OLD FORGE, Pa. — The alleged murder confession a Lackawanna County man gave to his cellmate at the jail can be presented to a jury when it convenes next month to hear his case and decide his fate.
Judge Terrence Nealon this week ruled Justin Schuback’s former cellmate was not acting as an agent of the county's district attorney when the two used Suboxone last year in their cell and Schuback purportedly gave up how he killed Old Forge restaurateur Robert Baron more than seven years ago.
That means Schuback’s constitutional rights to a lawyer are not threatened by presenting jurors with evidence he allegedly confessed, Nealon ruled. That Schuback and his cellmate used Suboxone should impact the weight accorded to the statements, but it shouldn’t impact their admissibility.
Schuback, 38, denies he killed Baron and will seek acquittal on murder charges at a trial starting May 6.
County detectives arrested him in March 2023 following the discovery of Baron’s remains near Pagnotti Park. His arrest came more than seven years after Baron, 58, vanished.
Schuback — long a suspect in the case — was implicated by cell phone “range to tower” data that placed his phone near Baron’s restaurant, Ghigiarelli’s, the night he vanished, and then at Pagnotti Park, where authorities say they finally found him.
Once he was jailed, Schuback allegedly shared details with his cellmate of what happened the night Baron died, according to Nealon’s 32-page memorandum.
It was supposed to be a burglary, according to a summary of the cellmate’s interview with county detectives. Schuback and Baron’s son broke into Ghigiarelli’s before to steal money from the cash-only establishment.
Schuback did not expect to see the elder Baron there when he broke in one night in January 2017, according to a summary of Schuback's cellmate's statement to county detectives.
A confrontation ensued. Baron had “words” for Schuback. It escalated and Schuback “racked” Baron with a metal object. Baron fell dead.
Schuback spent hours cleaning the restaurant and loaded Baron’s heavy body into the passenger seat of Baron’s Hyundai, he allegedly told his former cellmate. He drove to a park to dispose of the man’s remains, gathered incriminating evidence into bags and a suitcase and burned it outside of the county.
Schuback’s former cellmate told investigators he regretted he didn’t clean the Hyundai well enough. The police later found spots of Baron’s blood inside the car.
