Wecht: Slain Dentist Stabbed Multiple Times In Throat

Testimony continued Tuesday in the murder trial of a Pennsylvania State trooper accused of murdering a Blairsville dentist.

Famed pathologist and former Allegheny County coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht took the stand on Tuesday, testifying about the condition of Dr. John Yelenic's body.

Trooper Kevin Foley, who was living with Yelenic's estranged wife when Yelenic was slain, is accused of slitting the dentist's throat on April 13, 2006.

Wecht said Yelenic's killer delivered a series of raging slash wounds to the dentist's chest and throat. He said he believes the attacker then with great force rammed Yelenic's head through a side pane window of the front entryway of the South Spring Street home.

The broken glass, according to Wecht, produced severe facial and neck wounds to Yelenic. Wecht used a laser pointer to describe the wounds using graphic autopsy photographs in court on Tuesday.

Wecht concluded his direct testimony by identifying the slashing instrument as a knife, perhaps a smooth-bladed double-edged knife, and that the attacker likely used his or her right hand.

On Monday, friends of Yelenic's took the stand.

“John was one of my best friends,” said Maggie McCartin, who flew in from California for the trial. “I wanted to come here and honor him. He would have done the same for me.”

Yelenic, 39, was found dead in his Blairsville home the day before he was to sign his final divorce papers.

A state prosecutor told the court on Monday that Foley hated his girlfriend's estranged husband, prayed that he would die and made up claims that Yelenic had molested his adopted son.

"This was in no way an amicable divorce," Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek told the Indiana County jury.

Foley "loathed Dr. Yelenic" and even asked another trooper to help him kill the dentist, Krastek said. Claims that Yelenic molested his son -- also perpetuated by the dentist's wife -- were unfounded, he said.

John and Michele Yelenic separated in 2002 and their divorce was so contentious the dentist's attorney asked a judge to issue a divorce decree a month after he died, saying the dentist would have wanted it that way. The judge ultimately rejected the request, finding Yelenic's death made the matter moot.

Krastek told the jury that DNA found under Yelenic's fingerprints link Foley to his death. Bloody footprints that match athletic shoes Foley was known to wear at the time will also link him to the crime, Krastek said.

"You will see Kevin Foley has the motive, the opportunity and the ability to commit this crime, almost to the exclusion of anybody else," he said.

But Foley's defense attorney, Jeffrey Monzo, disagreed. He said the DNA evidence showed that Foley "could be" a match only because he "may not be able to be excluded."

Monzo acknowledged the two men didn't get along but said prosecutors were "leaping and jumping to a conclusion" in a "desperate attempt" to pin the crime on Foley, who remains on unpaid suspension from the state police.

"You should not confuse a dislike with a motive," Monzo said.

Monzo contends authorities failed to investigate at least three other suspects, including a neighbor to whom Yelenic loaned $15,000 so his wife could start a business. Monzo suggested Yelenic was friendly with the neighbor's wife, which might have given him a motive to kill the dentist.

Foley, 43, is charged with criminal homicide, a catchall charge that gives the jury the option of convicting him of first-degree murder or a lesser degree charge, including manslaughter. If convicted of first-degree murder, Foley would spend life in prison without parole.

A state grand jury presentment said that Yelenic's estranged wife and their adopted son stood to collect on the dentist's estate, including a $1 million life insurance policy. Foley had moved in with Michele Yelenic, the adopted son and her two other children in late 2004.

The grand jury also determined that Michele Yelenic stood to lose about $2,500 a month in support under the couple's divorce settlement, which was days from being approved when the dentist was found murdered.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

Previous Stories: February 13, 2009: Attorney Disputes DNA Evidence In Dentist's Slaying April 13, 2008: Murdered Dentist Remembered Two Years After Killing November 7, 2007: Trooper Faces Charges In Local Dentist's Death September 27, 2007: State Trooper Arrested In Connection With Local Dentist's Murder