Police investigating Amish country killing find broken knife, unidentified hair in pregnant woman’s ‘scalping’

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Pennsylvania police recovered a broken knife and two spent casings from different rifles where they found a 23-year-old pregnant Amish woman dead in her own home with a slashed throat. She also apparently had been scalped, according to court documents.

Police arrested Shawn Cranston, 52, in the death of Rebekah Byler over the weekend. 

She was six months pregnant when she died.

“The motive behind this violent crime is exactly what many of us in the community had feared,” family supporter Kelsey Bova wrote in a GoFundMe campaign to benefit Byler’s husband and two other children.

MAN ARRESTED IN KILLING OF PREGNANT AMISH WOMAN IN PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania State Police announced the arrest of Shawn Cranston Saturday in the brutal slaying of a pregnant 23-year-old named Rebekah Byler. (Crime Watch PA)

“The Amish family that used to reside at Rebekah and Andy’s address had adopted two ‘yankee’ kids, but have since moved. We feared that this crime had targeted that house specifically as retaliation for the legal adoption, carried out by a crazed family member of the adopted children.”

Andy Byler and a different family friend walked into a horrific scene around noon Feb. 26. Police say the pair found the pregnant victim on her back in the living room.

PREGNANT AMISH WOMAN KILLED IN PENNSYLVANIA HOME HAD CUTS TO HEAD, NECK: REPORT

Investigators arrived and found her with a slashed throat and a “scalping type wound” on her head.

Two other children were home during the murder but were not harmed, according to authorities.

Read the warrant returns

Police found a broken knife handle and a broken knife blade, according to search warrant returns unsealed Tuesday.

They also recovered numerous guns and ammunition. including two spent casings of different sizes.

In addition to other evidence, they found black hair samples of unknown origin.

2 MINNESOTA AMISH CHILDREN DEAD; IDENTICAL TWINS CHARGED WITH SWAPPING PLACES, AND CASE GETS COMPLICATED

Cranston, the suspect, faces charges of criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and trespassing.

He is being held without bail at the Crawford County Jail.

He’s due back in court for a preliminary hearing March 15.

Investigators in the death of 23-year-old Amish woman Rebekah Byler in Sparta Township, Crawford County, said she had neck and head wounds when her body was found inside her Fish Flats Road home, pictured. (Tim Hahn/Erie Times-News/USA Today Network)

The slaying shocked the rural northwestern Pennsylvania community. Residents say the Amish, known for their plain dress and restricted use of technology, get along well with their non-Amish neighbors, The Associated Press reported.

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“It’s not something that happens around here,” Lindsey Smith, president of the women’s auxiliary of the nearby Spartansburg Volunteer Fire Department, said last week.

Fox News’ Christina Coulter and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports