An Allentown man has rejected a plea deal in the killing of a Schuylkill County woman.
Anthony Heath told a judge Friday afternoon that he wants to take the case to trial.
Lehigh County prosecutors had offered Heath, 24, a guilty, but mentally ill, plea deal in the killing of Angela Steigerwalt.
Accepting the third degree murder and related charges would have meant 28 to 56 years in prison. Now, Heath could spend much more time behind bars. A jury could find him guilty of first degree murder, a conviction that could come with a life sentence.
Steigerwalt's charred body was found along a wooded road in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, in February. Investigators said they also found a Walmart receipt for a lighter and lighter fluid nearby. Police claim surveillance video showed Heath purchasing the items.
A day later, police in North Carolina stopped Heath while he was driving Steigerwalt's car.
On the drive back to Pennsylvania, police said Heath admitted to strangling the Tamaqua woman with an electrical cord because she refused to take him to a child custody hearing.
He allegedly killed her inside his apartment on Chew Street in Allentown before taking the body to Carbon County and setting it on fire.
Police said Heath also admitted to having an affair with Steigerwalt, who was married and had a stepchild.
The case will head to trial in March.
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