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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Justin Schuback
Vehicle connected to cold case homicide of restaurant owner
| Crime | In January 2017, Robert Baron Sr’s family reported him missing when he didn’t show up for work at his restaurant. Police found evidence of a burglary inside the restaurant. More than six years later, the victim’s remains were found in a patch of woods. Police suspected Justin Schuback of committing the crime due to DNA evidence in his vehicle. |
| Evidence | Police collected swabs of the vehicle steering wheel and inner driver’s door handle among other items. |
| DNA | The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Forensic Services generated informative DNA data from the evidence items. |
| Match | The crime lab concluded that the vehicle swab data was uninterpretable due to an insufficient quantity of data. |
| TrueAllele | On the same data, TrueAllele calculated inclusionary match statistics between the steering wheel and both the victim and suspect of 141 quintillion (1 followed by 18 zeros) and 5.53 thousand, respectively. The computer also calculated inclusionary match statistics between the driver’s door handle and both the victim and suspect of 13.3 thousand and 290 million, respectively. |
| Cybergenetics | In May 2023, Cybergenetics casework supervisor William Allan testified about the TrueAllele DNA results in a preliminary hearing. On May 10, 2024, he testified before a Lackawanna County jury at Schuback’s trial about the same DNA results. |
| Outcome | On May 15, 2024, the jury found Justin Schuback guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, and burglary. He will receive an automatic life sentence. |
Media
- Remains found, arrest made in 2017 disappearance of Pennsylvania man Robert Baron - NBC News
- Cold case solved: Suspect arrested for Robert Baron's murder - WNEP16 ABC
- Timeline leading to arrest in murder of Robert Baron - WNEP16 ABC
- Preliminary hearing for suspect in Baron case - WNEP16 ABC
- The story so far: Baron murder trial begins Monday with jury selection - WNEP16 ABC
- Murder trial in death of Bob Baron set to start Monday - The Times-Tribune
- Closing arguments expected in Robert Baron murder case - WNEP16 ABC
- Jury deciding Justin Schuback's fate in death of Robert Baron - WNEP16 ABC
- Jury finds Justin Schuback guilty of first-degree murder in killing of Old Forge pizzeria owner Robert Baron - The Times-Tribune
- Jury finds Justin Schuback guilty of first-degree murder - PA Homepage