An appeal filed by a former state trooper convicted in the 2009 murder of a Blairsville dentist was dismissed by a judge this month.

Indiana County Judge Thomas Bianco wrote in an opinion that Kevin J. Foley made illogical arguments in an appeal seeking a new trial in the fatal beating and slashing of Dr. John Yelenic. The appeal, filed in 2024, was due in 2014.

Bianco ruled that it was not filed in time.

“The court will simply state that (Foley) admits to killing Dr. Yelenic, he was convicted as a result of his criminal conduct and he has failed to bring forth a scintilla of evidence that the decision of the jury should be disturbed,” Bianco wrote in court filings.

Attorneys presented arguments regarding the appeal, filed under the Post-Conviction Relief Act, during an October court hearing. Foley, 60, formerly of White Township, is serving a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole at SCI Mahanoy.

He was arrested more than a year after the death of Yelenic, 39, at his home on April 13, 2006. Foley had been living with Yelenic’s estranged wife, Michele Yelenic, who was going through a bitter divorce with the dentist.

During his 2009 trial, Foley claimed he didn’t do it. In a more recent petition for a pardon, Foley admitted to his involvement. State appeals courts have upheld the conviction.

There was testimony during the trial that Foley attempted to have Yelenic investigated for child abuse, but those reports were determined to be unfounded. In filing the 2024 appeal, the defense claimed they had new evidence in the form of a letter Foley received in 2023 that indicated the child abuse allegations were false.

His defense attorney during the October hearing pointed to that letter, claiming trial strategy would’ve been different had Foley known the allegations were false.

Bianco said that is “completely speculative and illogical.”

“Regardless of why he chose a particular defense strategy, this court cannot provide relief to an individual who has regret about choosing a failed strategy,” the judge wrote in his opinion. “To allow post-conviction relief based solely upon a contention that defense strategy would have been different would open the flood gates for baseless claims … .”

“This court declines to find merit in such an illogical approach,” Bianco wrote.

Evidence presented at trial connecting Foley to the murder included a shoe print, DNA under Yelenic’s fingernail and a scratch on Foley’s forehead the next day.

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