A Crawford County jury took just three hours to convict 53-year-old Shawn Cranston on Thursday for the brutal murder of 23-year-old Rebekah Byler, a pregnant Amish woman killed during a home burglary last winter.
Cranston, a truck driver from Corry, Pennsylvania, was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder of an unborn child, burglary, and criminal trespass. The jury rejected his defense’s argument after prosecutors presented overwhelming evidence, including testimony from an inmate who claimed Cranston confessed to the killing.
According to trial testimony, Cranston told the inmate that Byler screamed upon discovering him in her Sparta Township home. “He spun her around and started choking her. She didn’t pass out, so he slit her throat. He said she didn’t die quickly enough, so he shot her,” the inmate recounted…