INDIANA, Pa. -- A state police trooper accused of killing an Indiana County dentist whose estranged wife was dating and living with the trooper will stand trial on a charge of homicide, a judge ruled on Wednesday.

Kevin Foley, 42, is accused of killing John Yelenic, who authorities said bled to death in his Blairsville house after being stabbed in April 2006.

During a preliminary hearing Wednesday, prosecutors contended that Foley had a well-known hatred for Yelenic.

State police testified that dozens of shoe prints were found in puddles of blood in Yelenic's home, and they said the prints matched the type of sneakers that Foley was known to wear.

Dr. Cyril Wecht, the well-known pathologist and ex-Allegheny County medical examiner, testified that Yelenic lost a great deal of blood -- so much that he had a difficult time preserving some of it for evidence.

Yelenic had his throat cut and probably bled to death in minutes, according to Wecht's testimony.

Wecht also acknowledged the possibility that a second person could have attacked Yelenic.

"I have no hesitation in acknowledging that it's brutal, because of the multiplicity of the wounds, this denotes, obviously, one or more person who clearly intend to bring about death," Wecht said.

Blairsville Police Officer Jill Gaston testified that she saw a gash above Foley's eye when she went to his house to tell Yelenic's wife, Michele, about the dentist's death.

Gaston said the cut was red, swollen and looked fresh. She testified that Foley said, "Hockey," when he saw her looking at it.

Two state troopers contradicted Gaston's account, testifying that they never saw any cuts above Foley's eye.

Evidence presented by a grand jury showed that Michele Yelenic and the estranged couple's 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 in monthly support under their divorce settlement, which was days away from being approved when John Yelenic was found dead.

Defense Attorney Richard Galloway asked to dismiss the charges, saying the evidence was sketchy and circumstantial, but the judge refused.

"We don't have a knife, we don't have a fingerprint, we don't have an admission ... we have a whole bunch of speculative evidence," Galloway said. "You don't have any evidence putting him (Foley) at the scene ... there is no evidence here that any of the blood found was definitely his."

Yelenic family members arrived at the courthouse carrying "Never forget John" signs before the hearing began.

"This is by far the worst day for us as a family," said John Yelenic's cousin, Mary Ann Clark. "We never knew the extent of his injuries."

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