Mother of homicide defendant waives theft-related charges to court
By Josh Krysak
HeraldStandard.com
With her head down and her brown, curly hair shielding her face from a packed courtroom Wednesday, the wife of a Coal Center man accused of stealing thousands of dollars from his 92-year-old neighbor and then killing her in mid-July waived all charges against her in relation to the alleged thefts.
Earlier this month, state police filed multiple charges against Diane McClelland as a result of their homicide investigation into the death of 92-year-old Evelyn Stepko.
About a week after Stepko’s death July 17 police charged David A. McClelland, 56, and his son, David James (DJ) McClelland, 36, with her death.
As police continued to investigate, they found that Diane McClelland allegedly played a role in the thefts from the elderly woman.
As a result, Trooper Louis J. Serafini charged Diane McClelland, 48, with dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal conspiracy to commit burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and hindering apprehension.
Diane McClelland waived all charges against her to Washington County Court during a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Joshua Kanalis.
Prosecutors also agreed to a request to lower her bond and Kanalis reduced the straight cash bail from $500,000 to $100,000.
For more information, read tomorrow’s HeraldStandard.com