It was on the 9-hour car ride back to Pennsylvania from Kinston, North Carolina, that Anthony Heath finally admitted to having strangled Angela Steigerwalt of Tamaqua around midnight on Jan. 31, 2014, after becoming furious that she was backing out of a promise to take him to a child custody hearing, according to a state trooper's testimony Friday in Lehigh County court.

"When it comes to his children," state trooper Raymond Judge told the jury, "another kind of anger comes out."Heath, 26, of Allentown, is charged with first-degree homicide in Steigerwalt's death. He fled to North Carolina on Feb. 1 and was caught the next day.On Friday, after the jury watched a videotaped interview from Feb. 5, 2014, in which Heath tells troopers he "blacked out" and awoke to find Steigerwalt dead, a speaker cord around her neck, the prosecution ended its portion of the trial, which began Wednesday.The defense portion begins at 11 a.m. Monday in Lehigh County court, Allentown.Variations in the storyIn the 90-minute videotaped interview in Kinston, North Carolina, with troopers Joseph Campbell and Nicholas De La Iglesia, Heath first tells them he had Steigerwalt's permission to take her car to North Carolina to visit his brother at Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville.Then he tells them he and Steigerwalt planned to move to North Carolina to get her away from an abusive marriage.Heath says he last actually saw her between 10 p.m. and midnight Friday, Jan. 31, when she dropped off the car, then left in a truck with an unidentified man.He tells the troopers he had spoken with her twice since then, by cellphone on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, as he drove from Allentown to North Carolina.Campbell confronts him."You're claiming that you had a conversation with (Steigerwalt) when I'm standing over her dead body," Campbell says. "You're having a conversation with a dead corpse that was lit on fire."Heath is clearly taken aback by the trooper's knowledge that Steigerwalt is dead.De La Iglesia shows him a receipt for a plastic tote, lighter fluid and a lighter at the Trexlertown Walmart, items he later admits he used to carry Steigerwalt's body to Jim Thorpe and set it on fire around dawn on Feb. 1, 2014. Firefighters dousing the blaze hours later discovered her remains.The receipt, in a Walmart bag on Steigerwalt's charred remains, linked Heath to her death."If you made a horrible mistake, I can understand that, the trooper tells him. "But what I had to witness the other day (Steigerwalt's remains) was unspeakable."The troopers list the evidence they've accumulated against him.Heath asks for a break. Campbell encourages him to continue the interview."Get it off your chest, you'll feel better," he tells Heath.Campbell asks why he did it, and Heath says he can't recall some things."I already prayed about it. I'm not a bad person, but I have bad tendencies," he says.He sighs."There is no way I will be able to repay the debt to her family," Heath says."At least let them know why," De La Iglesia says. "It will give them closure."Heath then tells the troopers he blacked out "My mind just went off, just in another area," he says after the two were intimate and he woke 45 minutes later to find her dead, the cord around her neck."None of this is her fault," Heath tells the troopers.Campbell said Heath told him he sees a lot of (his children's mother) in Steigerwalt, and that "it was probably (the children's mother) he really wanted to harm that night.""I tried damage control. I had the phone to call 911, but then a picture of my kids came into my head. I do recall going and buying those things and trying to cover it up. I knew I did something bad."He admits what he did to dispose of her body."I tried to cover up what I did," he says.Heath asks if he will get the death penalty, and Campbell says his cooperation would help authorities go easier on him."I didn't plan on it happening," Heath says.He says Steigerwalt told him she was "starting to fall for him" and that made him angry."After everything was said and done, I planned on turning myself in," he says. "I just needed to clear my head."Weeping now, Heath talks about getting help for his mental health problems, and that maybe he could help others "so no family has to lose a loved one.""I'm sorry," he says.Heath also accused the troopers of failing to tell him the stolen charge investigation had become a homicide investigation."You would have had full knowledge of what you'd done," Campbell said.After the video, Heath cross-examined Campbell, an exchange that turns testy when Heath asks if Campbell had given him his Miranda rights before the interview on the car ride back to Pennsylvania.Campbell says he did, and reminds Heath that he signed off on them."Really," Heath said. "Interesting."Heath also suggested the troopers pressed on with their interview in Kinston even though he was "under duress" and asked for a break.Campbell said he hadn't appeared to be stressed, and the interview was "at a pivotal point" where Heath was "finally telling the truth instead of continually lying to us."The car ride homeTrooper Judge testified before the video that he rode in the back seat of the unmarked cruiser with Heath as Campbell drove.Judge gave Heath his Miranda rights.They talked, and Heath eventually admitted he had strangled Steigerwalt after she "waffled" on taking him to the custody hearing.He approached her from behind, drew a speaker cord around her neck, and pulled for what "seemed like forever.""He killed her because he was angry. He said it was not an accident," Judge said.Then, Judge said, "upset and disgusted," Heath told him he left the room for about 15 minutes, then returned and put a canvas bag over Steigerwalt's mottled face and a throw decorated with a deer motif over her body.He drove her car around for a bit, stopping at 1:38 a.m. Feb. 1 to text himself a message from her phone."Going to see you some other time. Husband is getting on my nerves," the message said.Heath then drove to a gas station, filled the tank, went to a McDonald's on Tilghman Street, and then to the Walmart store for the tote, lighter and fluid.Heath cross-examines Judge.Again the exchange turns testy when Heath asks if Judge had given him his Miranda rights before the interview on the car ride back to Pennsylvania.Judge says he did, and reminds Heath that he signed off on them."Really," Heath said. "Interesting."