Man convicted of fatally shooting pregnant Amish woman inside Pennsylvania home
A man has been found guilty of murdering a pregnant Amish woman inside her Pennsylvania home last year, authorities said.
Shawn Cranston was convicted on Thursday of first-degree murder, second-degree murder of an unborn child, and related charges in connection with the death of 23-year-old Rebekah Byler, .
A Crawford County jury found Cranston guilty after four days of testimony, the AG's office said. He will be sentenced next month.
Shawn Cranston convicted in killing of Rebekah Byler
The attorney general's office said Cranson targeted Byler's home for a robbery and killed her after encountering her alone in her home home on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township on Feb. 26. He slit her throat and shot her, officals said.
An autopsy previously showed the 23-year-old victim died of sharp force injuries and a gunshot wound to the head.
"It is hard to fathom conduct more heinous than brutally killing a young expectant mother and her unborn child in her home," Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said in the news release. "Our homes are supposed to be our safe haven — this defendant violated the sanctity of home to commit these truly evil acts."
Authorities said investigators tied Cranston to the crime with key pieces of evidence, including a piece of a glove found at the home with Cranston's DNA on it.
Police said during the investigation that Byler's two young children were home at the time of her death. They were not physically harmed.
Officials had said Cranston was a truck driver who lived in Corry, about 8 miles from the Byler home.
