MEADVILLE, Pa. — A truck driver accused of killing a pregnant Amish woman in her rural home in February is expected to appear in court Friday as a Pennsylvania judge considers whether investigators have enough evidence to move the charges toward trial to bring.
Shawn C. Cranston, 52, is accused of killing Rebekah Byler and her unborn child at the Byler home near Spartansburg on Feb. 26.
District Judge Amy Nicols will preside over the preliminary hearing at the Crawford County Courthouse to decide if there is sufficient evidence to support these charges, as well as burglary and trespassing charges.
Byler, 23, had suffered head and neck wounds when her husband and a family friend found her in the living room. The couple’s two young children were at home but unharmed, police said.
Byler’s attorney, public defender Gary Alan Kern, did not respond to requests for comment this week. Crawford County District Attorney Paula C. DiGiacomo declined to comment.
In court documents filed for a search of the murder scene, state police say they recovered guns, ammunition, knife parts and other items. Authorities have not indicated a possible motive.
Cranston lives in Corry, about eight miles from Spartansburg. He has been in jail without bond since his arrest on March 2.
Byler appeared to have lacerations to her neck and head, police said, and the complaint accused Cranston of “shooting her in the head and/or slitting her throat.”