Jury finalized in Old Forge murder trial

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A murder trial is underway seven years after a businessman from Lackawanna County disappeared and was found dead last year.

It’s the criminal trial for Justin Schuback of Old Forge.

He is facing six charges including first, second, and third-degree murder for the death of Robert Baron Senior.

The trial is expected to last for two weeks.

The jury selection has been finalized and opening statements began on Monday.

The Prosecution District Attorney Mark Powell talked about the main points of the case, a robbery gone wrong.

While the defense stressed the importance of reasonable doubt, giving and explaining many examples to the jury saying it will pertain in this case.

The 38-year-old is accused of robbing and killing Robert Baron owner of Ghigiarelli’s restaurant in Old Forge in 2017, then burying his body.

It’s been more than seven years since Baron Senior was initially reported missing on the morning of January 26, 2017.

He was last seen the night before at about 10:30 p.m. after he took his son, Robert Baron Junior, home from work and then returned to the restaurant on South Main Street.

Police responded to the restaurant where they found blood evidence from what they believed to be a brutal attack.

Police noted it appeared that someone tried to clean up and left cleaning products at the scene.

Baron Sr. was immediately declared a missing person.

His vehicle was located two days later in the 100 block of Howard Street with DNA on the steering wheel of Baron and another male.

There wasn’t enough DNA collected in the sample to identify who the second person was.

During an interview with Baron Jr. officers asked if he knew anyone who might want to hurt his father. He immediately told them, “Justin Schuback.”

When the police went to Schuback’s home where he denied knowledge of Baron’s disappearance.

A few months later, police questioned Schuback’s girlfriend who said Schuback left the house around 10:00 p.m. on January 25, 2017, and came home out of breath with shoes covered in mud around 3:00 a.m.

Police continued to investigate but could not find the body or evidence leading to a suspect.

Investigators searched several properties, including Schuback’s Auto & Towing company, owned by Justin Schubacks’s first cousin.

The case had little movement until March of last year.

Advancements in forensics and cell tower analysis helped break the case and provide a timeline of Schuback’s movements the day Baron went missing.

Human remains were found in Pagnotti Park, they have since been determined to be Robert Baron Senior.

Those findings led to Schuback’s arrest last March and he has been behind bars since.

Facing several murder charges, Schuback could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

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