Amish Mother Murder Trial – Day Two: Burglaries, Red Jeep, DNA Evidence & More

Yesterday (June 10th) was Day Two of the trial of Shawn C. Cranston for the killing of Rebekah Byler and her unborn child, ongoing in the Crawford County, Pennsylvania Judicial Center (here’s Day One if you missed it).

Testimony focused on a red Jeep seen at the Byler’s residence on the morning she was killed, his DNA which was found on part of a glove in the Byler home, burglaries of homes in the area prior to Byler’s killing, and Cranston’s strange behavior.

I want to make clear that I am not present at the trial, but I’ve put together some excerpts of the main points, using three main sources: Tim Hahn’s most recent account in the Erie Times-News, Mike Crowley’s latest report in the Meadville Tribune, as well as the news report by Jennifer Mobilia at JET 24.

Red Jeep

Prior to Rebekah Byler’s killing, Cranston had allegedly been using a red Jeep Patriot, which belongs to his wife. Multiple witnesses reported sightings of a red Jeep at or near the Byler home on the morning of the murder. From the Erie Times-News:

The red Jeep was a focus of much of the testimony presented by state prosecutors June 10 during the second day of Cranston’s trial before Crawford County Judge Francis Schultz on charges of criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass.

Among the 15 people who provided testimony under questioning by Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry and Deputy Attorney General Kevin Scheibel were three people who reported seeing a red Jeep parked at or driving near the Byler home on Fish Flats Road the morning Rebekah Byler was killed.

Cranston also did something rather strange with his Jeep’s tires:

Also testifying June 10 were a state police trooper who said he took photos of the Cranstons’ Jeep’s tires as it was parked at Cranston’s wife’s place of employment in Fairview Township three days after the homicide and a neighbor of Cranston’s who said Cranston had taken two dry-rotted tires from the neighbor’s property and asked for more tires to put on the Jeep.

The neighbor said the tires were not the right size for Cranston’s vehicle and were no good, but Cranston took them anyway, saying he needed them because his wife’s tires were getting pretty low.

I’m not seeing it explicitly stated in the reports, but I am assuming that this was done after Byler’s murder.

Burglaries of Amish residences

There had been a growing pattern of burglaries of Amish homes in the area just prior to Rebekah Byler’s killings. As we’ve often covered on the site here, the Amish are sometimes specially targeted for such crimes.

It turns out two Amish homes had been burglarized in the two months prior to Byler’s killing. Notably, shoe prints similar to those found in the Byler home were also found at the scene of one of the burglaries (the prints from the Byler home closely resembled the soles of a pair of Nikes discovered in Cranston’s home).

From the Erie Times-News:

Shoe impressions similar to those found on the shoes and in the Byler home were found in the snow around another Amish residence in an area of eastern Crawford County near where the Bylers lived that was burglarized on Jan. 5, 2024, according to testimony and photographs presented in court June 10.

The owner of that residence on Britton Run Road testified that when his family returned home from visiting a friend, he found that cash and change were stolen from his home.

Another Amish man, who also lives on Fish Flats Road, testified to returning home from visiting his brother-in-law on Feb. 9, 2024, to find cash, change, watches and a chainsaw stolen from his residence.

Prosecutors, in their opening statement before testimony June 9, stated they would present evidence connecting Cranston to two other burglaries in the area where the Bylers lived.

And as noted in yesterday’s post on Trial Day One, after Andy Byler returned home after his wife’s killing, he discovered his safe was missing.

Strange Behavior

Witnesses also testified to examples of disturbing behavior on the part of Cranston. From the Meadville Tribune:

Two witnesses described Cranston carrying a gun in the weeks before Rebekah Byler was killed.

One of them, a young Amish woman, reported that a seemingly agitated Cranston, dressed entirely in black with a black beanie hat and dark sunglasses, had arrived abruptly at her parents’ house in January, driving a red Jeep, and asked the time of the family’s Sunday church service before leaving.

Approximately a month later, she saw a similar Jeep parked in view of the house for about 30 seconds, she said.

Also in the “strange behavior” category can probably be included this – a detail from investigators’ visit to search Cranston’s home:

The inside of Cranston’s home, another trooper testified, was so foul due to pet urine and feces that no law enforcement authorities entered without using respirators when a search began five days after Byler was killed.

These details are being brought up as part of the prosecution’s strategy to build a picture of Cranston as someone behaving erratically and criminally in the months prior to Rebekah Byler’s killing:

Each witness added to the state’s picture of Cranston as a man spiraling over the course of several months and presumably targeting Amish households for burglaries, usually in the evening when the residents weren’t home.

They also found “multiple firearms” at the Cranston home, though none matched the weapon used to shoot Byler.

DNA on Piece of Glove

However, there was a key piece of evidence in all likelihood linking Cranston to the crime scene. DNA was found on part of a nitrile glove in a wastebasket in the Byler’s kitchen. This key piece of evidence was addressed by the final witness of the day. From the Meadville Tribune:

The long day of witnesses culminated with the forensic DNA scientist who analyzed a sample obtained from a small piece of a synthetic rubber glove discovered in Byler’s kitchen trash can after she was killed.

The sample contained DNA from two people, Jared Hiester testified, and one person accounted for about 97 percent of DNA present.

It was about 790 septillion times more likely — “790 with 24 zeroes after it,” he clarified for the jury — that the larger DNA sample came from Cranston than someone else, Hiester said.

“This is strong support that Shawn Cranston is a potential contributor to” the DNA sample, he added.

Essentially I understand that here they are saying that there is an absolutely miniscule chance that the DNA is not Cranston’s. Indeed, the video report from JET 24 informs us that “DNA expert telling the court that anything over 1000 is considered strong.”

Other Details

Jennifer Mobilia at JET 24 reports that about 25 members of the Amish community were present in the court room, with “three people sitting in the area designated for Shawn Cranston’s family and friends”

Mobilia describes Julie Warner’s testimony as well as the “most emotional”. Additionally, members of the jury heard a recording of the 911 call Warner made to report the crime.

She also notes that some Amish in the courtroom were crying during the playing of the call. The Bylers’ two and three-year-old children could apparently be heard on the call.

These are details which add a layer of experience of the courtroom, as there is no photography at this trial.

Cranston’s Defense

Cranston’s lawyer Louis Emmi challenged testimony on several counts. From the Meadville-Tribune:

Cross-examination from Louis Emmi, the defense attorney representing Cranston, occupied much less time Tuesday than the direct examination of witnesses by Scheibel and fellow prosecutor Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry. Still, Emmi repeatedly tried to chip away at the significance of the evidence presented by prosecutors.

On several occasions that meant not asking any questions at all on cross examination, as though to suggest that the evidence did not matter all that much.

After all, as he pointed out in cross-examining Trooper Scott Pendel, the forensic services unit member who described the search of Cranston’s property and showed jurors the sneakers that were found there, “No ones been charged and no one’s been linked” to the burglaries that were discussed by multiple witnesses.

Pendel acknowledged the point and, when asked about the footprints found in the snow at one of those burglaries, said the person who left the impressions “was never identified.”

Emmi also went after at least three other aspects of testimony – the characterization of the location of the sneakers found in Cranston’s home (Emmi argued that it was not really a “secret” compartment), the DNA evidence (another person’s DNA was present on the glove, and Emmi questioned the method of collection), and the credibility of Jonathan Santry, the neighbor who provided testimony about Cranston taking the dry-rotted tires (Emmi drew attention to Santry’s history of convictions for crimes of deception).

I’ve already excerpted a lot here, but the Meadville Tribune article linked above has a good further account of Emmi’s points of argument.

The trial continues beginning at 9 AM Wednesday.

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