Day one of testimony ended just after 3 p.m. at the Westmoreland County Courthouse.
It began with the prosecution detailing a clear storyline of what happened to Cassandra Gross, followed by her mother taking the stand first.
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Both the defense and the prosecution stated that a body would not be presented as evidence in this murder trial, because Cassandra was never found.
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Thomas Stanko arrived at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in jeans and handcuffs but appeared before the judge in a suit and tie.
He did not speak during the first day of testimony, but he was constantly whispering in his defense attorney’s ear.
The prosecution and the defense both noted that Cassandra’s body was never found, so that will not be a part of the evidence in this murder trial. A murder weapon was also never found.
The prosecution said the jury would have to make its decision based on ‘circumstantial evidence.’
An engagement ring and note were new pieces of evidence presented to the jury. Cassandra’s mother, Kathe Gross, testified she found them while digging through a drawer after Cassandra’s disappearance. The note was allegedly from Thomas Stanko, saying he would wait for Cassandra, and that she was making a mistake by not marrying him.
The prosecution mentioned Thomas Stanko having multiple places to burn evidence and that they’d be presenting further evidence of Cassandra’s burned possessions.
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Stanko was constantly flipping through papers while nine people testified: neighbors, friends, state troopers, a maintenance worker and Cassandra’s mother, Kathe Gross.
They all testified that they saw Stanko’s strange behavior either with Gross or around her apartment, leading up to her disappearance.
Kathe Gross admitted to threatening Stanko with a baseball bat and that her daughter called her crying, scared for her safety. The defense asked very few questions and claimed that, without a body, there is no physical evidence that Stanko committed Cassandra’s murder
The trial is expected to last at least two weeks as several more witnesses are called to the stand.
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