A mortgage firm has started foreclosure proceedings on the Old Forge home of convicted killer Justin Schuback, who is serving life in prison for the 2017 murder of pizzeria owner Robert Baron Sr.
Nationstar Mortgage LLC of Coppell, Texas, filed in Lackawanna County Court on Feb. 26 a civil foreclosure complaint against Schuback that could cause him to lose the home at 3 Foundry St. in Old Forge.
Schuback (SUBMITTED)
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.
Robert Baron Sr.
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.
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)
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, 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 he was sentenced in July to life in prison, as well as 7½ years behind bars for robbery and burglary. He automatically received a sentence of life in prison on the first-degree murder charge.
In December, a judge denied Schuback a new trial. He remains incarcerated at the Lackawanna County Prison.
The foreclosure complaint against Schuback takes the form of a “Notice of Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program” and details the legal procedures that a defendant could take to try to resolve the outstanding loan to avert a foreclosure.
Schuback acquired the home in 2021. The mortgage is in default because monthly payments of principal and interest are due and unpaid since April 1, 2024.
The foreclosure action seeks $25,466, which includes an unpaid principal of $23,885 and the rest in accrued interest, escrow advances and late charges that were due as of Jan. 29; as well as unspecified attorney’s fees and costs of foreclosure and a sheriff’s sale of the property.
Meanwhile, after Schuback’s conviction, Baron’s daughter, Brittany Baron — acting as the administrator of her father’s estate — in May filed in Lackawanna County Court a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $1 million from Schuback.
After Schuback did not formally respond in court to that lawsuit, Brittany Baron in February filed a legal step for a default judgment of $1 million against him.
Flowers are seen at the front door of the closed Ghigiarelli’s Restaurant in Old Forge on Sunday, April 2, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)