FRANKLIN, Venango County — A former Butler County woman and a Westmoreland County man are accused of beating a 25-year-old woman to death and burning her body to cover up the crime.

Franklin Police on Friday arrested Amanda L. Cypher, 32, of Franklin, and Richard A. Kennedy, 28, of Vandergrift on homicide and other charges.

Both are charged with killing Tausha Lee Baker of Franklin.

Cypher, who as recently as September had been listed as having a Butler Township address, and Kennedy are being held in the Venango County Prison without bail.

Police said Baker about 2:20 p.m. was “brutally beaten” at a home in the 1300 block of New Street in Franklin. The defendants then took her body to Waterworks Road, south of the city, where it was set on fire “in an attempt to hide the crime.”

Polk Borough firefighters were called shortly after 5 p.m. for a brush fire.

“Upon putting out the fire,” according to a police report, “a body was found.”

The Venango County Coroner's Office on Saturday identified the body as Baker.

Cypher and Kennedy were booked into the Venango County Prison just after 8 a.m. Saturday.

In addition to homicide, both defendants are charged with aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

The police report did not indicate if investigators have a motive in the case. The investigating officer was unavailable for comment Sunday.

State police are assisting in the investigation.

Authorities are also seeking the public's help in trying to track down the whereabouts of a sport utility vehicle in connection with the investigation.

The vehicle is described as a maroon Ford Edge with the Pennsylvania license plate KHX-9391. Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 814-676-6596 or Franklin police at 814-437-1644.

Court records showed that Cypher had a number of brushes with the law while she lived in Butler County.

Her most recent arrest here was in August when she was picked up on a pair of warrants following a traffic stop that netted Butler police more than 300 stamp bags of heroin and a loaded handgun.

Cypher was riding in the car that was stopped Aug. 1 on Virginia Avenue for having a broken taillight.

Police charged the driver, a Pittsburgh man, with having the drugs and gun.

Cypher was placed in the Butler County Prison on an arrest warrant in an unrelated stolen car case that was subsequently withdrawn, and on a separate bench warrant in connection with an unrelated 2011 felony drug case.

In that previous drug case, she was arrested for sneaking more than 6 grams of crack cocaine into the prison.

Investigators suspect she secretly had the crack when she was booked into the prison on charges stemming from a theft case in Butler Township.

Prison officers found Cypher hiding the contraband after they heard reports of inmates smoking crack on the women's pod.

She eventually pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband into the prison, a felony, and was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in state prison, followed by 2 years' probation.

Her criminal record includes misdemeanor convictions for theft, access device fraud, possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct in Butler County and possession of drug paraphernalia in Mercer County.