It took a Lehigh County jury about five hours Tuesday to find Anthony Darrell Heath of Allentown guilty of first-degree murder and related charges in the Jan. 31, 2014, strangulation death of Angela Steigerwalt of Tamaqua.

The conviction carries an automatic life sentence.Judge Kelly M. Banach scheduled a pre-sentence investigation, and set Heath's sentencing on that and the other charges for 9:30 a.m. July 29.Steigerwalt's husband of 12 years, Gary Steigerwalt, immediately shouted "Yes!" and doubled over in his chair, sobbing, clutching a tissue to his face as he heard the verdict. It was a bittersweet moment for Steigerwalt, who is observing his birthday today.Family members on either side embraced him as they, too, wept.Later, the family would leave the courtroom, smiling through tears.Heath, 26, who represented himself through the five-day trial, remained expressionless as he listened to the verdict.He was also found guilty of 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.The verdict brought some relief to Steigerwalt's family, most of whom had sat through often gruesome and sordid testimony.Her family declined to talk with reporters, saying they needed to begin healing.Closing argumentsBoth Heath and First Assistant District Attorney Steven M. Luksa presented closing arguments Tuesday morning.Heath continued to avoid admitting that he killed Steigerwalt, instead insisting that her death was accidental, during unconventional sexual activity."I'm not disputing I was in the room the night Angie passed away," he said. "It was an accident, and I kept my promise not to reveal certain things we did."Luksa countered that by saying Heath had three times told police Steigerwalt's death had nothing to do with sexual activity.Heath offered no details of a sexual act leading to her death, Luksa said, "because it didn't happen. It wasn't a sexual anomaly."Heath, who had changed his story several times, admitted to lying to police, and disposing of her body by taking it to Jim Thorpe and setting it on fire before fleeing in her car to North Carolina.He said he was panicked, and lied to keep a promise to her that he would never reveal their sexual activities."I lied about a lot of things. I'm not comfortable stating sexual things I did behind closed doors," he said."I loved Angie, I respected her wishes, although I may have taken it to the extreme," he said.Luksa showed a photograph of Steigerwalt's remains to the jury."That's his love. That's his respect," he said.Heath was upset that only one paragraph of a four-page letter he wrote to Gary Steigerwalt on April 8 was read.Luksa in his closing argument read it again to jurors. In it, Heath described putting a speaker wire around Steigerwalt's neck and pulling for at least 10 minutes until she lost consciousness and died.He describes putting the wire down, then picking it up again."My body jumped out of control and killed the demon," Luksa read.Banach would later explain the letter contained references to previous incarcerations and drug use, which jurors are forbidden to hear.'Horrible decisions'On seeing photos of Steigerwalt's burned remains, Heath said, "Oh my goodness. I could not eat. I could not sleep."He admitted to "making horrible mistakes, and making horrible decisions."Luksa said they were "cold, calculating and methodical decisions, not those of a panicked man."He cited examples such as failing to call for help, even though his apartment was across the street from a hospital; sending a text message from Steigerwalt's phone to his, within an hour or two after she died, telling him she couldn't meet him that night because of her husband; shopping at Walmart for 45 minutes for the tote, lighter and fluid; Googling Jim Thorpe and taking her body there to burn it.It was a Walmart bag, with the receipt inside it, found on her corpse, that linked Heath to Steigerwalt's death.Those were not panicked actions, and Heath was trying to cast suspicion on Gary Steigerwalt, Luksa said.Heath had suggested to police that Steigerwalt's husband was abusive.Heath also changed his story several times, telling police in one version that he blacked out and woke to find her dead, a cord around her neck.In another, he became enraged that she went back on a promise to take him to a custody hearing.Another had him angry that she was "falling" for him, and another that her death was an accident that happened during a sexual encounter.DeliberationsJurors began deliberating at about 12:10 p.m. At 1:05 p.m., they asked Banach if they could have two pathologists' reports, Heath's letter to the pathologist he hired for $5,300 in public money to say Steigerwalt's death was accidental due to erotic strangulation, and the letter Heath had written to Gary Steigerwalt.Banach denied the first three because law forbids jurors from having expert reports while deliberating, and the fourth because of its contents.They went back to deliberations at 1:20 p.m., and had reached a verdict by 5:36 p.m.The trialLuksa offered 78 pieces of evidence, including a plastic tote, long-handled lighter and two-quart bottle of lighter fluid Heath used to dispose of Steigerwalt's body.Those items were placed at the front of the courtroom on each day of the trial, in full view of the jury.He also called as witnesses five state troopers, an odontologist who identified Steigerwalt through dental records, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy and determined she died of ligature strangulation, a Carbon County assistant coroner, who made the same determination, authorities from Kinston, North Carolina, where Heath had fled to and was caught less than two days after the murder, and other witnesses.Although Heath represented himself, he was assisted by Chief Public Defender Kim Makoul and public defender Kate Smith.