Apollo man claimed wife's taunt led to fatal shooting

Nov. 15—Alfred Keith Steele told Westmoreland County detectives he had enough of his wife's badgering when he shot her one time in the back of the head as the estranged couple argued last year in a Lower Burrell storage locker.

"We were arguing, yelling at each other between storage units," Steele told police during a recorded confession he gave just hours after he said he shot and killed his wife, Kelly. "I never struck my wife. That's why I can't believe what I did. I can't believe it happened."

The prosecution contends Steele, 44, of Apollo, lured his 41-year-old wife, Kelly, to the U-Haul storage facility as part of a murder plot. Steele is charged with first- and third-degree murder.

The defense, which could begin presenting evidence when the trial reconvenes Thursday, has suggested Steele did not intend to hurt his wife.

Prosecutors showed jurors a 35-minute recorded interview Steele gave police on May 14, 2022 after he turned himself in about an hour after the fatal shooting. He told detectives his wife's taunt about his suspicions she had an affair triggered his anger and led to the shooting.

"She just kept going on and on. (It) just went awry," Steele said.

During that interrogation, Steele told detectives he had been in and out of drug rehabilitation and was planning on enrolling in another program when he and his wife went to their storage lockers to retrieve clothing. The couple had previously separated and, according to prosecutors, Steele believed his wife had been unfaithful.

"We were fighting and angry. She was (complaining) there the whole ... time," Steele told police.

Steele conceded there were ongoing marital problems but hoped they would reconcile. He told detectives he used tracking devices to prove his suspicions of an affair. Police found a tracker in Kelly Steele's vehicle after she was killed.

Video from a private dash camera recorded in Alfred Steele's vehicle months earlier detailed the couple's deteriorating relationship, the prosecution contends. Ten minute-long videos were played for jurors in which Alfred Steele could be heard complaining about his wife, his efforts to curb a drug addiction, and threatening violence.

Prosecutors contend the suspected murder weapon was found in the storage locker and was damaged, according to witnesses.

Matthew Perger, a state police ballistics expert testified 9 mm Ruger semiautomatic gun linked to the shooting was in working order despite it missing a pin that allowed the gun to fire. Perger said the gun was altered with a wire to replace the missing part.

"The wire worked as a pin would," Perger testified. "While its physical condition gave me pause, the first round discharged normally."

The prosecution is expected to call Steele's daughter as its last witness. Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky said it has not been determined if Alfred Steele will testify.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .