Gross disappeared in April 2018, and despite years of intensive searches, her remains have never been found.
Stanko, 55, was charged in 2022 with first-degree murder and reckless burning.
After a lunchtime break, prosecutors are calling friends and neighbors of Gross to testify about interactions she had with Stanko in the months before her disappearance.
A friend, Melissa Moore, told jurors Gross sent her a series of texts over an hour in January 2018 in which she said Stanko was repeatedly calling her and knocking on her door.
“If anything happens to me make sure B (her son) knows how much I love him,” Gross wrote in one text to Moore.
In one text Gross says “If anything happens to me make sure B (her son) knows how much I love him.” She also tells Moore she is her “lifeline.”
— Rich Cholodofsky (@RichCholodofsky) February 4, 2026
A neighbor, Jill Skoloda, testified a man she called a “snooper” and believed to be Stanko peered into the window of Gross’ home in January.
“I thought she needed a guardian angel,” Skoloda told jurors.
Gross’ mother, Kathe Gross, testified about her daughter’s life, and what she described her troubled, sometimes violent relationship with Stanko.
Kathe Gross testified that after the disappearance, she found a diamond engagement ring Stanko gave her daughter shoved in the back of a bathroom cabinet along with two handwritten notes. In one, Stanko professes his love for Cassandra Gross and laments an apparent breakup.
The other note, dated about six months before Gross was reported missing, is a promise from Stanko to not physically or emotionally abuse his girlfriend.
Gross said Stanko appeared possessive of her daughter. She also recalled a time when she threatened Stanko with a baseball bat.
“I told him I’ll hit a home run with his head,” Gross said.
Kathe Gross says Stanko appeared possessive of her daughter and one time followed her to parents house. Gross said she threatened Stanko with a baseball bat. “I told him I’ll hit a home run with his head.”
— Rich Cholodofsky (@RichCholodofsky) February 4, 2026
In her opening statement Wednesday, Westmoreland County Assistant District Attorney Katie Ranker Ellwood outlined how the prosecution will prove Stanko killed Gross and disposed of her remains. Prosecutors intend to introduce evidence found in a burn barrel on Stanko’s property, which investigators say contained charred remains of Gross’ eyeglasses, clothing and the tip of an insulin pencil.
“We are confident you will find Cassandra Gross died. Thomas Stanko murdered her and made sure no one will find her,” Ellwood told the jury.
“We are confident you will find Cassandra Gross died. Thomas Stanko murdered her and made sure no one will find her” Ellwood told the jury.
— Rich Cholodofsky (@RichCholodofsky) February 4, 2026
Stanko’s defense attorney, Marc Daffner, told jurors it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove Stanko killed Gross.
“Keep an open mind,” Daffner said. “Find Mr. Stanko not guilty because he is not guilty.”
Two additional witnesses wrapped up the morning court session, including a veterinarian who testified about the care for Gross’s diabetic dog, Baxter. The blind dog was found alone and covered in mud in the Beatty Crossroads area shortly after Gross vanished, near a burned-out Mitsubishi Outlander owned by Gross.