Stories about the Amish as victims – or perpetrators – of crime.
Last year we learned of a Michigan man who’d made repeated threats of violence against Amish people (“Michigan Man (Finally?) Arrested After Amish Knife Threats“). This struck me as a rather bizarre story at the time. So I’m glad we have now gotten a follow-up – filling in more details on why this man apparently behaved the way he did. Threats had been ongoing against…
Good news in the recent Amish buggy robbery story – a suspect has been captured in northwestern Pennsylvania. Reported Friday by WFMJ: A West Middlesex man is being held in the Mercer County Jail following his arrest for an armed robbery and an attempted robbery of men driving horse-drawn buggies in Amish country. Todd Baker, 33, appeared before a district magistrate on Friday to answer…
In February, we got news that Sarah Beth Petersen had pled guilty. She had been accused of trying to take the fall for her twin sister Samantha Petersen. Authorities allege Samantha was the one actually driving in an accident which claimed two Amish children’s lives in 2023. Sarah Beth Petersen received her sentence Monday. From the Minnesota Star-Tribune: A 37-year-old woman was sentenced to three…
Buggies on the road make seemingly easy targets for armed robbers. But often enough, they end up getting caught. That might be bad news for a suspect who has been targeting Amish buggies in northwestern Pennsylvania. From WFMJ: A 30-year-old man from Mercer told police that a small black sedan stopped in front of his buggy. A male suspect, described as a white male wearing…
The trial of Shawn C. Cranston in the killing of Amish mother Rebekah Byler and her unborn child was set to commence this month. Jury selection was scheduled for next Tuesday, March 11th, with the trial to being immediately afterward. That will have to wait. In a surprise, news has just broke that the trial will be postponed AGAIN – until June. The reason? New…
This is a crazy story which somehow flew under my radar the last two days. In Arthur, Illinois, a man who is described as wanting to join the Amish attacked and then attempted to kidnap a 16-year-old Amish girl. I only write “attempted” because she was saved by a 20-year-old female Amish relative – who gave chase and got the abductor to release the girl….
From the Minnesota Star-Tribune: A 36-year-old woman is pleading guilty to concocting an identity-swapping scheme with her twin sister to deceive law enforcement about who was actually driving an SUV that hit an Amish buggy in southeastern Minnesota, killing two of the four children aboard. Sarah Beth Petersen, 36, of Kellogg, Minn., pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon in Fillmore County District Court to two counts of…
It’s been awhile since we’ve had news on the Rebekah Byler homicide case. We last got an update in early October, when the trial of the accused, Shawn C. Cranston of Corry, PA, was moved for the second time. At that time a continuance was granted to the defense, as more time was needed to process the “large amounts” of evidence. Now, word that a…
I should put the (?) in bold in the headline. This person is described as wearing Amish woman’s clothing. And that looks to be the case (see below). But is she actually Amish? The “track record” of the Amish, who on the whole are not known to steal or rob, would suggest otherwise. But individuals are individuals. And the clothing and overall appearance do look…
This is the second time the trial of Shawn C. Cranston, accused of killing 23-year-old pregnant Amish mother Rebekah Byler, has been moved. Cranston was originally meant to be tried in June, but the defense team got a continuance due to having to process “large amounts” of evidence. Cranston had a preliminary hearing in March, which revealed that he had driven for the Amish. Later,…