This week’s Indiana County Court scheduled is highlighted by a PCRA hearing for Kevin Foley, his third attempt at overturning his conviction for the 2006 murder of Blairsville dentist John Yelenic.
The 60-year-old Foley, a state trooper at the time of the brutal knife slaying, was arrested in 2007, found guilty in 2009, and is serving life in prison with no chance at parole. He was convicted based on factors including his relationship with Yelenic’s soon-to-be ex-wife, verbal statements about his hatred of the victim, a bloody footprint at the scene of the crime, blood evidence, and most importantly, a revolutionary new DNA analysis technique that was used for the first time in history in this case.
Foley’s latest petition for relief was filed in September and amended in January. The petition comes before Indiana County President Judge Thomas Bianco on Tuesday morning.
In court on Monday, Judge Bianco is schedule to consider a request for an appeal filed after its deadline has passed, for 21-year-old Taylyn Edwards of Johnstown, one of seven defendants in the kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Hayden Garreffa of Ebensburg in 2022. Garreffa’s body was found, beaten and stabbed, in a remote, wooded area of Brush Valley Township on the same day he disappeared after being lured out of a relative’s home.
Edwards pleaded guilty but mentally ill last May to both first degree murder and kidnapping. The charges against the other defendants in the case are still unresolved.
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