WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Jennifer Miele is covering the Indiana County trial of former state trooper Kevin Foley, who is accused of killing Blairsville dentist Dr. John Yelenic.

Miele will be posting blogs as often as possible from court. These are the raw notes that were sent on her mobile device.

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Background:

Death: April 2006
Arrest: September 2007
Trial: March 2009
Prosecutor: Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony J. Krastek
Defense: Richard Galloway and Jeffrey Monzo
Judge: President Judge William J. Martin

Prosecutors allege that Foley, a 13-year state police veteran, went to Yelenic's home on the night of April 13 or early on the morning of April 14.

Foley is accused of beating and stabbing Yelenic during an argument over the pending divorce settlement.

Yelenic was one day away from finalizing his divorce to Michele Yelenic. The two have an adopted son, J.J.

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Day 5 - March 13, 2009 - 11 a.m. update

From ThePittsburghChannel.com editors:

Two jurors are sick and the judge postponed the trial until 1 p.m.

Surveillance video is being introduced from Sheetz convenience stores in Blairsville and New Alexandria. The video won't be available to the media yet.

Day 5 - March 13, 2009 - 12:30 p.m. update

From ThePittsburghChannel.com editors:

Photographs that were entered into evidence at the trial have been released to the public. Some of the pictures show Foley wearing sneakers, and others are crime scene photos of a shoeprint that prosecutors claim matches his style of shoe.

See The First Picture
See The Second Picture
See The Third Picture
See The Fourth Picture

Check back for an update from Jennifer Miele soon, and watch her report tonight on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

Day 5 - March 13, 2009 - 1 p.m. update

This morning, Terry Schalow from the Asics shoe company testified he identified footprints at the scene as being made by Gel-Creed or Gel-Creed Plus tennis shoes. Those types, according to Schalow, were very poor sellers. In the United States, 10,000 men's Gel-Creed were sold. 15,000 Gel-Creed Plus were sold. He believes the print was made by a size 10 to 11.5.

Trooper Foley wears a size 10.5. Entered into evidence was a photo of Foley wearing an Asics Gel-Creed Plus.

Also entered into evidence today were two shoeprints taken from the scene. The prints showed the killer leaving the body and heading out the back door. Schalow says the shoeprints at the scene were consistent with the tennis shoes made by his company, but can't say for certain they weren't made by a knock-off shoe.

Day 5 - March 13, 2009 - 2:15 p.m. update

Michael Smith, an FBI forensics examiner who focuses on identifying tire and shoe prints, says he used a computer program to match the shoe prints found at the crime scene. From his examination, the only possibilities of a match were the Asics Gelcreed and Asics Gelcreed Plus tennis shoes. He was not able to determine a size because the prints were only partial.

Jurors were given a two-hour break, because several of them are suffering from the stomach flu and a cold.

When court resumed, Russell States, the loss prevention coordinator for Sheetz convenience stores, testified he gave Blairsville police video from the night of the murder from the New Alexandria and Blairsville stores. In it, you can make out a red SUV driving by both stores. But you cannot see a driver or a license plate number, and the camera is very far from the roads.

Prosecutors say the video puts Foley in the area at the time of the murder. But defense attorneys say it could be anyone's red SUV on the tape.

Day 5 - March 13, 2009 - 8 p.m. update

The prosecution will rest its case Monday after calling its final witness: the lawyer who was handling Yelenic's divorce. She is expected to testify that the doctor feared for his life months before he was killed.

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Day 4 - March 12, 2009 - 1:30 p.m. update

Prosecutors are focusing their efforts today on DNA evidence found under Dr. Yelenic's nails. First on the stand today was former Blairsville police officer John Brant, who cataloged the scene and the evidence. He testified he kept blood samples from window panes, dog and human hair samples in an uncooled locker at the police station. He kept DNA samples from the finger nails in a refrigerator.

Special agent Michael Hochrein of the FBI testified he received a call for help with the investigation from the Blairsville police in June 2006, but didn't get the samples until may of 2007. The defense says in that time all evidence should have been refrigerated and could have been contaminated by anyone who had access to it. Hochrein said all of the evidence did not need to be refrigerated, just the DNA, which was.

FBI agent Jerrilyn Conway testified she found 2 types of DNA in the fingernail clippings. 90 percent of it belonged to Dr. Yelenic, 10 percent to someone else. She says the match to Foley is one out of 13,000 Caucasians, compared to the usual one out of 3 trillion.

The state hired Robin Cotton, associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine to focus on that 10 percent of the DNA that is not Dr. Yelenic's. She did two tests, and realized after the preliminary hearing she made a mathematical error that concluded the match was one in 59 million. Her second test concluded the match was one in 23 million.

The defense says her methods are flawed because she removes too many variables.

Another private DNA analyst is expected to take the scene this afternoon.

Tonight at 5 - see an interview with Dr. Yelenic's girlfriend, who says she stopped seeing him in the months before the murder because she says his ex wife (Michele Yelenic) and her new boyfriend (Trooper Foley) were constantly causing waves for them.

Day 4 - March 12, 2009 - 2:30 p.m. update

Dr. Mark Perlin, another DNA analyst who is the CEO of the Cybergenetics company in Pittsburgh, says he used an even more sophisticated method to extract specific information from the DNA samples and determined the match to Trooper Foley is one in 189 billion.

On a break from court, I asked Dr. Robbin Cotton if she thought the samples could have been contaminated or were improperly stored. She said they were in excellent shape.

Tomorrow, we expect to see video from a Sheetz surveillance camera which prosecutors say shows Foley's car in the area of the murder at the time it happened.

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Day 3 - March 11, 2009 - 12:45 p.m. update

This morning, five state police troopers who worked with Foley testified on behalf of prosecutors, each talking about the months leading up to the murder.

Trooper Deanna Kirkland testified Foley once told her he prayed John Yelenic would die. And another time he told her he wished Yelenic would die in a car accident. She said he often played with a knife at the barracks, flipping it open and closed over and over again -- which she thought was strange.

She also told her Foley prompted her to open an investigation into whether the dentist was molesting the son the dentist adopted with Michele Yelenic. The boy, J.J., was just 6 years old, and Foley claimed he was acting strange around the dentist.

Trooper Kirkland said she investigated the claim, which was later determined to be completely unfounded by Indiana County Children and Youth Services.

Other troopers testified they noticed a scratch over Foley's right eye in the days after the murder. Trooper Joy Goodyear said it looked like a fingernail scratch, skin had been taken off. Trooper James Aloi noticed it too and said it was fresh.

Cpl. Randall Gardner will go back on the stand this afternoon to discuss DNA found in Yelenic's fingernail clippings -- DNA from his attacker that prosecutors say made its way under his nails during a violent struggle.

Look for an update this afternoon.

Day 3 - March 11, 2009 - 2:15 p.m. update

During a recess, John Yelenic's cousin, Mary Ann Clark, told our cameras Kevin Foley's fellow state police troopers should have spoken up when Foley started making death wishes for the dentist.

Instead, they removed him from his dental office in handcuffs and investigated him for allegations he molested his son J.J. Those allegations were determined to be unfounded by the Indiana County courts.

See (Clark's) interview tonight on Channel 4 Action News at 5.

Trooper Randall Gardner, a Pennsylvania State Police corporal, gave the jury a list of things that were taken from Foley's home in a search warrant conducted six months after the murder. There (were) no bloody clothes or knives found. Prosecutors say he had plenty of time to ditch them, but defense attorneys say there was nothing to find in the home, because Foley is innocent.

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Day 2 - March 10, 2009 - 11 a.m. update

Watch Jennifer Miele's Day 2 Report

Today, forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht testified Dr. John Yelenic's head was nearly severed in the brutal attack inside his Blairsville home. Wecht said he had several defensive stab wounds made by a knife, and his throat was slashed from ear to ear. Wecht believes the dentist then tried running out the front door to get away -- at which point his attacker smashed his head through the window pane in the front door -- the force of the impact slicing through his jugular. Wecht believes the dentist was probably alive for another nine minutes, before he bled out.

The crime scene photos are horrific. The dentist was covered in blood. Wecht said, "In my opinion, the assailant was not very happy with Dr. Yelenic."

See an interview with Wecht tonight on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m., where he describes the attack.

This afternoon we will hear from the first officer at the scene, Blairsville Officer Jill Gaston. She and investigators believe former state Trooper Kevin Foley is responsible for the murder. When she interviewed the trooper, he had a gash on his face, which prosecutors will try to convince the jury he got while fighting with Yelenic.

Day 2 - March 10, 2009 - 2:40 p.m. update

Blairsville police Officer Jill Gaston testified today that she was called to the murder scene to handle the press and to notify next of kin that Yelenic was dead. She and a deputy coroner went to the home of his estranged wife, Michele, to let her know. Foley, Michele's boyfriend, answered the door. That's when Officer Gaston noticed a gash above his left eye, which she testified was 1-2 inches long and fresh, still red and swollen.

When she was looking at the gash, she said Foley told her it was an injury received while playing hockey the day before.

She left the home and called the Blairsville police chief, who believes Foley got the gash while attacking John Yelenic.

Defense attorneys say Gaston originally called the wound a scratch in a report she filed 24 hours after noticing it.

Day 2 - March 10, 2009 - 4:45 p.m. update

A former neighbor of the murdered dentist testified this afternoon that he heard men arguing the night Yelenic was killed. Harold German said he went to bed around 12:30 a.m., and woke up a bit later to the yelling. Then he said he heard a sound like a pig squealing. He was not able to determine what was being said during the argument. German lived four houses down and on the other side of the street.

Later this week and as early as tomorrow, the prosecution could call several state troopers to testify that Foley told them he loathed the dentist, once tried to have him arrested, and wished he was dead. Others will testify he often played with a knife at the barracks.

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Day 1 - March 9, 2009

Today the jury heard opening statements, first from special prosecutor and senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek, who said Foley had the motive, opportunity and ability to kill Yelenic. He told the jury they would hear from numerous witnesses that Foley hated his girlfriend's estranged husband, that he even tried to have him arrested, and wanted him dead- -- going as far as telling his co-workers at the state police barracks in Indiana County that he hoped Yelenic died in a car accident.

The defense team, led by attorney Dick Galloway and second-chaired by Jeff Monzo, said there was little DNA, no blood and no clothing belonging to the trooper at the scene, making the case a flimsy, circumstantial one.

On the stand now is state police Cpl. Charles Gonglick, a 13-year veteran of the state police who has spent 10 years in forensic services. He was called to the scene just hours after Yelenic's body was found by a neighbor boy.

I will update you at 2:45 with testimony on what he found and the virtual tour of the crime scene designed by the FBI that the jury is about to see.

Day 1 - March 9, 2009 - 2:45 p.m. update

After the murder went unsolved for more than a year, the FBI was called in to consult on the case along with the attorney general's office. In testimony today, the FBI said they spent $34,000 to develop a virtual tour of the crime scene. The jury just got to see the tour on a 50-inch flat screen TV. It showed the dentist's entire home, where his body was found, and the eight blood-soaked shoeprints that led away from the body and out the back door.

Investigators say those shoeprints were later matched to a pair of shoes Foley was known to wear, size and all, but the actual shoes were never found at his home.

Also on the tour, which will be the subject of my report tonight on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m., were photos of Yelenic's body, nearly drained of blood from a brutal knife attack. Gonglick testified the blood actually soaked the living room floor and into the basement.

Also on the tour: The divorce papers splattered with blood. Yelenic was one day away from divorcing his wife, Michele. She was living with Foley while she was divorcing Dr. Yelenic.

Check back later for more updates.