Guns and sneakers were seized from a man accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman, police say
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Police investigating the killing a pregnant Amish woman in rural Pennsylvania seized six guns, a variety of ammunition and a pair of sneakers that may match tread marks left at the crime scene during searches of the suspect’s home and vehicle, documents show.
Search warrant documents released over the weekend said 23-year-old Rebekah Byler suffered “multiple sharp force wounds” to her neck and was shot in the head during the Feb. 26 attack at her home.
ADVERTISING
Two counts of homicide and other charges against truck driver Shawn Christopher Cranston were forwarded to county court for trial after a preliminary hearing on March 15.
In a newly released search warrant affidavit, a state trooper said Rebekah Byler’s 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were present during the killing and the boy told investigators a man wearing sneakers had killed his mother.
Rebekah Byler’s husband, Andy Byler, and a woman who had been driving him and another man to look at roofing jobs returned to the Byler home around lunchtime to discover her body in the living room.
The children were unharmed.
During the preliminary hearing, Trooper Shea Sedler testified that red and black Nike sneakers were found under a mattress inside a camper at Cranston’s residence in Corry. Sedler said the shoe pattern was similar to what he photographed inside Rebekah Byler’s home.
Police also took DNA and fingerprints from Cranston, who has been jailed without bail since his March 2 arrest.
Cranston’s public defender, Gary Alan Kern, has not returned messages seeking comment. At the preliminary hearing, Kern argued prosecutors had not identified a motive or produced a murder weapon.
