ALLENTOWN - While being driven back from North Carolina to face a homicide charge in Allentown, Anthony D. Heath admitted to investigators he became so upset with his girlfriend for backing out of plans to accompany him to his child custody hearing that he strangled her.
On the night of Jan. 31 in his city apartment, Heath said he grabbed the cord that connected his surround-sound system to his television, went behind Angela M. Steigerwalt, Tamaqua, and began choking her for "what seemed to last forever," state police Trooper Raymond Judge testified Tuesday.
"When it comes to his children, (in) his words 'another angry comes out,' " Judge said at Heath's preliminary hearing.
Heath, 24, then detailed how he went to the Wal-Mart in Lower Macungie Township, bought a large storage container, lighter fluid and a barbecue lighter and disposed of Steigerwalt's body in a remote area in Jim Thorpe, Judge testified. Her badly charred body was discovered the morning of Feb. 1.
Judge and Trooper Joseph Campbell, one of the first investigators at the scene, were the only witnesses to testify during Heath's hearing, which ended with Magisterial District Judge Patricia Engler deciding evidence exists for Heath to face trial on the homicide charge in Lehigh County Court.
Heath, who showed little emotion during the hearing, remains in the county prison without bail.
Campbell testified he was called to the 600 block of Flagstaff Road in Jim Thorpe by borough police and firefighters who discovered the body after battling what they believed to be a brush fire in a remote location near several vacation homes and a diner.
Campbell testified a firefighter was raking the area to extinguish hot spots when he turned over a charred object and saw teeth. State police investigators were called to the scene. A closer examination of the body revealed that its legs were missing and a wire was wrapped around its neck, Campbell testified.
A plastic bag containing a Wal-Mart receipt was clinging to the body unburned, Campbell said.
The receipt showed someone had bought a large storage container, lighter fluid and a barbecue lighter about five hours before the body was discovered, he said. The lid and handles to a storage tote were found in the area, Campbell testified.
Campbell and other state police investigators went to the store and looked at surveillance images that showed a man buying those items using cash, and then buying clothing and jewelry using a credit card. The man then left the store in a car that was registered to Steigerwalt, 35, of Tamaqua.
Police went to Steigerwalt's home and talked to her husband, who said he was just about to go to the police station to report her missing since she had not returned from work the night before.
The day after the body was discovered, Heath was arrested in Kinston, N.C., driving Steigerwalt's car. Campbell testified Heath also had Steigerwalt's driver's license and credit cards. Campbell, Judge and other state police investigators went to North Carolina to interview Heath and bring him back for questioning.
Judge interviewed Heath in the back seat of an unmarked police vehicle Feb. 6 during the nine-hour drive back from North Carolina. The interview lasted more than three hours and, at one point, they stopped for lunch at a fast-food restaurant, Judge said.
Heath told Judge he met Steigerwalt about a year ago and they began having an affair a few months later.
On Jan. 31, Steigerwalt came to Heath's Allentown apartment in the 500 block of Chew Street after she got out of work, Judge testified. Heath said his roommate was in Philadelphia for the night and they were the only ones there.
During the visit, Heath and Steigerwalt discussed plans they had made to attend his upcoming child support hearing in Northampton County Court, Heath told Judge.
"She was to drive him there and provide support for him, emotional support, for him throughout the hearing," Judge said. "He told me he got the impression she was going to renege on this agreement."
That's when Heath said he strangled her until her face "was black and blue and he could no longer recognize her as Angela Steigerwalt," Judge testified.
Panicked, Heath left his apartment momentarily before returning to make sure Steigerwalt was dead, Judge testified. Heath then sat in Steigerwalt's car for several hours before taking her credit card and going to Wal-Mart to buy items to dispose of her body, Judge testified.
Heath told Judge he put Steigerwalt's body in the storage tote, placed it in the back seat of her car and drove to Jim Thorpe. While going down an embankment, Heath said he tripped and fell and Steigerwalt's body tumbled out of the storage tote, Judge testified.
Heath said he put her back in the tote and lit her on fire, Judge testified, then went back to his apartment, packed clothes and drove off, planning to meet up with his brother in North Carolina.
"He needed to buy more time," Judge said.