'It's not black or white' judge says of circumstances in case against Stanko

A Unity man claimed Friday he cannot be prosecuted for the homicide of a former girlfriend because there is no proof she is dead.

The lawyer for Thomas G. Stanko said proposed evidence recently disclosed by prosecutors that his client targeted, stalked and harassed Cassandra Gross before she went missing in 2018 is inadmissible at his trial.

“We’re asking the court to dismiss the charges,” said defense attorney Marc Daffner.

Stanko, 53, was charged in late 2022 with criminal homicide in connection with the alleged murder of his former girlfriend, 52-year-old Cassandra Gross. Gross was last seen on April 7, 2018, days before her burned-out vehicle was found in a wooded area near Twin Lakes Park, east of Greensburg.

A Westmoreland County judge in 2019 declared Gross to be dead.

Prosecutors said Stanko killed Gross and covered up the crime when he burned and discarded her remains. Her remains have never been found.

In court documents filed last month, prosecutors disclosed evidence they believe links Stanko to her death, including allegations from neighbors that he stalked and prowled around Gross’ residence for six months before she went missing.

Prosecutors also say Stanko gave a letter to Gross in which he promised to never commit verbal or physical abuse; and that four months before her disappearance she told Latrobe police she was being followed by Stanko, was a victim of abuse and feared for her life.

The prosecution also claims two former spouses say their lives were threatened by Stanko.

In court documents filed this week, Daffner said those allegations are inadmissible.

“It has not yet been established that the purported victim in this case, Cassandra Gross, is in fact no longer alive, nor has it been proven that if there was an actual homicide … occurred anywhere within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or that the defendant had anything at all to do with any homicide,” Daffner wrote.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar defended the prosecution’s case against Stanko.

“Everything we proposed in our motion, we think is admissible,” Lazar said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Daffner to file pretrial motions challenging the prosecution’s case be submitted to the court within the next 30 days.

“This is a very unusual set of circumstances. It’s not black or white,” Feliciani said.