Newly unsealed warrants in Amish mother's murder reveal more witness statements, evidence

Pennsylvania State Police learned that Rebekah A. Byler's 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were home with her when someone entered the Amish family's eastern Crawford County residence on the morning of Feb. 26 and fatally shot and cut the 23-year-old Byler, who was nearly six months pregnant.

The 3-year-old told state police that a green truck pulled into their driveway on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township, and a man wearing sneakers entered the house and killed his mother, according to newly unsealed search warrants that state police obtained in their investigation into Byler's death.

Investigators also learned from Byler's husband that, two weeks before Byler was killed, a man made an unexpected visit to their house at night and inquired about buying their house.

The husband, Andy Byler, believed the man's vehicle might have been red, but he was unsure as it was dark outside, according to information in the affidavits filed with the unsealed search warrants.

State police developed more information about a red vehicle seen at and around the Bylers' home on the day Rebekah Byler's body was discovered. Among the information was that a man who at one time had driven for an Amish family in the area was seen driving a red Jeep on one occasion, according to information in the affidavits and information presented at a recent court hearing.

The focus would turn to a red Jeep.

Additional information and evidence, including surveillance video and vehicle GPS data, led the state police to charge Corry resident Shawn C. Cranston, who with his wife owns a red Jeep, of killing Rebekah Byler and her unborn baby.

Investigators have charged Cranston, 52, with criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. Titusville District Judge Amy Nicols held Cranston for court on all charges following a lengthy preliminary hearing at the Crawford County Judicial Center in Meadville on March 15.

Cranston, who remains in the Crawford County Correctional Facility without bond, now awaits formal arraignment as his case proceeds to trial.

A motive in the killing remains unknown.

State police search for information outlined in warrants

Four search warrants that state police investigators served on Cranston and his home and Jeep were obtained in Erie County, where Cranston resides, and were sealed until late Thursday afternoon.

Much of the information outlined in their affidavits was presented during Cranston's March 15 preliminary hearing, in which Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo presented testimony from 15 witnesses and entered nearly 40 exhibits into evidence.

State police troopers outlined at the hearing how several witnesses reported seeing a red Jeep at and near the Bylers' Fish Flats Road home on the morning of Feb. 26; how cell phone data from Cranston's phone and GPS data from his Jeep placed Cranston and the vehicle around the Byler residence that morning; and how video showed the Jeep's movements from Cranston's home at 428 E. Main St. in Corry to the Fish Flats Road area and then back to Corry that day.

Authorities believe Rebekah Byler, who was estimated to be 21 to 25 weeks pregnant, was killed between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 26. An autopsy determined she died of multiple sharp force injuries to her neck and a gunshot wound to the head, according to testimony at the March 15 hearing.

One witness who testified at the March 15 hearing was an Amish woman who said her family had gotten a ride at one time from a man named Shawn, whom state police said they determined was Cranston. She also recounted how, on one occasion after the family was given a ride, the man she knew as Shawn came to their home wearing black clothing and with a gun on his side and inquired about going to church.

According to information in the unsealed search warrants, the family member of the woman who had first accepted a ride from Shawn immediately got an uneasy feeling about him. From that first encounter in December through mid-February, family members said they had "very odd experiences" with Shawn, who would randomly show up at their residence, according to information in the affidavits.

On the day the witness said Shawn came to the residence and inquired about going to church, family members told state police, Shawn was acting unusual, walking around their property looking aimlessly into their fields, and his speech made no sense, state police wrote in the affidavits.

Investigators obtained contact information for Cranston. They drove by his Corry residence and noticed a red Jeep there, according to the affidavits and testimony at the March 15 hearing. Troopers talked to neighbors of Cranston, who said Cranston's nickname is "Rumble," and they said he was associated with a motorcycle club, according to information in the affidavits.

Video, other evidence collected in focus on Cranston

Among the surveillance video that state police collected in the investigation and played during the March 15 preliminary hearing was footage from a business located across from the Cranston residence.

Troopers wrote in the unsealed affidavits that the footage showed a red Jeep Patriot returning to the Cranston residence between 1:55 p.m. and 2:02 p.m. on Feb. 26. From 2:02 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., according to the affidavits, a man is seen opening the doors and hatch of the vehicle and going in and out with items in his hands and carrying things to the side of a camper in the yard.

"It was apparent that this white male started a fire beside the camper because the camera depicted visible smoke rolling into the air," troopers wrote in the affidavits.

Additional evidence collected by state police in the investigation, according to the affidavits and testimony at the March 15 hearing, included a piece of a dark-colored disposable glove found at the Byler residence and a similar glove found in the trash at Cranston's home; and shoe prints from sneakers found in the Byler home. A trooper who testified at the preliminary hearing said a pair of Nike shoes with a tread pattern similar to the pattern found at the Byler home were found under a mattress and a plywood door in the camper at Cranston's home.

In addition to the Nike shoes and the glove, items state police seized from Cranston's home during a search there on the evening of March 1 included a number of firearms, ammunition, a partial box of black nitrile gloves and clothing, according to the inventory list of seized property.

State police also collected DNA swabs and fingerprints from Cranston, according to case documents.

Fight for the release of the search warrants

The sealed search warrants for Cranston, his home and the Jeep were unsealed on Thursday following a challenge by the Erie Times-News through its parent company, Gannett.

Erie County Judge David Ridge granted the Times-News' petition to have the warrants unsealed after Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo, in an email sent to Ridge's office on Monday, stated she was not taking a position on the motion to have the search warrants unsealed, Ridge said at a hearing on the matter Thursday morning.

The Erie County District Attorney's Office, which handled the warrants because they involved the search of Cranston's house in Corry, deferred to DiGiacomo, who was not present at the hearing. Cranston's lawyer, Crawford County Assistant Public Defender Gary Kern, said in court Thursday that he had no objection to unsealing the search warrants. Erie lawyer Craig Markham represented the Times-News.

The search warrants were among six known to have been obtained by the state police in the homicide investigation. Investigators also obtained two search warrants for the Fish Flats Road home where Rebekah Byler was killed. Those warrants were signed by District Judge Nicols on Feb. 26 and were served shortly after Rebekah Byler's body was found. Those search warrants were not sealed.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Amish woman's murder: Unsealed warrants reveal more in Crawford case