Trial begins for man accused of murdering pregnant Amish woman
The trial for the man accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman in Sparta Township in early 2024 is set to begin this week.
Shawn Cranston, 53, of Corry, is facing charges of criminal homicide for the death of both 23-year-old Rebekah Byler and her unborn baby.
According to court paperwork, the trial of 53-year-old Shawn Cranston was delayed after it was expected to start in March, citing new information in the case.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office will be prosecuting the case at the Crawford County courthouse.
Monday, we heard testimony from Andy Byler, Rebecca's husband, along with the first trooper on scene and a forensic state trooper. During opening statements, we also learned a possible motive of burglary.
Andy Blyer testified that when he came home from work on February 26, 2024, his two children, ages 2 and 3 came running out outside to tell him someone had killed their mom.
Andy said he didn't believe them… until he walked up to the door and saw Rebecca's white hat on the floor next to her legs.
The jury was then shown a crime scene photo of Rebecca on the floor. Those photos were not shown to the courtroom .
Andy said that after discovering Rebecca's body, his driver, Julie, stayed with his kids while he drove Julie's truck to the neighbors to tell them what happened. He then drove back to his house and stayed in the driveway until state police arrived. He never went inside his house.
Andy was then asked about a strange incident. He said two weeks before Rebecca's murder, someone came to the house around 10 or 11 o'clock at night. Andy said he got out of bed and went to the door with a flashlight and saw a white man with a bald head and beard walking up to the door. The man said he wanted to buy the Byler's house, but he'd be back the next day. He never came back.
When asked if that person was in the courtroom, Andy said, 'I think he's sitting over there,' referring to 53-year-old Shawn Cranston.
Andy told the court that after the murder, he noticed his safe was missing from the house.
The first Trooper on the scene told the jury about walking into the Bylers' home and finding Rebecca on her back, with a large laceration to her throat, a wound near her hairline and her head in a pool of blood.
The Forensic Trooper testified about finding Rebecca's body in the living room area with a bullet hole in her left temple and a suspected knife wound to the neck.
He also testified about other evidence, like shoe prints and tire impressions found at the crime scene, along with a small piece of a latex glove found in the Byler's trash.
Tuesday, Julie Warner, Andy Byler's driver, is expected to take the witness stand. We're being told the jury will hear the recording of the 911 call she made to report Rebecca's murder.
Related Stories:
Trial for man accused of killing pregnant Amish woman pushed to 2025
2024 Amish murder case transferred to Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office
New information takes center stage in Rebekah Byler murder trial
Daughter of arrested suspect reacts to pregnant Amish woman murder case
List of seized items released in pregnant Amish woman homicide case
Murdered Amish woman suffered injuries to head, neck: investigators
Community remains in shock following Amish woman's death, Corry man's arrest
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Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trial begins for man accused of murdering pregnant Amish woman
The trial for the man accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman in Sparta Township in early 2024 is set to begin this week. Shawn Cranston, 53, of Corry, is facing charges of criminal homicide for the death of both 23-year-old Rebekah Byler and her unborn baby. According to court paperwork, the trial of 53-year-old Shawn Cranston was delayed after it was expected to start in March, citing new information in the case. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office will be prosecuting the case at the Crawford County courthouse. Monday, we heard testimony from Andy Byler, Rebecca's husband, along with the first trooper on scene and a forensic state trooper. During opening statements, we also learned a possible motive of burglary. Andy Blyer testified that when he came home from work on February 26, 2024, his two children, ages 2 and 3 came running out outside to tell him someone had killed their mom. Andy said he didn't believe them… until he walked up to the door and saw Rebecca's white hat on the floor next to her legs. The jury was then shown a crime scene photo of Rebecca on the floor. Those photos were not shown to the courtroom . Andy said that after discovering Rebecca's body, his driver, Julie, stayed with his kids while he drove Julie's truck to the neighbors to tell them what happened. He then drove back to his house and stayed in the driveway until state police arrived. He never went inside his house. Andy was then asked about a strange incident. He said two weeks before Rebecca's murder, someone came to the house around 10 or 11 o'clock at night. Andy said he got out of bed and went to the door with a flashlight and saw a white man with a bald head and beard walking up to the door. The man said he wanted to buy the Byler's house, but he'd be back the next day. He never came back. When asked if that person was in the courtroom, Andy said, 'I think he's sitting over there,' referring to 53-year-old Shawn Cranston. Andy told the court that after the murder, he noticed his safe was missing from the house. The first Trooper on the scene told the jury about walking into the Bylers' home and finding Rebecca on her back, with a large laceration to her throat, a wound near her hairline and her head in a pool of blood. The Forensic Trooper testified about finding Rebecca's body in the living room area with a bullet hole in her left temple and a suspected knife wound to the neck. He also testified about other evidence, like shoe prints and tire impressions found at the crime scene, along with a small piece of a latex glove found in the Byler's trash. Tuesday, Julie Warner, Andy Byler's driver, is expected to take the witness stand. We're being told the jury will hear the recording of the 911 call she made to report Rebecca's murder. Related Stories: Trial for man accused of killing pregnant Amish woman pushed to 2025 2024 Amish murder case transferred to Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office New information takes center stage in Rebekah Byler murder trial Daughter of arrested suspect reacts to pregnant Amish woman murder case List of seized items released in pregnant Amish woman homicide case Murdered Amish woman suffered injuries to head, neck: investigators Community remains in shock following Amish woman's death, Corry man's arrest Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
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New crime novels feature a locked-room mystery, a Scarborough stabbing and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist
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After a two-decade absence, Miss Maple, Othello, Mopple the Whale, and the other woolly sleuths are back on the case, this time on behalf of their new herder, Rebecca, the daughter of the early book's victim. 'Big Bad Wool,' by Leonie Swann, Soho Crime, $38.95. Rebecca, her intrusive Mum, and the sheep are overwintering in the lee of a French chateau where there are rumours of a marauding Garou — a werewolf — that is responsible for mutilating deer in the nearby woods. Among other strange occurrences, Rebecca's red clothing is found torn to pieces and some sheep go missing — and soon enough there's a dead human for the flock, in the uncomfortable company of a group of local goats, to deal with. 'Big Bad Wool' is a charming romp, whose pleasure comes largely from the ironic distance between the sheep's understanding of the world and that of the people who surround them. ('The humans in the stories did plenty of ridiculous things. Spring cleaning, revenge and diets.') Their enthusiasm and excitement results in prose that is a bit too reliant on exclamation points, and some of the more heavy-handed puns (like the sheep's insistence on 'woolpower') seem forced, but this is nevertheless a fun variation on the traditional country cosy. Romance novelist Uzma Jalaluddin takes a turn into mystery with this new book about amateur sleuth Kausar Khan. A widow in her late 50s, Kausar returns to Toronto from North Bay to help her daughter, Sana, who has been accused of stabbing her landlord to death in her Scarborough mall boutique. The police — including Sana's old flame, Ilyas — are convinced Sana is the prime suspect, but Kausar is determined to prove her daughter innocent. 'Detective Aunty,' by Uzma Jalaluddin, HarperCollins, $25.99. Her investigation involves a couple of competing developers, both of whom want to purchase the land on which the mall stands, along with members of the dead man's family and fellow shopkeepers. On the domestic front, Kausar finds herself concerned with Sana's deteriorating marriage to her husband, Hamza, and her teenage granddaughter's sullenness and mysterious nighttime disappearances. Jalaluddin does a good job integrating the various elements of her plot, and the familial relationships are nicely calibrated. The momentum is impeded, however, by a preponderance of clichés ('Playing devil's advocate, Kausar asked …'; 'Kausar's blood ran cold') and a tendency to hold the reader's hand by defining every easily Googleable Urdu word or greeting too programmatically. More attention to the writing on the line level would have helped move this one along. Yukito Ayatsuji's clever postmodern locked-room mystery was first published in Japanese in 2009; it appears for the first time in English translation, which is good news for genre fans. 'The Labyrinth House Murders,' by Yukito Ayatsuji, Pushkin Vertigo, $24.95. 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But Ayatsuji does Christie one better; it is only once the afterword, which closes the framed narrative, has unfolded that the reader fully understands how cleverly the author has conceived his multi-layered fictional trap.
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$38,000 Fines Waived for Ontario Amish Families Convicted for Not Using ArriveCan App
Over $38,000 in fines have been waived and convictions set aside for a group of people from an Ontario Amish community who were convicted for not using the ArriveCan app during COVID-19 lockdowns. Lawyers with The Democracy Fund (TDF) won the case after seven months of negotiations and multiple court appearances on behalf of the group known to avoid modern technology due to their faith.
