A jury wasted no time convicting a Pennsylvania truck driver this week of the horrific murder of a young pregnant Amish woman who disrupted his burglary of her home.
A Crawford County jury pronounced 53-year-old Shawn Cranston guilty Thursday on all charges after only three hours of deliberation in the homicide of Rebekah Byler, 23, in her Sparta Township home last winter.
According to testimony, Cranston reportedly told an inmate in jail that when the woman saw him in her living room she started screaming. As a result, Cranston said he, “Spun her around and started choking her. She didn’t pass out, so he slit her throat. He said she didn’t die quick enough, so he shot her.”
During the investigation, police said that Byler’s two young children were home at the time of her death. They were not physically harmed.
The homicide shocked the placid Amish community of hardly 2000 residents, located about 35 miles southeast of Erie, PA. Cranston lived in Corry, a town of 6,000 about eight miles from the Byler home.
Pennsylvania Attorney General David W. Sunday Jr. weighed in on Cranston’s conviction.
“It is hard to fathom conduct more heinous than brutally killing a young expectant mother and her unborn child in her home,” Sunday said in statement released by his office. “Our homes are supposed to be our safe haven — this defendant violated the sanctity of home to commit these truly evil acts.”
According to the statement:
Prosecutors presented testimony about key pieces of evidence, including a piece of a glove found at the home containing Cranston’s DNA; shoe prints and vehicle tire treads that matched Cranston’s shoes and vehicle; and GPS data from Cranston’s vehicle that placed him at the scene. An autopsy showed Byler, 23, died of sharp force injuries and a gunshot wound to the head.
The jury convicted Cranston of first degree murder, second degree murder of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass.
“I commend our team and the Pennsylvanian State Police for dealing with this truly horrific case and focusing on the facts, which clearly pointed to Shawn Cranston’s guilt,” Sunday added.
The prosecution put 24 witnesses on the stand, including Byler’s husband, who found her body two hours after the murder, dozens of forensic experts and the inmate who claimed Cranston admitted to killing the woman.
Cranston’s attorney tried to argue in his closing that the murder was so horrific, Byler’s blood and DNA should have been found on Cranston’s clothes, shoes, and in his car.
But the defense attorney presented no witnesses and the jury didn’t buy his theory.
Cranston is set to be sentenced in late July. He’s facing life in prison.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
