A 52-year-old Pennsylvania man has been arrested in connection with the grisly murder of a pregnant 23-year-old Amish woman late last month in her isolated farmhouse.
Shawn Cranston of Corry was arrested in connection with the murder of Rebekah Byler and her unborn child and faces multiple charges, including criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass, Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Saturday.
Cranston was arraigned early Saturday morning and is currently being held without bond at the Crawford County Jail.
Cranston, who appears to work for a trucking company and has a photo of a rig nicknamed, “The Flying Turd,” wrote, ‘I’m someone’s worst nightmare if they mess with me and mine” on his Facebook page intro.
Police were called on Feb. 26 after Byler’s husband, Andy, and a family friend returned to the home in rural Sparta Township and found the mother-to-be unresponsive. The area is about 40 miles from Erie.
She was six-months pregnant and reportedly had fatal wounds to her head and neck. The Bylers’ two young children were found in the home unharmed.
Pennsylvania State Police declined to answer when asked by The Post how Byler had died, but the Daily Mail reported that she had been shot.
The outlet also reported that the Byler’s home was at the end of a long dirt driveway with a traditional Amish buggy parked near an outbuilding.
Local businesswoman Kelsey Bova set up a GoFundMe for the Byler family.
“Everyone is stunned — this doesn’t happen here,” Charleen Hajec, a pharmacist who was born and raised in Spartansburg, told ABC News. “Everyone is talking. It’s scary and frustrating.”
Hajec said she couldn’t believe a murder would happen in Sparta Township, which she called a “tight-knit community.”
“The outside world doesn’t get in,” Hajec said. “To have something this tragic … it doesn’t happen here.”