For hours, Angela Steigerwalt's family sat stoically, listening to courtroom testimony and seeing graphic evidence in the trial of Anthony Heath, the man accused of killing her late on Jan. 31 or early Feb. 1, 2014.

But they reached their breaking point on Thursday, when a witness read aloud an excerpt from the letter Heath wrote to Steigerwalt's husband four months after he strangled her with an electrical cord."The night of Angela's death was the worst day of my life," he wrote. "I put down the cord more than once, but I kept picking it back up."Steigerwalt's family wept.But they said later it was when they heard the subsequent words that they could no longer contain their grief."I kept pulling tighter. The demon inside of me took over," the witness, Heath's former foster care social worker, read.The family's sobs shattered the solemn quiet of the courtroom.It was a letter Heath, who may take the stand today in his own defense, tried to keep the jury from hearing.He objected when First Assistant Lehigh County District Attorney Steven M. Luksa asked Kelly Sue Moseng to read the paragraph aloud."It has nothing to do with this witness," he told Judge Kelly M. Banach.Moseng testified about how she and Heath kept in touch for 21 years, after he "aged out" of the foster care system, and that he wrote her letters.She recognized his writing style when Luksa showed her the letter."Would you prefer that (Steigerwalt's husband, Gary) read it?" Banach asked as she denied Heath's request to prevent the reading.Husband testifiesGary Steigerwalt, who had earlier testified about getting the three-page letter written from prison on April 24, 2014 and turning it over to Luksa, had already left the courtroom.Steigerwalt had spoken of the last time he saw his wife of 12 years, kissing her goodbye at the front door of their Tamaqua home as she left on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 31, for her 3-11 p.m. shift at Kraft Foods in Allentown.Firefighters discovered her body at about 9 a.m. the next morning as they extinguished the brush fire ignited by her burning remains.Steigerwalt had asked state police about whether his wife had been in an accident, and later how to file a missing persons report.The letter, Steigerwalt testified, "was kind of like a slap in the face."Heath, who is acting as his own lawyer, questioned Steigerwalt, who said he was unaware that his wife had a romantic relationship with Heath.Heath prefaced his questions by saying he apologized and meant no disrespect by them.He asked Steigerwalt if it was true he and Angela spent only one hour a day together because of their work schedules.Luksa quickly objected, and was upheld by Banach.Heath, who had fled to North Carolina in Angela's car, asked Steigerwalt if it would still be considered stolen if she had loaned it to him.She had bought the 2010 Buick LaCrosse only eight months before she died, Steigerwalt said."She never gave anybody permission to use it," he answered. "I even had to ask permission to use it."Evidence on displayIn this second day of his trial, Heath, seated next to his two "standby" lawyers, Chief Public Defender Kim Makoul and public defender Kate Smith, looked through papers and appeared relaxed as he occasionally conferred with the counselors.Luksa began by calling Deputy Carbon County coroner Robert W. Miller to the stand.Miller described how he examined Steigerwalt's remains after Heath is believed to have brought them from his Allentown apartment, trussed with wire and stuffed into a plastic tote.He then slid the tote down an embankment off Flagstaff Road in Jim Thorpe and set it ablaze, police said.Police purchased identical items for courtroom use. They sat in the front of the room throughout the day Thursday.Miller said he spoke with state troopers, attended Steigerwalt's autopsy, and read reports before determining she died of ligature strangulation, a homicide.Luksa would then show a lengthy series of WalMart surveillance video clips that showed Heath arriving at the Trexlertown store at 5:14 a.m. Feb. 1, shopping for about half an hour, using cash to pay for a gray plastic tote, lighter fluid, and a long lighter, all of which were later found near Steigerwalt's body, and then using her credit card to pay for a watch and clothes.It was a Walmart shopping bag, with the receipt in it, left with Steigerwalt's body that linked Heath to the crime.Heath, who had told the jury he dumped Steigerwalt's body and fled because her death was an accident and he panicked, finished shopping and checked out at 5:44 a.m.Video interrogationLuksa also showed a videotaped interview with Kinston, North Carolina, Det. William Barss. Heath was caught there on Feb. 2 after the On-Star system in Steigerwalt's car allowed police to track him.Gary Steigerwalt had reported his wife's car stolen.Barss is shown reading Heath his Miranda rights, which he then acknowledges he understands, and signs. Then Barss listens as Heath tells him that Steigerwalt's husband was abusive, and that they planned to file a protection from abuse order against him that Monday.He told Barss Steigerwalt loaned him her car to visit his brother at Camp LeJeune, in Jacksonville, North Carolina.Heath claimed to have spoken with Steigerwalt as recently as 8 a.m. that day.Also testifying Thursday were Kinston police officer James Washburn, who initially stopped Heath and took him into custody; WalMart loss prevention employee Keirrie Fichter, who gave police the computer data and surveillance tapes; Trooper Nicholas De La Iglesia, who told of working with Fichter to gather the evidence, interviewing Gary Steigerwalt, and searching Heath's apartment; and trooper John Corrigan, who testified about searching Angela's car in North Carolina.