A group of Amish gather outside the Crawford County Judicial Center in Meadville, Pa., following a preliminary hearing Friday, Mar 15, 2024, for Shawn C. Cranston, 52, of Corry, Pa., who is accused of killing Rebekah Byler and her unborn child inside the Byler home near Spartansburg, Pa., on Feb. 26. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Shawn Cranston was arrested for allegedly murdering a pregnant Amish woman in her rural Pennsylvania home late last month. Both her young children were home at the time but were unharmed.
The two young children of a pregnant Amish woman who was killed inside her rural Pennsylvania home late last month were the ones who alerted their father about the crime, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing last week.
Andy Byler, the husband of the victim, Rebekah Byler, testified that his two children told him about the crime when he got back home from looking at potential roofing jobs.
“I didn’t really believe it,” Andy Byler said at a preliminary hearing for Shawn C. Cranston, charged with two counts of homicide in the Feb. 26 killing of Byler and her unborn child. “I walked in and saw her cap laying inside the door.”
The district judge for the hearing ruled there was enough evidence to send the case to Crawford County Common Pleas Court for trial proceedings.
Cranston, 52, a truck driver who lives in Corry, about 8 miles from the Byler home near Spartansburg, is also charged with burglary and trespassing.
District Judge Amy Nichols rejected a request to have the charges dismissed, despite an argument by defense attorney Gary Alan Kern that prosecutors did not identify a motive or produce a murder weapon.
Byler, 23, was shot in the head and suffered sharp wounds to her neck, state trooper Samuel Hubbard testified.
Andy Byler said his wife had been doing laundry when he left that morning with a neighbor and a driver. When he got back home and went inside, Byler said he saw his wife on the floor.
Other witnesses described seeing a red Jeep in the area that morning, including parked by the Byler home. A neighbor testified that Cranston drove a red Jeep.
In court documents filed for a search of the murder scene, state police said they recovered guns, ammunition, knife parts, and other items.
Cranston has been in the county jail without bond since being arrested March 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Pennsylvanians and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at The Keystone has always been to empower people across the commonwealth with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Pennsylvania families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
Is that a drone or a plane? Experts help explain the differences
By JOHN SEEWER and MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press Up in the sky, is that a drone, a plane or a helicopter? Experts who study unmanned aircraft...
Pennsylvania jail confiscated inmates’ toilet paper and soap, cut power and heat, a lawsuit alleges
A Pennsylvania jail retaliated against inmates suspected of smoking synthetic marijuana by punishing entire cell blocks — confiscating legal...
Altoona McDonald’s employee who called 911 in CEO’s shooting is eligible for a reward, but it will take time
More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman...
Gov. Shapiro is prepared to sign warrant that would return shooting suspect Luigi Mangione to NYC
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has spoken with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and is prepared to promptly sign off on a governor’s warrant that would...
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering Altoona courthouse
Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible referring to an “insult to the...
