Defense gets more time to review evidence against Corry resident Shawn C. Cranston, 52, charged with killing Rebekah A. Byler, 23, in her home in Amish enclave in Crawford County on Feb. 26.
Erie Times-News
MEADVILLE — The trial of the defendant charged in the killing of pregnant Amish mother Rebekah A. Byler has been tentatively scheduled for November in Crawford County Common Pleas Court.
The trial will not occur any earlier to give defendant Shawn C. Cranston's lawyer, "significant time" to review and investigate the "large amounts" of evidence the defense has received from the prosecution, according to a defense motion that Judge Francis J. Schultz granted on Tuesday.
Schultz also issued an order that sets a pretrial conference for June 24 at the Crawford County Judicial Center in Meadville. The prosecution and defense at the hearing are to discuss their ability "to try this case during the November 2024 term of criminal trials," according to the order.
Cranston, 52, of Corry in southern Erie County, is charged in the slaying of the 23-year-old Byler at her family's home in the Amish enclave of Sparta Township in eastern Crawford County on the morning of Feb. 26.
Byler was about six months pregnant, and her 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were home when she was killed, Pennsylvania State Police said. Authorities said she was shot in the head and her throat was slashed.
Cranston lived about 10 miles north of the Byler home.
Cranston is charged with criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. He is being held in prison without bond since his arrest on March 2.
Authorities have not offered a motive in the case, which has drawn national attention because of a homicide occurring in an Amish community.
Cranston retains private lawyer after public defender represents him
The most recent court action in Cranston's case was his preliminary hearing on March 15. Titusville District Judge Amy Nicols ordered him held for trial on all charges.
The Crawford County Public Defender's Office initially represented Cranston. He retained a private lawyer, Louis W. Emmi, of Pittsburgh, on April 2, according to court records.
Emmi on Friday filed a motion seeking to move the trial to September. The motion said Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo, who is prosecuting the case, consented to Emmi's request for more time to review the evidence.
In response, Schultz on Tuesday granted the motion, ordered that the trial not occur in June and moved it to the November term, according to court records.
State police used cellphone data, video surveillance to make arrest
The evidence against Cranston centers on a red Jeep.
At the preliminary hearing, state police troopers said several witnesses reported seeing a red Jeep at and near Byler's home at 21845 Fish Flats Road the morning Byler was killed on Feb. 26, according to information in search warrants and other documents related to the case.
The troopers said cellphone data from Cranston's phone and GPS data from his Jeep placed Cranston and the vehicle around the Byler residence that morning.
The troopers also said surveillance 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 on Feb. 26.
Authorities believe Byler, who was estimated to be 21 to 25 weeks pregnant, was killed between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 26.
The investigation started when state police at Corry were summoned to Byler's residence shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.
A caller to 911, described by state police as a family friend who had given Byler's husband a ride to an outing earlier that day, reported that she and Byler's husband returned to the Byler residence to find Rebekah Byler unresponsive inside, police said.
Police said troopers found Byler on her back in a pool of blood in the home's living room.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
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