The Unity man convicted earlier this year for the 2018 murder of Cassandra Gross is expected to be sentenced Friday morning.
Thomas G. Stanko, 55, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he appears in court before Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart II. Stanko was found guilty following a week-long trial in February of first-degree murder and arson in connection to his former girlfriend’s disappearance and presumed death.
Gross, 51, of Unity, was last seen on April 7, 2018. Prosecutors said Stanko killed her and hid her remains, which have never been recovered. A Westmoreland County judge declared Gross legally dead in January 2019.
Stanko denied involvement in Gross’ death. He testified at trial that a man he and Gross had a dispute with during a visit in 2017 to the Tin Lizzy bar in Youngstown was responsible for her disappearance and murder. Several times during his testimony he offered to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
Prosecutors presented more than 360 exhibits and testimony from 32 witnesses during the trial to prove Stanko killed Gross.
Evidence at trial revealed Stanko worked as a landscaper at the housing complex where Gross lived in May 2017 and they later became romantically involved in what witnesses described as a turbulent relationship.
Prosecutors said that simmering conflict boiled over after Gross returned from a trip to North Carolina to visit her son in early April 2018. Witnesses and evidence suggested she drove from a lunch with a friend in Southwest Greensburg to Stanko’s home on April 7 and was never seen again.
Her diabetic dog, Baxter, was spotted days later in Twin Lakes Park, near where her burned out sports utility vehicle was discovered.
Investigators found evidence Gross’s charred belongings, including pieces of clothing and an eye glass frame in burn pits at properties owned by Stanko and his mother.
Gross’ friends and family long considered Stanko a suspect in her death. Her mother, Kathe, led 128 private searches for her daughter since her disappearance.
Kathe Gross, following Stanko’s conviction, said she was pleased by the verdict but still demanded he reveal the location of her daughter’s remains.
“I want to know what he did to her,” Gross said.