Grisly details released about pregnant Amish woman found slain in Pennsylvania

An Amish man found his slain, pregnant wife in the middle of a grisly murder scene inside their northwest Pennsylvania home, according to court documents made public on Monday.

Andy Byler and 911 caller Julie Warner had just stepped into his Sparta Township home last Monday when they found the body of Rebekah A. Byler, 23, a search warrant application and affidavit of probable cause revealed.

The victim was found “laying on her back in a pool of blood in the living room of the residence,” according to the court document written by Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Adam Black.

Responding police found that Rebekah Byler’s throat had been cut and they saw “a scalping wound to her head,” according to the court document.

State police have arrested Shawn C. Cranston, 52, of Corry, Pennsylvania, and he’s been booked on suspicion of criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. Cranston is accused in a criminal complaint of “shooting (Byler) in the head and/or slashing her throat.”

The court documents released Monday did not mention a possible motive for Byler’s slaying inside her home on Fish Flats Road, about 120 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Byler had two children, ages 2 and 3, who were in the house at the time her body was discovered, but were not harmed in the bloody attack, police have said.

Cranston had not hired or been assigned a criminal defense lawyer as of mid-day Monday.