A Lehigh County judge has sentenced the man who killed Angela Steigerwalt of Tamaqua to life in prison.

Judge Kelly M. Banach sentenced Anthony D. Heath, 26, of Allentown, was sentenced to life without parole this morning.

"You don't deserve to walk among us or see the light of day as a free man,"  Banach said.Steigerwalt's family, including her husband of 12 years, Gary Steigerwalt, her parents, and her uncle, Donald Serfass, read heart wrenching victims' impact statements before Banach imposed punishment."I never married or had children. As a result, I counted on Angela to look out for my interests. She was going to handle my personal matters as I grow old," Serfass read. "Now, at the age of 60 and entering my senior years, the comfort and reassurance has been torn away from me."He described Heath as "subhuman creature, a dangerous predator who shouldn't have been walking the streets."Steigerwalt's family also provided a brief statement:The Steigerwalt and Serfass families extend heartfelt thanks for support shown since the death of Angela Steigerwalt 18 months ago."We're grateful for the outstanding work of the Pennsylvania State Police and local police departments in Kinston, North Carolina, Allentown, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua. We're indebted to Lehigh County First District Attorney Steven Luksa and his staff and the men and women of the jury for their courage in making the right decision. Finally, we thank the community for standing with us during a difficult time," the statement read. "Today was about justice for Angela" her mother said outside the courtroomHeath, who represented himself during the five-day trial, assisted by Chief Public Defender Kim Makoul and public defender Kate Smith, has the right to appeal the sentence.It took a jury about five hours on June 23 to find Heath guilty of first-degree murder, theft, receiving stolen property, access device charges (using Steigerwalt's credit and debit cards), abuse of a corpse, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and receiving stolen property in Steigerwalt's Jan. 31, 2014, strangulation death.State police testified that Heath admitted to strangling Steigerwalt with an electrical cord in his apartment after she appeared to be backing out of a promise to take him to a child custody hearing.He then bound her body with more of the wire, put it in a plastic tote, slid it over the side of Flagstaff Road in Jim Thorpe, and set it ablaze. Firefighters extinguishing the resulting brush fire discovered her charred remains. The tote lid and a lighter were nearby.A plastic Walmart shopping bag containing the receipt for the tote, lighter fluid and lighter a receipt that lead to Heath's identification was found on top of her body."Not only did I lose her, but I wasn't able to pay final respects in appropriate manner," Serfass read from his victim impact statement. "I was denied the opportunity to give Angela a good-bye kiss."Heath fled in Steigerwalt's car to North Carolina, where he was caught the next day. It was in a state police cruiser on the way back to Pennsylvania that he confessed, police testified. Videotaped interviews with police in North Carolina helped secure his conviction.In his opening and closing arguments, and taking the stand to testify, Heath offered varying, rambling, and often disjointed accounts of what happened that night.In court, He avoided saying he had anything to do with Steigerwalt's death, claiming it was accidental during consensual sexual relations.The jury listened to hours of testimony, watched the interviews and Walmart security video, and looked at photographs of the crime scene and of Steigerwalt's remains.First Assistant District Attorney Steven M. Luksa each day brought an identical tote, bottle of lighter fluid, and lighter into the courtroom, where they sat in front of the jury box.