Amish Mother Murder Trial – Day One: Husband Andy Byler Testifies (Updated)

The trial of Shawn C. Cranston began yesterday at 1pm, following jury selection. I’ve pulled from reporting from several sources to provide a rundown of the first day of trial.

The judge expects the trial to take several days. Rebekah Byler’s husband Andy Byler testified yesterday, as did the first officer on the scene of her murder as well as a forensic state trooper.

First, here’s a bit about the jury selection – then more on what was covered on the first day. From The Corry Journal:

About 87 potential jurors were called into the courtroom Monday morning. Judge Francis J. Schultz first indicated the trial would start Monday immediately following jury selection, and expects it to go through Wednesday, possibly into Thursday.

The judge then asked questions of the potential jurors, the answers to which might result in dismissal from the jury pool. Questions included, “Would you be more or less likely to believe the testimony of a police officer?,” and, “Do you have any relationship with any of the witnesses?”

Attorneys on both sides were also able to question the potential jurors. Lowry asked them whether they have any connections with the Amish community; Emmi asked if anyone has issues passing judgment on another person.

By 11:45 a.m., the jury of 12 was chosen, plus two alternates.

Day One Testimony

Tim Hahn of the Erie Times-News provides some good reporting on day one of the trial:

MEADVILLE — Andy Byler returned home on the early afternoon of Feb. 26, 2024, from measuring some possible roofing jobs around Crawford and Venango counties when his two young children ran outside to meet him.

Byler’s 3-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter said somebody was there and killed their mother, Byler testified during the opening day June 9 of Corry resident Shawn C. Cranston’s homicide trial in Crawford County.

“And I didn’t believe it,” he said.

But as Byler said he walked up the sidewalk to his one-story house along Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township, he said he could see through the glass portion of an entry door that his wife’s cap was on the floor.

The horrible thing that sticks with you here is learning that the children knew – understood – in the moment that their mother had been killed. Two and three years old.

As noted in the Jet 24 video report above, the jury was shown crime scene photos of Rebekah on the floor (not shown to the courtroom).

There is also the testimony from the first trooper on the scene:

Byler didn’t go inside. But when the first Pennsylvania State Police trooper arrived at the Amish man’s home after 911 was called, the trooper said he found 23-year-old Rebekah A. Byler, about six months pregnant, lying on her back in the living room area.

There was a large pool of blood around and above her head and a large laceration to her throat, Trooper Jason Chamberlin testified.

Additional testimony from the forensic trooper described details concerning shoe prints, tire tracks, and a piece of a nitrile glove found in a trash can in the Byler home. He also described Rebekah’s injuries, a gunshot wound and “suspected” knife wound.

Prosecution: Burglary as Motive

The state is going to make the case that Cranston was at the Byler residence to steal from them – and that this was just the latest in a series of burglaries by Cranston.

Deputy Attorney General Kevin Scheibel laid presented this motive in his opening statement:

In one of those burglaries, Scheibel said, shoe impressions found in the snow had the same characteristics of shoe impressions found inside the Byler residence after Rebekah Byler was killed. The characteristics of both sets of impressions, he said, were similar to shoes investigators found under a bed in a camper outside of Cranston’s home when state police searched it in the homicide probe.

In the second burglary, GPS tracking of Cranston’s Jeep showed the vehicle at the burglary scene at the time it occurred, Scheibel said. GPS data from the Jeep also put Cranston at the scene of the Byler homicide, he said earlier in his opening statement.

Another indication that burglary was the suspected motive, as authorities allege, came in Andy Byler’s testimony. He revealed that, when he was finally able to return home following his wife’s death, his safe was missing from the home.

That’s the first that we’ve learned that the safe was missing from the Byler home.

Andy Byler also repeated the account of how a bald man with a beard – who he believes to be Cranston – knocked on the door after he and his wife were in bed, asking about buying the Bylers’ home.

The man said he’d return the next day, but did not. According to Jet 24, this happened two weeks before Rebekah’s killing, and the time of the visit was 10 or 11 PM at night.

Andy Byler was asked in cross examination if he was totally certain it was Cranston, or perhaps someone else – and he said that he was not. However, when asked in redirect, he said he was 99% certain it was Cranston.

First visit an aborted burglary attempt?

You wonder, assuming that it was Cranston, if the first visit was a first attempt at a burglary – which he backed off of when someone answered the door, delivering a cover story about wanting to buy the home.

Andy Byler and his wife were already in bed. 10 or 11 PM isn’t an hour you’d expect someone to come around with such a request. People simply don’t knock on doors that late asking about buying someone’s home.

Cranston’s lawyer & the next witness

In his opening statement, Cranston’s lawyer Louis Emmi asked the jury to listen to all the evidence, use common sense, and remove emotion in coming to their decision. He also “suggested there would be questions about the evidence presented, including DNA and GPS evidence.”

Yourerie.com reports that Andy Byler’s driver Julie Warner, who was with him when Rebekah’s body was discovered, is expected to testify today (Tuesday June 10). It’s also expected that the jury will hear the recording of the 911 call Warner placed to report the murder.

Update: Day Two (Tuesday, June 10th)

This is from the Corry Journal, giving us some more details from Day Two of the trial (I believe the first section excerpted below refers to Day Two, as the 911 call evidence was expected to be presented today).

You can see a number of new witnesses were called, including not only Julie Warner but neighbors and members of the local Amish community, as well as local residents who had also experienced recent robberies: