Indiana County President Judge Thomas Bianco has scheduled arguments on August 19th for Kevin Foley’s petition for relief from his murder conviction. A jury found the 60-year-old former state trooper guilty of first degree murder in 2009 for the April 2006 stabbing death of dentist John Yelenic at Yelenic’s home in Blairsville. Foley was living with the victim’s estranged wife at the time and had threatened to kill Yelenic. The attack came as Yelenic was ready to finalize divorce papers.
State Superior Court upheld the conviction in 2012, dismissing all of Foley’s arguments, and the Supreme Court also turned down the appeal, in 2017.
Bianco held a status conference on Foley’s third petition for relief, which was originally filed last September and amended in January. The scheduling of arguments comes after a hearing held on June 3rd before Judge Bianco.
Foley is serving life in prison without the chance for parole at SCI Mahanoy in Schuylkill County.
