An Allentown man accused of killing a Tamaqua woman in February 2014 is expected to face trial Wednesday in Lehigh County Court.

Anthony Heath, 26, admitted to state troopers he had killed 35-year-old Angela Steigerwalt in the early morning hours of Feb. 1 because she wouldn't take him to a child custody hearing.Heath was to have been tried on Nov. 10, 2014. He was offered a plea deal on Nov. 7, 2014, but refused it. His next trial date was to have been March 23. But Heath in early March asked for more time to prepare his case.Lehigh County court Judge Kelly L. Banach granted that request, which included up to $3,000 for an independent forensic pathologist and an independent criminal investigator.Banach denied Heath's request to forbid prosecutors from describing Steigerwalt as the victim.Heath was scheduled to have an omnibus pre-trial motion hearing this week. The hearing allows both prosecution and defense lawyers to present material before the judge and to iron out any details before trial. Heath as of March 7 said he'd be serving as his own defense counsel.Jury selection is expected to be held Monday, and Heath's trial is to begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday before Banach.Heath admitted to state police that he strangled Steigerwalt, with whom he had been Facebook friends, with an electrical cord in his apartment in the early morning hours of Feb. 1. He then took her body to a secluded area on Flagstaff Mountain in Jim Thorpe, where he set her remains on fire. Her body was discovered by firefighters later that morning as they extinguished the brush fire Heath had started.A Walmart shopping bag and receipt linked Heath to the crime. Store security video showed him using Steigerwalt's credit card to buy a plastic tote, lighter fluid and a lighter there shortly before traveling to Jim Thorpe.Heath then fled to North Carolina in Steigerwalt's car. He was caught the next day by state troopers. On their way back to Pennsylvania, Heath told the troopers he had a relationship with Steigerwalt and admitted killing her.Lehigh County officials on Feb. 7, 2014, charged Heath with homicide, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, receiving stolen property, access device fraud, abuse of a corpse and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He has been jailed in Lehigh County prison without bail.Heath has a 2012 conviction for biting his infant son.In January, the Lehigh County Chiefs of Police Association honored trooper Raymond M. Judge, who helped investigate the case.