Pennsylvania’s Superior Court on Monday upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence of Justin Schuback in the 2017 murder of Old Forge pizzeria owner Robert Baron Sr.
Baron, 58, who was the owner of Ghigiarelli’s Restaurant, 511 S. Main St., Old Forge, went missing on Jan. 26, 2017, and was soon presumed dead.
His disappearance sparked a yearslong investigation and family crusade for justice that culminated in the discovery of Baron’s remains and the conviction of Schuback for the murder that occurred during a botched robbery.
Schuback was arrested March 31, 2023, after a search discovered Baron’s remains near Pagnotti Park. Until that breakthrough, the crime had gone unsolved for over six years. Authorities finally cracked the case with cellphone “range-to-tower” data that showed Schuback’s phone at key locations and times on Jan. 25-26, 2017, according to trial testimony.
A member of the Lackawanna County SWAT team takes Justin Schuback into custody on Foundry Street in Old Forge on March 31, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
Members of the Scranton Police Special Operations Group and Lackawanna County SWAT approach the front door of a home at 3 Foundry Street in Old Forge as they serve an arrest warrant for Justin Schuback on March 31, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
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A member of the Lackawanna County SWAT team takes Justin Schuback into custody on Foundry Street in Old Forge on March 31, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
During the trial in May 2024 in Lackawanna County Courty presided over by Judge Terrence Nealon, prosecutors contended Schuback went to Ghigiarelli’s to steal money but didn’t know that Baron, who lived upstairs, was at the pizzeria — and the two ended up in a deadly altercation.
A jury found Schuback, now 39, guilty of first-degree murder and in July of 2024 he received an automatic sentence of life in prison on the first-degree murder charge, as well as 7½ to 15 years behind bars for robbery and burglary.
Schuback’s appeal raised four issues involving: Nealon’s precluding of evidence of polygraphs taken by prosecution witnesses; the judge’s decision to allow a jailhouse informant to testify regarding Schuback’s admissions made to the informant; the judge’s instructions given to the jury on accomplice liability relating to a second-degree felony murder charge; and whether the weight of the evidence supported the conviction.
“The jury, as fact-finder, while passing on the credibility of the witnesses and weight of the evidence, was free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence,” the Superior Court ruling said in affirming Nealon’s judgment of sentencing.
Schuback remains incarcerated at State Correctional Institution at Dallas.
Originally Published: October 20, 2025 at 5:53 PM EDT