Delay likely in Coal Center woman’s resentencing after homicide-related conviction vacated
A Washington County judge will review records from the state regarding a Coal Center woman鈥檚 incarceration before he hands down a new sentence against her for participating in the theft of her neighbor鈥檚 money.
Diane McClelland鈥檚 resentencing was ordered earlier this year after the state Superior Court vacated her conviction on a conspiracy to commit homicide charge related to the 2011 death of Evelyn Stepko, 92. Police charged 56-year-old McClelland, her husband and stepson with breaking into Stepko鈥檚 home multiple times between 2009 and 2011, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. McClelland鈥檚 husband stabbed Stepko to death in July 2011 when he broke in to steal more money and she surprised him.
McClelland鈥檚 new sentencing was ordered after the Superior Court found there was no evidence presented to support McClelland had an intent to kill Stepko. While that conviction and her sentence of 24 陆 to 49 years were vacated, her convictions relating the breaking into the home and stealing from Stepko remain intact.
While McClelland was scheduled to appear in Washington County Court Nov. 18, that hearing will most likely be delayed, court officials said.
Her attorney, Stephen C. Paul, said Judge John DiSalle is going to request records from the state regarding the McClelland鈥檚 incarceration to update a report prepared prior to her initial sentencing in June 2013.
When Stepko was killed, McClelland worked as a grocery store clerk and her husband鈥檚 sole legitimate income came from an alleged disability.
Evidence from the trial showed McClelland had purchased real estate, paid for home renovations and bought a late-model Lincoln Navigator with cash from a number of burglaries that occurred at Stepko鈥檚 house.
Her husband, David A. McClelland, pleaded guilty in 2012 to murdering Stepko, and later died in prison of natural causes at age 59.
His son, David J. McClelland, was found guilty in Stepko鈥檚 murder following a trial in 2013. The former Monongahela and Washington Township, Fayette County, part-time police officer, who is now 34, is serving a life sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. He is challenging his conviction in Superior Court under the Post-Conviction Relief Act.