Woman pleads guilty to abuse of corpse charge
A former Butler County woman pleaded guilty Monday in a Venango County court to several charges for her role in the case of a woman who was beaten to death and whose body was burned to cover up the crime.
Amanda Lynn Cypher, 34, of Franklin, formerly of Butler Township, was sentenced to 18 months to four years of incarceration for her role in the October 2017 death of Tausha Lee Baker. She pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, according to court documents.
Her former boyfriend, Richard Kennedy, 30, of Vandergrift, Westmorland County, was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder by a Venango County jury in April. The Derrick in Oil City reported that Kennedy was also found guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, possession of instruments of crime, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon and abuse of a corpse.
The charges against both stemmed from an October 2017 incident in which Kennedy attacked Baker at a New Street home in Franklin. Kennedy and Cypher then took Baker to Waterworks Road where, Cypher later testified, Kennedy killed her and set her body on fire. Cypher's plea deal with prosecutors in Venango County was in exchange for her testimony against Kennedy.
According to The Derrick, Cypher testified that Kennedy stabbed Baker repeatedly and bludgeoned her in the head with a large rock. She also told jurors that she helped Kennedy kidnap Baker and dispose of her body because she was afraid of Kennedy, who beat her just days before murder.
A former cell mate of Kennedy's also testified at the trial that he bragged about the crime while in jail, according to The Derrick.
Polk Borough firefighters were responding to a brush fire when they discovered Baker's unrecognizable body. Her family later identified her by tattoos. Kennedy and Cypher were arrested in November 2017 following a police investigation.
Having been in Butler County Prison since her November 2017 arrest, Cypher was given credit for time served. The credit allowed her to be immediately paroled. She will be taken back to Butler County Prison to deal with a probation violation on drug-related charges.
