MEADVILLE — The husband of a pregnant Amish woman who was killed in her rural Pennsylvania home at the end of last month stated on Friday that his two young children informed him about the crime when he returned from inspecting potential roofing jobs.
“I didn’t really believe it,” Andy Byler said during a preliminary hearing for Shawn C. Cranston, who is accused of two counts of homicide in the killing of Rebekah Byler and her unborn child on Feb. 26. “I walked in and saw her bonnet lying by the door.”
The judge for the hearing determined there was sufficient evidence to move the case to Crawford County Common Pleas Court for trial.
Cranston, 52, a truck driver from Corry, around 8 miles from the Byler home near Spartansburg, is also facing charges of burglary and trespassing.
Judge Amy Nichols denied a request to dismiss the charges, despite an argument from defense attorney Gary Alan Kern that the prosecutors did not establish a motive or present a murder weapon.
Rebekah Byler, 23, was shot in the head and had suffered cuts to her neck, according to state trooper Samuel Hubbard's testimony.
Andy Byler mentioned that his wife had been doing laundry when he left that morning with a neighbor and a driver. When he returned and entered the house, Byler saw his wife on the floor. The driver, Julie Warner, called 911 while he waited in a truck for the police to arrive.
Warner stated that she tried to calm him down and went inside the house to gather the children. She found them playing with toys in the dining room and led them out to the porch.
Warner reported that she informed a 911 dispatcher that she didn't feel capable of checking Rebekah Byler’s pulse but could tell her body was cold.
Other witnesses mentioned seeing a red Jeep in the area that morning, including one parked near the Byler home. A neighbor testified that Cranston drove a red Jeep.
Members of the Amish community occupied four rows on one side of the courtroom during Friday’s hearing. Cranston wore a bulletproof vest and remained silent throughout the proceedings.
In court documents submitted for a search of the murder scene, state police stated that they discovered firearms, ammunition, knife parts, and other items.
Cranston has been held in the county jail without bond since his arrest on March 2.
