MEADVILLE — The criminal case against a Corry man accused of killing a young Amish woman and her unborn child in February 2024 is still on course for trial in Crawford County in March, according to one of two deputy state attorney generals prosecuting the case.
That confirmation was the only answer that the prosecutor, Evan Lowry, or any of the other parties involved in the homicide case against 53-year-old Shawn C. Cranston, would give following a closed-door pretrial conference on the case inside the Crawford County Judicial Center on Monday afternoon.
Lowry and another deputy attorney general prosecuting the case would not comment on the hearing, which was held “in camera,” or in private, before Crawford County Judge Francis Schultz.
Cranston’s Pittsburgh-based lawyer, Louis Emmi, also declined to comment on the roughly 40-minute hearing following its conclusion, stating that he doesn’t comment on active cases.
Schultz also declined to comment, through a message passed along by a member of his staff.
The Erie Times-News objected to the closed conference, and sought an explanation from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, which Crawford County court officials had directed all media inquiries concerning the case; the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s press office; and Schultz.
No one provided an explanation as to why the conference was held behind closed doors, in one of Crawford County’s three courtrooms, or who requested or ordered the hearing be closed. Hours later, the AOPC said the state rules for criminal procedure allowed Schultz to hold the closed session unless the defendant objected. The AOPC said the defense raised no issues.
Immediately after the hearing, Lowry, one of the prosecutors, confirmed, through questioning, that Cranston’s trial is still expected to be held during the March term of court. In an order issued Oct. 4, Schultz scheduled jury selection to begin March 11, with the trial anticipated to last five to seven days.
Prosecutors with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General said a March trial date is still on in Crawford County for Corry resident Shawn C. Cranston, accused of killing an Amish woman and her unborn child inside the woman’s home on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township in February 2024.
Slaying of Amish woman draws national attention
The Pennsylvania State Police accuse Cranston of killing 23-year-old Rebekah A. Byler on Feb. 26, 2024, inside her home on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township. Byler was pregnant and the baby she was carrying also died, authorities said.
The killing happened sometime after Byler’s husband said he left the residence with others that morning to scout roofing jobs in the area. He found her dead when he returned home, with their 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son unharmed and inside the house, according to court testimony and search warrants.
An autopsy determined Byler died of multiple sharp force injuries to her neck and a gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities have never revealed a possible motive in the killing. State police identified Cranston as a suspect through witness statements, video, physical evidence collected at his residence and the Byler residence, and the tracking of cellular and GPS data, according to evidence and testimony outlined at Cranston’s preliminary hearing in March 2024.
Titusville District Judge Amy Nicols held Cranston for court following that roughly five-hour hearing on felony counts of criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. He has been in prison without bond since his arraignment on March 2, 2024.
The Crawford County District Attorney’s Office initially prosecuted the case, with District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo handling the prosecution during Cranston’s preliminary hearing. But DiGiacomo said she requested the state Office of Attorney General take over the case in the fall, and the prosecutors with that office filed their formal appearances in the case on Jan. 13, according to court documents.
Heightened security measures and motion by the state
Court officials connected to the case have taken some extraordinary steps in dealing with it and its anticipated attention.
Cranston’s preliminary hearing, which drew a large crowd, was moved from Nicols’ courtroom in Titusville to one of the courtrooms in the Crawford County Judicial Center.
The Crawford County courts issued a “decorum order” in advance of the hearing that, among other things, set times when the media and the public could enter the courtroom; prohibited the media and the public from being on a street running behind the judicial center for a period before, during and after the hearing; prohibited any media interviews inside the judicial center; and directed all media inquiries to the AOPC.
Search warrants served on Cranston and his Corry residence were obtained in Erie County and were sealed until the Erie Times-News through its parent company, Gannett, successfully petitioned the court to have them unsealed.
The latest docketed court action concerning the case against Cranston occurred on Friday, when the Office of Attorney General filed a pretrial motion stating its intent to use “prior bad acts” as evidence against Cranston.
The commonwealth seeks to call witnesses to discuss Cranston’s prior thefts/break-ins and threatening use of firearms “to establish defendant’s motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake or lack of accident for the present offense,” according to the motion.
The court in October had set a deadline for Friday for filing such motions.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Private meeting held in advance of PA man’s trial in Amish killing
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