Dentist's fight for life might lead to justice

Dentist John Yelenic was killed after he was repeatedly slashed with a knife before his head was forced through a window in the foyer of his Blairsville home.

And the man accused of his murder, state police Trooper Kevin Foley, bore the signs of that struggle on the day after the murder, police officers testified Wednesday.

Blairsville police officer Jill Gaston testified yesterday that hours after Yelenic's body was found, she noticed that Foley, the boyfriend of the victim's estranged wife, had a fresh gash above his left eye.

Gaston said she went to Foley's home on April 13, 2006, to inform Michele Yelenic that her husband was dead. Gaston noticed the cut on Foley and another mark under his left eye.

"It was still red and swollen," Gaston testified at a preliminary hearing yesterday before Indiana District Judge Guy Haberl. Foley claims that he was injured in a hockey game on the night Yelenic was killed.

After a six-hour preliminary hearing, Haberl ruled there was sufficient evidence for Foley, 42, of Indiana, to stand trial on a charge of criminal homicide. The suspended trooper is being held in the Indiana County Jail.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, who performed Yelenic's autopsy, said the victim was slashed numerous times with a knife before his neck was cut when his head was forced through a window pane in the foyer of his home at 233 S. Spring St.

Yelenic died of loss of blood, probably within minutes.

Defensive wounds on his hands showed the 39-year-old dentist fought for his life. He had scratched his attacker, and material under his fingernails was linked to Foley's DNA, according to testimony.

Wecht said numerous wounds on the victim's head, cheek, ear, neck, and upper body, "were far too extensive, had too much depth to be solely attributed to broken glass."

"The knife wound was first. Then his head was pushed through the window frame," Wecht said.

Wecht said he could not rule out that more than one person attacked Yelenic. No one else has been charged, but the investigation continues under state Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek called several of Foley's co-workers at the state police barracks in Somerset, who said they noticed Foley's injuries after the murder. They also said Foley repeatedly expressed ill will toward his girlfriend's husband.

Trooper Deana Kirkland said she was working with Foley on a prisoner transport to Westmoreland County about two weeks before the murder when Foley complained about John Yelenic's ongoing divorce proceedings with Michele Yelenic.

"Kevin made the statement that he hoped (Yelenic) would die or die in a car accident," Kirkland said.

Kirkland testified that on another occasion, Foley again talked about John Yelenic. "He told me he talked to his mother the other day and told her he prayed to God (Yelenic) would die," Kirkland said.

Trooper Daniel Zenisek said Foley often complained about John Yelenic. He testified that Foley often carried a knife in the barracks.

"He would flip it out ... sometimes cleaning his fingernails," Zenisek said.

Zenisek said on another occasion Foley mentioned John Yelenic as the two men passed each other in the patrol room.

"Jokingly, he walked past me and said he would like to kill him and would you like to help. He just kept on walking past without saying more," Zenisek said.

Foley, an avid runner, favored ASICS shoes because troopers received a discount, Zenisek said. About a month after the murder, Foley switched to Nikes.

Bloody shoe prints lifted from the murder scene were determined to be left by ASICS shoes, according to an analysis by the FBI laboratory.

Krastek said the obvious injuries on Foley's face linked the 13-year state police veteran to the murder.

However, he said John Yelenic made sure authorities would identify his murderer.

"When you look at the evidence under his fingernails, it matches Kevin Foley. If it didn't, we probably wouldn't be in court today," Krastek said.

Defense attorney Richard Galloway argued the charge should be dismissed because of lack of evidence.

"There's no knife. There's no fingerprint, no admission ... even the DNA is a whole bunch of speculation," Galloway said.

John Yelenic's cousin, Mary Ann Clark, said she was pleased with Haberl's ruling.

"The autopsy report was so hard to listen to because that's the first time we heard it. It's so chilling listening to it," Clark said.