Editor’s note: {em}A few weeks ago, the Tribune provided readers with what we believe are the most important Crawford County stories of the year. We then asked our readers to rank the stories from #1 (most important) to #12 (least important). Today we present story #7 and 6.
No. 7 – Corry man accused of murdering pregnant Amish woman
A Corry man will stand trial in Crawford County Court in 2025 for allegedly killing a young, pregnant Amish woman and her unborn child in her Spartansburg-area home in February.
Shawn A. Cranston, 53, of Corry, is charged by Pennsylvania State Police with killing Rebekah Byler, 23, and her unborn daughter on the morning of Feb. 26 at the Byler home on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township. Police allege Cranston caused the deaths by shooting Byler in the head and/or slitting her throat.
Police were called after Byler was found dead in the living room of the house by her husband and a family friend, who returned to the house just after noon on February 26. The couple’s two young children were found unharmed in the home.
Cranston is charged with one count each of murder, murder of an unborn child, burglary causing bodily harm and criminal trespass.
He remains in the Crawford County Jail, Saegertown, awaiting trial. He has been held in jail without bond since his initial arraignment on March 2. Murder is a non-bailable crime in Pennsylvania.
Cranston was arrested outside a shop in Corry on the night of March 1. He was identified as a suspect after an extensive five-day investigation by state police.
The March 15 preliminary hearing to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to hold Cranston for trial on the charges lasted five hours.
During that hearing, more than a dozen witnesses were called to testify, including Byler’s husband and other members of the Amish community, several area residents and multiple Pennsylvania State Police investigators involved in the case.
Several witnesses who testified at the preliminary hearing testified that between approximately 10 and 11 a.m. on Feb. 26, they saw a red Jeep in the driveway of the Byler home.
Their testimony, coupled with surveillance video and electronic data from locations in the Spartansburg and Corry areas, centered on the movement of the red Jeep the morning Rebekah A. Byler was killed.
Testimony from several state police witnesses about cell phone records of Cranston’s phone number and vehicle Global Positioning System data, and video surveillance from several locations in the Spartansburg and Corry areas, linked Cranston to the alleged driver of the red Jeep found in the area was seen.
Cranston is expected to stand trial at the March 2025 criminal trial in the Crawford County Court of Pleas. Cranston remains in the Crawford County Jail in Saegertown without bond, where he has been held since his arrest.
No. 6 – New Crawford County VA Health Clinic opens
A new, larger Crawford County Veterans Administration Health Clinic opened this summer in the Meadville area, serving the more than 6,000 armed forces veterans living in the county.
Construction on the $2.5 million project began in the summer of 2023, with the building opening on July 15 of this year at 11200 Perry Highway in Vernon Township.
The new VA (US Department of Veterans Affairs) clinic is located approximately a quarter mile south of the Routes 6, 19 and 322 roundabout with the entrance on Route 19. It is adjacent to Vernon Place at Meadville Medical Center, an outpatient center for medical services. .
The new Meadville clinic provides a patient-centered environment based on an integrated Patient-Aligned Care Team (PACT) model design, VA officials said.
It is to ensure that each patient receives comprehensive, coordinated and convenient health care services tailored to individual needs, the VA said.
Veterans stay in one exam room while providers come to them, rather than patients having to move around the facility to receive different specialty services.
At 15,215 square feet, the new VA clinic is nearly double the size of the building it replaced. The previous clinic was located at 16954 Conneaut Lake Road.
The facility features modern medical equipment, advanced telehealth tools and additional medical specialties including cardiology, healthcare, endocrinology and podiatry.
The completion of the construction project and expanded health care options for veterans have led to new requests from veterans for health care, said Tony Digiacomo, Crawford County Veterans Services official. The Crawford County Veterans Services Office at the Downtown Mall in Meadville offers a variety of assistance with veterans programs.
While Crawford County has more than 6,000 veterans in the county, less than half that number — only about 2,700 — had used the VA for health benefits.
In March of this year, the PACT Act expanded health benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins or other hazards during their military service, whether at home or abroad.
The Crawford County VA Clinic was formally dedicated on August 15 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house.
