MEADVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — A Corry man accused of murdering 23-year-old Rebekah Byler and her unborn child was held for court by Crawford County Magisterial Judge Amy Nichols on Friday.
Shawn Cranston, 52, is facing criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglar, and trespassing charges related to the February 26th murder of Byler in the Sparta Township home she shared with her husband and their two small children.
The Commonwealth called 15 witnesses during Cranston’s preliminary hearing, held in the Crawford County Judicial Center on Friday afternoon, March 15, including the victim’s widow, 24-year-old Andy Byler.
Byler testified he spent the morning of February 26th with his neighbor Dan Byler and their “hauler,” Julie Warner. When he left their home to go to Saegertown to bid a roofing job, his wife was doing laundry, he testified. When he returned, he found his wife dead on the living room floor and his children playing with their toys in the dining room. He said they told him what happened.
Cranston remained mostly still during the five-and-a-half hour proceeding, seated with his counsel. He is represented by Crawford County First Assistant Public Defender Gary Kern.
The Commonwealth is represented by Crawford County District Attorney Paula Digiacomo and Assistant District Attorney Craig Howe.
The state’s presentation primarily focused on witnesses who saw a red Jeep Patriot driving in the area and parked in the driveway of the Byler residence. It was later discovered the Jeep belonged to Cranston. The state further connected Cranston to the crime using shoe prints that were determined to be from a pair of Nike Air Force One sneakers and a fragment of a black nitrile glove with a distinct “fish scale” pattern that was collected from the kitchen trash of the Byler’s home.
Cranston was caught on video the day of the murder wearing a pair of Nike sneakers. A pair of Air Force Ones were discovered in a camper on his property, along with a box of black nitrile gloves with a similar pattern.
State Trooper Samuel Hubbard, who attended Byler’s autopsy, testified that Dr. Eric Vey’s opinion was that Rebekah Byler died of multiple sharp force injury wounds to the neck and a gunshot wound to the head. Her unborn baby died from intrauterine fetal demise because of Byler’s death. He estimated the time of death to be between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on February 26.
While the state was worked to connect Cranston to the crime using physical evidence, circumstantial evidence, and witness testimony, Attorney Kern pointed out to Judge Nichols in his closing argument that the prosecution could not point to a motive in the crime, nor did they have the murder weapons.
Judge Nichols ruled there was enough evidence for the case to proceed in its entirety to the Court of Common Pleas.
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