Feb 28, 2013 2 min read

At the homicide-conspiracy trial of Diane Marie McClelland Thursday morning, Steve Slogick of Altoona testified that her husband, David McClelland, expressed interest in purchasing a two-acre piece of property that he had been trying to sell since 2005 when Slogick’s mother died.

Diane McClelland, 50, of Coal Center, is charged in connection with the 2011 stabbing death of Evelyn Stepko, the McClellands’ 92-year-old neighbor.

McClelland’s offer for the land increased to $4,500 from a previous $3,000 in 2011, but that he would have to “talk it over with his wife. She took care of the finances,” Slogick told the jury of six men, six women and two alternates.

State police Cpl. Louis M. Reda testified that a wooden beer crate in a television cabinet in the McClelland living room contained $6,408 in bundled currency that had a “musty, moldy smell,” while Tpr. Timothy Motte told of finding $10,100 in bundled cash that was inside a felt bag pulled from an under-bed drawer.

Mott also described many firearms found in the McClelland home, some of which he called “high-end” because of their excellent condition and value of more than $1,000. There were receipts for some firearm, ammunition and accessory purchases, but some of the items listed on receipts were not found in the McClelland residence.

Stepko shunned banks, and after her death, police reportedly found more than $82,000 in cash hidden in her modest home.

David McClelland, 57, if serving a life sentence without the chance of parole on first-degree murder and other charges.