On the morning of February 26, 2024, Rebekah Byler said goodbye to her husband and began to do her laundry. Her two toddlers were home with her, and life seemed typical for a 23-year-old Amish woman. Today, death would storm through her living room and attack her viciously without cause.
Andy Byler returned home midday to find his wife’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood on the front room floor. The driver who had been with him called 911. The two toddlers with Rebekah were unharmed – physically. The oldest would later tell police about the tennis shoes the killer was wearing. No one can imagine the horror those two children witnessed.
Six days later, law enforcement arrested Shawn Cranston. He lived eight miles away but was familiar with the family. He had driven for them a couple of times. Witnesses saw a red jeep in the driveway on the day of the murder. Cranston owned a red jeep, and the tire treads matched the marks left on the Byler driveway.
Cranston had shown up on the property twice in the weeks before the slaying. Each time was a little odd. Once, Mr. Byler found him in the barn one night around 10 o’clock. When questioned, Cranston said he was looking around because he wanted to buy the property.
Three weeks before the murder, he showed up again dressed in black from head to toe and had a gun holstered on his hip. This time, he made up some excuse for wanting to go to their church with them sometime. Of course, he never showed up for the services.
What could cause a 52 grandfather to slaughter a young pregnant woman? She was shot in the head, her throat slashed, and reports say it looked like the murderer tried to scalp the poor woman.
Currently, Cranston is in custody and awaiting trial, but we may never find his motive. In the meantime, keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. Those poor babies are going to need supernatural support to survive this ordeal.
Follow me on Rumble:
Youtube has started restricting my videos because of their true crime content. This hinders my channel’s monetization, sure, but more importantly it makes it hard to get these stories the publicity they need. Please consider following me on Rumble to help avoid these issues and to raise awareness about these unsolved cases.
If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for The Racketeer, Synova’s Weekly True Crime Newsletter. You will receive exclusive content directly in your inbox. As a gift for joining you will also receive the Grim Justice e-book free.
Each week Synova highlights obscure cold cases on her blog as a victim’s advocate. She never charges for her services. If you’d like to help support Synova in this worthy cause please check out the affiliate links below. By purchasing one of her books or using these links, you will be supporting Synova’s work on cold cases and will ensure her ability to continue to give a voice to the victim’s family. Thank you.
Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)
Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer
We lose 22 Veterans a day to suicide. Help save a vet today!
Helping our vets beat PTSD – each purchase pairs Vets with service dogs
Leave a Reply