INDIANA, Pa. -- WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Jennifer Miele is covering the Indiana County trial of Pennsylvania State Police 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 police veteran, went to Yelenic's home on the night of April 13 or early on the morning of April 14.

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

Foley was living with Michele Yelenic.

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

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Day 8 - March 18, 2009 - 11:30 a.m. update

Kevin Foley spent more than a decade as a state police trooper, many of them as a crime scene investigator. He is used to taking the stand to testify; typically it's to convict other people. Today it is to defend himself.

He took the stand at 9 a.m., and as of noon, was still up there.

I can tell you he was by most accounts an excellent witness. He came across as direct, likable, the jury even laughed at his jokes a few times, he has an upstate New York accent, that's where he's from. He moved here with his second wife, with whom he said he had several miscarriages. He said he met Michele Yelenic was she was divorcing her dentist husband, Dr. John Yelenic. Prosecutors say it was that messy divorce that prompted Foley to kill the dentist. Foley said he met Michele while he was a part of a team investigating her for breaking into her boyfriend's email account. She was never charged, and the two started dating and moved in together a few years later.

Foley said he cooperated fully with his investigation, had nothing to do with the murder, and said, "I am innocent." He admitted he did not like the dentist because of the way he talked to Michele during the divorce, but said he was joking when he asked another state trooper to help kill the dentist. The prosecutor asked him what was so funny about that. He then said quietly, "Nothing." He went on to say he was the practical joker of the barracks, and everyone knew he was kidding.

His attorneys are calling him Trooper Foley on the stand, even though he is on unpaid suspension from the state police. The most compelling testimony came when Foley said he, as a single man, decided he wanted a family so badly he went to Guatemala to adopt a little boy, Gannon. He is now 3.5 years old. That adoption happened in March of 2006, one month before the murder. He said it was the happiest time of his life. He said Michele was happy. too. because her divorce was nearly final.

The defense is still cross-examining Foley. I'll update the blog regularly this afternoon.

Day 8 - March 18, 2009 - 12:30 p.m. update

Kevin Foley is done testifying. The jury will be back at 1 p.m. At that time closing arguments will begin. Nobody is allowed in or out of the courtroom during that time. The defense goes first. Prosecution second. There will be a short break after that, when I will leave to update the blog, and then the jury will receive their instructions. That's called the charge. That takes about an hour.

It is likely the jury will then be dismissed for the day, and begin deliberating tomorrow morning first thing. We could have a verdict as early as noon time tomorrow.

Day 8 - March 18, 2009 - 3:11 p.m. update

Closing arguments are over. The jury will not be given instructions on how to deliberate. The judge could allow them to begin today or start fresh tomorrow.

Mary Ann Clark, Dr. Yelenic's cousin, told us in an interview you can see on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m. that Foley was not telling the truth. She's hopeful for a conviction quickly.

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Day 7 - March 17, 2009 - 10:20 a.m. update

Today, the defense will bring their own DNA witnesses to the stand to say the DNA evidence found at the scene is not a good match to Trooper Kevin Foley. This could be the last day of testimony. I suspect the jury may begin deliberating tomorrow.

Day 7 - March 17, 2009 - 12:26 p.m. update

The Rev. Stanford Webb, of the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal ministry in Indiana, was a character witness today. He testified he knew Foley for five years through his son-in-law who is also a state trooper. Webb worked on Foley's lawnmower, and he said Foley was nice and paid him in full for the work.

Webb said Foley did not go to his church, but has turned to him for spiritual guidance after the arrest. He said he's been going regularly to visit Foley in jail. He said Foley has never raised the issue of guilt or innocence and has never mentioned Michele Yelenic.

Webb said, "Whatever the outcome, we will still be friends."

To see what Rev. Webb thinks about the charges, watch an interview with him tonight on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

Testimony continues after lunch. Defense attorneys won't say if they may put Foley on the stand.

Day 7 - March 16, 2009 - 1:45 p.m. update

Indiana realtor Marsha Delaney was one in a parade of witnesses who testified Foley has a good reputation in the community.

William Bagley was a former prisoner in the Indiana County Jail, when he says another prisoner told him he killed the dentist. The prisoner told Bagley he had a bad drug problem and was burglarizing homes. He told him he was a former patient of the dentist and went there to rob him and then blacked out. He left with blood on his clothes.

Bagley testified he did not believe the prisoner until he saw an article in the paper that the dentist had been murdered. He said he watches Discovery Channel and The History Channel all day long, and since they do so many stories about people blacking out in a rage, he believed him and reported it to state police.

The prosecutor asked him, "This isn't the only murder you solved in prison, is it?" The prosecutor then told the jury about another time Bagley claimed he knew who slashed the throat of another young girl.

Still no word if Foley will take the stand. We are expecting the courts to release Sheetz surveillance video you can see on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m. We also have artist renderings from sketches taken inside the courtroom.

Day 7 - March 16, 2009 - 3:30 p.m. update

Defense confirms Foley will take the stand in his own defense tomorrow morning. Foley, a former crime scene investigator for the state police, has taken the stand many times against criminals. He is expected to be the last witness. Jury could begin deliberating tomorrow afternoon.

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Day 6 - March 16, 2009 - 1 p.m. update

Effie Alexander was the final prosecution witness. She was Dr. John Yelenic's defense attorney. She said his divorce with wife Michele Yelenic was "downright nasty." She said Dr. Yelenic was far too generous with Michele and that the two has finally settled on an agreement in which she would get 60 percent of the assets, until Michele "sabotaged" the agreement.

The prosecution rested. The defense is now trying to create a reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors about Kevin Foley's guilt.

Defense attorney Dick Galloway called neighbor Melissa Uss to the stand. She testified she borrowed $15,000 from the dentist to start a bakery in April of 2006, a few days before the murder, Yelenic asked her for the money back. He told her his wife filed her own tax return, so he owed more than usual in taxes. She wrote him a $14,000 check, because that's all she had at the time.

For several months, Melissa's husband Tom was considered to be a suspect, but Blairsville police cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The morning Yelenic was murdered; she testified her husband got up at 3: 30 a.m. and left for work at a Johnstown steel company around 5 a.m. It was about that time another neighbor, Isaiah Brader, testified he heard two people arguing. One said "I'll never loan you money again."

She said in an interview with Channel 4 Action News, that you can see at 5 p.m., she and her family loved Yelenic dearly, that he was extremely generous, and there was no animosity about the loan.

Her husband's shoe size is 13.5, bigger than the 10-11.5 that experts believe belonged to the murderer. And she testified her husband never owned a pair of Asics or Asics knock offs that belonged to that match the footprints left at the murder scene. She said his tennis shoes were from WalMart.

Thomas Uss is expected to testify this afternoon.

Day 6 - March 16, 2009 - 2:12 p.m. update

The defense is trying convince the jury that Dr. Yelenic was "closer than normal" to his neighbor and high school friend Melissa Uss, while her husband was serving in the military.

Darla Ferguson, another neighbor, told police the two would sit on the front porch and talk all the time. On the stand she testified she never saw anything else happen, that she believed they were in fact just friends, consoling each other through tough times- him in a divorce -- and her missing her military husband.

In opening statements, the defense said Mr. Uss could have been jealous and killed the dentist.

Thomas Uss is on the witness list and could be called to the stand. He was cleared as a suspect.

Day 6 - March 16, 2009 - 3:05 p.m. update

Defense attorneys decided not to call Thomas Uss to the stand, so the jury never got to hear why police cleared him as a suspect. The Navy veteran and neighbor of Dr. John Yelenic did talk to us and you can see his interview on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m.

A handful of hockey parents whose children were coached by state Trooper Kevin Foley took the stand this afternoon as character witnesses, saying he was trusted among the parents.

Court adjourned early today, and more witnesses are expected tomorrow. The judge told the jury they will begin deliberating on the case later this week.

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Week 1 Blog: Blogging The Pa. State Trooper Trial