Pa. trooper charged in dentist's killing

INDIANA, Pa. - A state trooper killed a dentist who was in the middle of an acrimonious divorce from the woman the trooper was living with, authorities said yesterday.

Trooper Kevin Foley, 42, of Indiana, was charged with homicide in the death of Dr. John Yelenic, who was found slain after a bloody struggle in his Blairsville house last year.

"It is extremely difficult to have to arrest a member of the law-enforcement community, but as in any case, we follow the evidence wherever it leads," Attorney General Tom Corbett said at a news conference.

Yelenic, 39, died of blood loss from multiple cuts to his body, Corbett said. Authorities suspect that Yelenic was cut by a knife Foley owned and by a window that was shattered at his house during the violent confrontation that led to his death.

Foley was jailed without bond yesterday after being arrested at the state police barracks in Indiana where he once worked. Nobody else has been charged in the killing, but Corbett said the investigation remained open.

"Trooper Foley is responsible for the death, the actual physical death. Were there other reasons for that? That will be determined," Corbett said.

A grand-jury presentment said that Yelenic's estranged wife, Michele, and their adopted son stood to collect on the dentist's estate, including a $1 million life-insurance policy.

Michele Yelenic also stood to lose about $2,500 a month in support under the couple's divorce settlement, which was days from being approved when Yelenic was found slain on April 13, 2006.

Michele Yelenic did not immediately return a message left at a phone number listed in her name; the answering machine said the number belonged to "Kevin and Michele." Foley had moved in with Michele Yelenic, the adopted son and her two other children in late 2004. *