273. The Man Who Dreamt His Own Death - John Yelenic

In this episode, Payton and Garrett unravel a chilling murder case, one where the victim seemed to sense his fate long before it struck. As tension builds and secrets surface, they explore how John Yelenic’s life spiraled into a deadly end he may have seen coming. Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: Oxygen.com - https://www.oxygen.com/dateline-secrets-uncovered/crime-news/state-trooper-kevin-foley-kills-dentist-john-yelenic MSN.com - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-murder-of-john-yelenic-shattered-a-small-community-but-they-could-never-guess-who-did-it/ar-AA1xOQVa?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1 Wikinews.org - https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_state_trooper_found_guilty_of_first-degree_murder NBCNews.com - https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29601049 Cybgen.com - https://www.cybgen.com/news/cases/Pennsylvania-v-Kevin-Foley.shtml IndianaGazette.com - https://www.indianagazette.com/news/cousin-to-john-yelenic-recalls-his-murder-at-crime-scene-diorama-presentation/article_85447758-ed5e-5d77-91a6-6f8823a39bb2.html SoapCentral.com - https://www.soapcentral.com/shows/dateline-5-harrowing-details-kevin-foley-s-crime-explored FindAGrave.com - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14421356/john_joseph-yelenic NBC.com - https://www.nbc.com/dateline/video/the-premonition/9000204536 HappyScribe.com - https://www.happyscribe.com/public/dateline-nbc/the-premonition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:27Speaker 01

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• 0:57Payton Moreland?

  You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Morland.

• 1:04Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm Garrett Moreland.

• 1:05Payton Moreland?

  And he's the husband.

• 1:06Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm the husband.

• 1:07Payton Moreland?

  You know, we've sat in these same chairs for five years. I guess, yeah, five, because I think we got them the first year.

• 1:16Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I think you're right.

• 1:18Payton Moreland?

  This table right here, Gary got this. Where do we get this? Off Facebook Marketplace?

• 1:22Garrett Moreland?

  Guys, the table that is in front of us, if you're not watching on video, if you're listening.

• 1:27Payton Moreland?

  But it's our set. We've recorded here for five years.

• 1:29Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, same set. Table in front of us. Peyton and I got when we first got married. We didn't have any money. This was like 40 bucks.

• 1:39Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, off Facebook.

• 1:40Garrett Moreland?

  Off Facebook Marketplace. Some guy built it. We went to, it was pretty far.

• 1:45Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 1:45Garrett Moreland?

  It was kind of, it was kind of sketchy.

• 1:47Payton Moreland?

  It was.

• 1:48Garrett Moreland?

  But we went up, went into their backyard, grabbed the table, went home. And this thing is still

• 1:56Payton Moreland?

  The state.

• 1:56Garrett Moreland?

  Hanging on, just, there's, you know, some pieces that are coming apart, but you can't tell.

• 2:02Payton Moreland?

  Well, we used to attach our mics onto the side of the table and those side pieces like,

• 2:06Garrett Moreland?

  They're off, basically.

• 2:08Payton Moreland?

  They're like, almost broke off from the weight of those mics.

• 2:10Garrett Moreland?

  So we had to change the way we do that. At this point, we can't get rid of it.

• 2:14Payton Moreland?

  No.

• 2:14Garrett Moreland?

  It's nostalgia.

• 2:15Payton Moreland?

  It almost feels like it's carrying all of our energy, like from the beginning of this podcast, it's almost like a relic.

• 2:22Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's actually kind of crazy. So we've had this table for a long time.

• 2:25Payton Moreland?

  Chairs. We got new mics.

• 2:28Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, we've got like new mics and equipment and stuff like that.

• 2:31Payton Moreland?

  The table and chairs.

• 2:33Garrett Moreland?

  Hanging on by a thread. Don't have much for my 10 seconds today, but I, I don't know.

• 2:40Garrett Moreland?

  Look, I have some good podcast ideas.

• 2:44Garrett Moreland?

  But.

• 2:45Payton Moreland?

  Tell them.

• 2:46Garrett Moreland?

  I don't know. I kind of want to start a conspiracy theory podcast, but I don't know if I want to start any more podcasts.

• 2:52Payton Moreland?

  You know, I do that over on Into the Dark. Are you trying to compete with me?

• 2:55Garrett Moreland?

  No, remember I told you it's gonna be different?

• 2:56Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, he did tell. It was like a different format.

• 2:59Garrett Moreland?

  Different format and stuff and it could be cool.

• 3:02Payton Moreland?

  Only conspiracy theory is not true crime.

• 3:04Garrett Moreland?

  No, only conspiracy theory, just because I'm pretty open minded. Like I will like kind of listens to people. I will kind of listen to different people's opinions and be like, okay, I can see that or I understand that. And so.

• 3:17Payton Moreland?

  Do you think you could be convinced of almost anything?

• 3:20Garrett Moreland?

  Well, it depends. I mean, sorry, I thought about that for a second. I mean, like you'd have to give me both sides and then let me form an opinion.

• 3:28Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 3:28Garrett Moreland?

  Does that make sense?

• 3:29Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, I think.

• 3:31Garrett Moreland?

  But I think there's certain things that I have strong opinions on that like, no, I wouldn't budge from. But if like majority of things, like conspiracy theories, for example, I like I'd sit there and listen and

• 3:45Garrett Moreland?

  like truly try to like take in what the person's saying. Also, I love, I like, I'm a good, I like, I like a good conspiracy theory.

• 3:52Payton Moreland?

  Do you think you would play devil's advocate?

• 3:56Garrett Moreland?

  To an extent.

• 3:58Payton Moreland?

  I think I could be convinced of everything. So I don't think I'd be a good host for a conspiracy theory podcast.

• 4:03Garrett Moreland?

  I feel like there are certain things where I'd be like, that sounds a little dumb.

• 4:06Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 4:06Garrett Moreland?

  Like that's a little crazy. Okay. See, I would, I'd be like, I don't know about that. That's like, that's a little wild.

• 4:13Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 4:15Garrett Moreland?

  Anyways.

• 4:15Payton Moreland?

  That would be interesting though.

• 4:16Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it would be interesting. Maybe we'll talk about it another time. Get into, get into it.

• 4:23Garrett Moreland?

  On that note, let's hop into today's case and hope you guys love it. I just couldn't speak English at the end.

• 4:32Payton Moreland?

  Our sources for this episode are oxygen.com, MSN.com, wiki news.org, NBC news.com, Cyb-

• 4:38Garrett Moreland?

  Cyborg.

• 4:39Payton Moreland?

  Cybgen.com, indiana gazette.com, soap central.com, find a grave, NBC.com and happy scribe.com. So we've definitely covered cases on the show that have had dreams and premonitions. Typically someone who says a vision came to them in the middle of the night, an image of a friend or even a stranger lying motionless somewhere, surrounded by a pool of their own blood. And sometimes these people do wake up and decide they're going to report it to the police. And oftentimes that dream or premonition makes them a person of interest in the case. Cause when you randomly show up to the police and say, I had a dream of a murder. And the murder is real. Well, then a vision like that isn't something that comes across a detective's desk every day. It definitely looks suspicious.

• 5:24Payton Moreland?

  But what happens when the person having that vision, that premonition about a murder is the victim themselves? And do you follow that information as a clue when the person who predicted their own death actually turns up gruesomely murdered in their own home?

• 5:45Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 5:46Payton Moreland?

  Today we are dialing back the clock 19 years, which should be like 1987, but it's actually 2006.

• 5:56Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, okay, okay.

• 5:59Payton Moreland?

  Right?

• 6:00Garrett Moreland?

  Yep, you're correct.

• 6:01Payton Moreland?

  As we head to a small town called Blairsville, Pennsylvania to meet a single dad named John Yelenic. The 39-year-old single dad, John, has spent most of his life in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, and that's where he was born on February 20th, 1967. Though, when he was born, John didn't get to spend much time with his father because tragically, his dad died in a car accident when he was just a few months old. Luckily, though, John had a strong mother who was dedicated to giving him the best life possible. And it seems like John worked hard growing up to make his mother proud. He was always making honor roll in school, and he seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do with his life.

• 6:47Payton Moreland?

  After he graduated, he set his sights on college, where he made the dean's list. And then, he went on to dental school. And after getting his degree, he partnered up with his own childhood dentist, the same person who had inspired him and mentored him. And together, they started a new practice in Blairsville. But John wasn't just any dentist. He worked with kids, he made them feel comfortable, happy, maybe even excited to get their teeth cleaned, which I imagine isn't an easy job. But John wasn't all work, he had a fun, loving side, too. A lot of people who knew John would describe him as a bit old-fashioned. He had a taste for old movies and music.

• 7:29Payton Moreland?

  He wasn't really one to get in on new technology trends, he never owned a cellphone. But a lot of his friends agreed, he was always the life of the party. If you walked into a room, you could always find John surrounded by a group of people telling them some story that was making all of them smile. Which was seemingly what attracted a beautiful young woman named Michelle Kamler to John back when they were in their twenties. Now, everyone said Michelle was a total catch for John, and apparently, he knew it, too. The bookworm had finally landed the home Humming Queen. This was the way John described it to his friends.

• 8:10Payton Moreland?

  When they met, Michelle was a divorced mother of two who worked at bars as a Budweiser girl. And while things were definitely moving fast between the couple, Michelle really seemed to be dedicated to their relationship. When John's mother got sick with pancreatic cancer, Michelle stepped in to help out in every way she could while John was busy trying to get his new practice off the ground. So it was clear that things were serious between them because just two months into their relationship, John gave Michelle a two-carat engagement ring. That New Year's Eve, 1997, the couple flew to Vegas and tied the knot officially, making Michelle Mrs. Yelenic.

• 8:54Payton Moreland?

  And John wore the role of stepfather really nicely, too. He helped shuttle the kids to school, sporting events, social activities. But there was still something missing for John. He had always wanted a child of his own. And so he and Michelle seemingly tried for a while. And when it became clear that things weren't going the way they planned, they decided to look into adoption. They found an agency in Russia who paired them with a little boy they would go on to name JJ. And with JJ now back in America, living with the family.

• 9:27Garrett Moreland?

  Or like they.

• 9:28Payton Moreland?

  They adopted him.

• 9:29Garrett Moreland?

  Got a boy. They adopted a kid.

• 9:31Payton Moreland?

  John finally felt like his life was complete, especially as his practice started to blossom. The family bought a nice house for their three kids, had a pool, a hot tub, a bar. But over time, cracks started to form in the couple's marriage. It began with little things, like John would be affectionate with Michelle, though she didn't seem to return it. And then about four years in, rumors began that both of them were cheating on each other. So by 2002, John and Michelle had decided they were just no longer meant to be together. Michelle took the kids and moved out of John's house, officially separating.

• 10:10Payton Moreland?

  But as the next few years passed, John started to feel a bit paranoid. Okay, so his wife moves out with his kids.

• 10:19Garrett Moreland?

  So they separate, wife moves out with the kids. Okay.

• 10:24Payton Moreland?

  So sometime around early 2006, so this is about four years after they separated. John contacted his lawyer with a strange request. He gave them $10,000 and told them to set it aside for something specific. He basically says to his lawyer, "I have a feeling that I'm gonna be murdered, and if I am, I need you to use this cash to investigate my death."

• 10:53Garrett Moreland?

  What the freak? Okay.

• 10:55Payton Moreland?

  So John didn't tell the attorney who he was suspicious of, or even why, but he seemed very convinced. He knew something bad was about to happen to him, and that the police would likely never find his killer. He even mentioned something about how he thought his death would be covered up as well, and he believed there would be no evidence left behind. Now, this whole thing is strange for several reasons, obviously, but one of the biggest being, if you had a sense of who was going to kill you, wouldn't you just tell them, like, tell the lawyer the names, someone to look out for? Why would you put money aside to investigate your own death?

• 11:38Garrett Moreland?

  It's got me a little confused.

• 11:40Payton Moreland?

  Well, he doesn't say any names, so maybe he's coming to his lawyer with this premonition of no idea who's going to kill him, only a feeling. And unfortunately, that vision, gut instinct, whatever you want to call it, turns out to be right. Because on April 13th, 2006, that same year, John's next-door neighbor, a nine-year-old boy named Zachary, comes over to John's house to see if his son, JJ, is home and if he just wants to come outside and play. But as he's walking up their driveway to the front porch, Zach notices broken glass on the front steps. And then he sees that one of the glass panels on the side of the door is broken,

• 12:24Payton Moreland?

  and there's some blood on it. Now, when he peeks inside the house, he only sees their red carpeting at first, so he doesn't notice the pools of blood in the house. But he does see a motionless thirty-nine-year-old John lying on the floor with his throat slit.

• 12:45Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 12:46Payton Moreland?

  From ear to ear. So this nine-year-old little boy, Zach, runs back home as fast as he can.

• 12:53Garrett Moreland?

  Holy crap, dude.

• 12:55Payton Moreland?

  Grabs his older brother and the two of them call 911. And within a matter of minutes, John's home is swarming with first responders and police, but there's no hope for John. He is pronounced dead at the crime scene.

• 13:10Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 13:10Speaker 04

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• 13:37Payton Moreland?

  All right, guys, we're jumping into an ad. And if you are like me, protecting the people inside your home is a top priority. I have Daisy at home, I'm about to have a baby at home, and Garrett and me. And there are a lot of times where I've thought about our safety, but that is where SimpliSafe comes in and has had my back, honestly, for years. Unlike traditional security systems that only alert you after a break-in is already underway, SimpliSafe is built to stop it before it starts, which is exactly what I'm looking for. I don't even want someone in my home. I want it stopped before the alarm has even gone off.

• 14:16Payton Moreland?

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• 14:46Payton Moreland?

  It is now 70% off, guys, when you visit simplysafe.com/husband. That is simplysafe.com/husband. And when you order, just write in murder with my husband at checkout. Tells them we sent you, really helps the show. Simply Safe, ahead of crime in real time. Now, when the message initially came through dispatch, they misunderstood and put the call out as someone having died from a heart attack at John's address. So when police arrive, they are shocked to find that this is no heart attack. Someone has been violently slit from ear to ear. This is obviously not an accidental heart attack. This is a murder with intention.

• 15:30Payton Moreland?

  And whoever did it left bloody boot prints leading out of the back door of the house. In fact, cops noticed there is blood everywhere in the house, on the carpet, the walls, by the front door. And when detectives go down into the basement, they also see a pool of blood there, too. So at first, they think this is probably where the crime began. But when they look up, they realize there's just so much blood spilling from John's body upstairs that it had actually started dripping down through the floor into the basement.

• 16:07Garrett Moreland?

  Crap, that makes me, I feel nauseous.

• 16:09Payton Moreland?

  And that's how bad and bloody this attack was. When the forensic pathologist gets there, they literally describe it as, quote, "one of the most violent deaths they had ever seen." So as a forensic team collects samples for DNA analysis, detectives are speaking to other people in the neighborhood who say they had actually heard some pretty interesting things coming from John's home the night before. So a little before 1:30 in the morning, one neighbor tells police they heard what sounded like a loud argument. And they said they heard John screaming something along the lines of, quote, "I'll never loan you money again."

• 16:52Payton Moreland?

  But after that, some other neighbors said they heard something even weirder. What sounded like pig noises and squills coming from the home at also 1:30 a.m. And as police learn more about John, they realize the first statement about John yelling at someone in his home in regards to loaning money. Well, that sort of tracks because apparently John was a pretty generous person who had helped several people out with loans over the years. And one of them actually being one of his neighbors, a woman named Melissa Yousse. So Melissa and John had been friends for a long time. Apparently they actually went to high school together.

• 17:36Payton Moreland?

  And recently John had loaned Melissa about $15,000 to start up a bakery that she wanted to open. Which wouldn't be all that weird, except Melissa was apparently married and there were rumors that she and John might have been.

• 17:51Garrett Moreland?

  Like having an affair or something.

• 17:53Payton Moreland?

  Like then old high school friends. Something that wouldn't have been too hard considering Melissa's husband was in the Navy. So he was gone for long stretches of time. Oh, and by the way, Melissa and her husband, Tom, are Zach's parents. The nine-year-old little boy who came over and found John dead in his house that day.

• 18:15Garrett Moreland?

  You know, this is kind of random. I mean, not super random. I just find it interesting. Like how having an affair, what if you're in the like military is, is illegal the right word?

• 18:28Payton Moreland?

  It's illegal in their law.

• 18:30Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, but like obviously if you're not, then it's not illegal, at least in the, yeah. I mean, I know there's other countries with different rules. I'm talking about the U.S.

• 18:38Payton Moreland?

  Well, and I guess like it's illegal, not in the way of like, oh, you would go to jail.

• 18:43Garrett Moreland?

  You just get kicked out. Yeah, you just get kicked out. So it's basically just like.

• 18:46Payton Moreland?

  Honor code, basically.

• 18:47Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, like job honor code. Yeah, that's true.

• 18:50Payton Moreland?

  But it's vastly different, right? From any other job where it's like.

• 18:53Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, yeah. Yeah, very different.

• 18:54Payton Moreland?

  If you work at a bank and you're cheating on your spouse, you're not going to get fired.

• 18:57Garrett Moreland?

  I think that's in, that's your issue.

• 18:59Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 19:00Garrett Moreland?

  I was also going to say, but it also could be because. Like a lot of people get married when they're in the, in the military for different benefits. So it also could be surrounded around that.

• 19:10Payton Moreland?

  Definitely.

• 19:10Garrett Moreland?

  I'm sure there's people that are listening that are in, in the armed forces that will have more information, but just a food for thought.

• 19:17Payton Moreland?

  So when police start learning all of this, more about John, more about the neighbors. They wonder, is it possible that Tom, this is Melissa's husband, came home, realized his wife was having an affair with John because John had lent her money? And then did something to John. But the more they look into these neighbors, the more they realize it's not really adding up for them. For starters, the bloody shoe print that they found leaving the house, which means after the blood was already coming out, someone stepped in that and left. So probably not the victim. They realize it's not the same size as Tom. And when they give Tom a polygraph, he passes. He even says he liked John, that he was actually really upset by the loss. So the police pivot to someone else John had loaned money to, his cousin.

• 20:02Payton Moreland?

  This is a man named Tracy Jacobs. Now, apparently Tracy went to John when he needed help starting his lawn mowing business. And John, the good guy that he was, gave him about $20,000. But when police speak with Tracy, he's like, no, my cousin John didn't loan me that money. It was a gift. Like John wasn't asking me to pay that money back. And then Tracy passes a polygraph too. So this lead of a neighbor hearing John yell, I'll never loan you money again. It's kind of just taking detectives on this wild goose chase that isn't going anywhere at the moment. Which means now it's time to look at the one person John did seem to maybe have bad blood with. His soon to be ex-wife, Michelle.

• 20:47Payton Moreland?

  So the more they look into John's past, the more detectives learn that the timing of John's death isn't completely random. See, at the scene of the crime, they find something very telling. On John's coffee table, covered in his own blood, are his divorce papers. Papers that he was set to sign and file the very next day.

• 21:10Garrett Moreland?

  What the freak?

• 21:12Payton Moreland?

  So they've been officially separated for years, but had never actually gone through and finalized a divorce.

• 21:19Garrett Moreland?

  Wasn't she the one who wanted the divorce or am I wrong?

• 21:22Payton Moreland?

  They both mutually agreed because the rumors were they both had stepped out on their marriage.

• 21:26Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 21:27Payton Moreland?

  Because of their separation, Michelle was actually currently receiving about $2,500 a month in spousal support. But this was something that she was going to lose the second the divorce papers got filed. By this point, though, Michelle had already moved on, at least romantically. She was now living with her kids and her new boyfriend, a Pennsylvania state trooper named Kevin Foley. And it was in a new house. They had actually been dating for two years by this point. Remember, the couple had been separated since 2002. It's now 2006. And the day before John is finally going to make the divorce official, he's brutally murdered in his own home. This is not a good look for Michelle.

• 22:08Garrett Moreland?

  It's interesting because no way $2,500 a month is enough to murder somebody.

• 22:13Payton Moreland?

  Well, you have that, but then you also have what detectives learn about the history of those four years between the separation and this day. Things that got pretty heated between the two of them. Michelle seemingly did some pretty awful things to try and get her way during this time. For example, about a year and a half after they separated, Michelle accused John of physically abusing their adopted son, JJ. Something every single one of John's friends denies being a possibility. They say they never even saw John raise his voice, let alone a hand at JJ. Still, Michelle got a court order to keep John away from her and JJ, and then she reported him for violating that order.

• 22:57Payton Moreland?

  And John was arrested at his own dental practice one afternoon because of this.

• 23:01Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 23:02Payton Moreland?

  Now, from there, the unfounded allegations against John continue to the point where Michelle claimed John was now sexually abusing JJ. However, a judge found zero evidence of these accusations and this abuse, and it never results in any charges. Instead, Michelle was accused of coaching the six-year-old JJ to make these accusations against his father.

• 23:28Garrett Moreland?

  That is horrible. A horrible parent do that to another parent.

• 23:35Payton Moreland?

  Obviously, we have no idea what was going on behind closed doors, so all we can trust is what's been reported.

• 23:40Garrett Moreland?

  But it also sounds very similar to the case we did where...

• 23:43Payton Moreland?

  This happens often.

• 23:44Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, remember she was just claiming a bunch of false things? And it ended up proving to be false and... She wait, I forget. Oh, he died.

• 23:53Payton Moreland?

  Well, and honestly.

• 23:55Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, he got killed.

• 23:56Payton Moreland?

  This, I don't have statistics here, but messy divorces are messy because of things like this.

• 24:01Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's just toxic. The person wants to hurt the other person.

• 24:04Payton Moreland?

  Wants to get as much as they can.

• 24:06Garrett Moreland?

  Unfortunately, which honestly, it should be illegal. Like they, I think they should create more laws around it. It should be illegal to use the kid in some way to hurt the other person.

• 24:15Payton Moreland?

  Well, according to everyone in this couple's life, you know, during these four years of separation, Michelle seemed to be playing a pretty complicated game because she wanted John out of her life. She wanted to move on. She wanted to be divorced. But she also wanted his money. He made pretty good money being a dentist. By January 2006, it seemed like she was getting closer to making that a reality because they came to an agreement that said Michelle would get 60% of their assets and that they would share custody of JJ. Police are like, okay, that's a pretty good deal for a divorce, but maybe she wasn't satisfied?

• 24:58Payton Moreland?

  If John was dead and they were still married, not only would she get all of the assets, she also stood to gain a million dollar life insurance payout. Maybe John sensed this. Maybe that's why he went to his lawyer and gave him the 10 grand to investigate his death if he died suddenly. Here's the thing, there's no evidence at the scene of the crime that points to Michelle. So sure, you can come up with a motive for an ex-wife, but those boot prints were far too large to be hers.

• 25:29Garrett Moreland?

  Her boyfriend?

• 25:30Payton Moreland?

  And when questioned, Michelle adamantly denies having anything to do with John's death. So now we're going to move over to the autopsy for a second because I found it interesting that the person working the case, Dr. Cyril Wecht, happens to be a pretty high-profile pathologist. He's consulted on cases like the JFK assassination, the JonBenet Ramsey case. Apparently he's performed more than 20,000 autopsies. And coincidentally, he lives really close to John, so he's asked to help out with this murder too. And based on what he finds there, Dr. Wecht comes up with his version of what he thinks

• 26:12Payton Moreland?

  happened to John before he died. And it went something like this. He says, John was chased through the house by someone, his head shoved through the paneed glass window by his front door, causing major, nearly fatal injuries to the side of his neck. But it doesn't end there. Wecht then thinks John's attacker pulled a knife on him, one with a six inch blader longer and used it to slash John's throat where he was then left for dead. But Wecht says John's attacker had to be someone bigger than him to make all of this happen. And John was six feet tall. So this means it likely was not Michelle herself who pursued him that night.

• 26:54Garrett Moreland?

  Gotta be her boyfriend. It's gotta.

• 26:56Payton Moreland?

  So between that and the boot prints, it's gotta be someone else. But here's where detectives get creative. Worrying that the case might need more physical evidence, one officer named Janelle Lydic shows up at the morgue and she takes fingernail clippings off of John, but she doesn't send them to the state crime lab. Instead, she puts them in the storage refrigerator at the Blairsville Borough Police Station and doesn't tell anyone. And while this may seem pretty shady, Officer Lydic is actually trying to help because she sees a conspiracy unfolding and she wants to make sure that she's protecting the evidence

• 27:39Payton Moreland?

  in this case at all costs.

• 27:42Garrett Moreland?

  What is going on right now? Okay, so she is freezing or?

• 27:48Payton Moreland?

  Saving.

• 27:50Garrett Moreland?

  Saving the fingernails?

• 27:51Payton Moreland?

  Evidence.

• 27:54Garrett Moreland?

  But the fingernails?

• 27:55Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, because if he fought his attacker.

• 27:57Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 27:58Payton Moreland?

  DNA would be in there.

• 27:59Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

• 28:00Payton Moreland?

  So remember I said Michelle had been dating someone for two years? You remember what I said? He did?

• 28:07Garrett Moreland?

  No.

• 28:08Payton Moreland?

  He was a Pennsylvania state trooper named Kevin Foley. Surprise, surprise.

• 28:15Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 28:16Payton Moreland?

  Kevin and John didn't really get along too well. And Kevin's name was definitely being whispered around the local police station when John turned up murdered.

• 28:27Garrett Moreland?

  Wow.

• 28:28Payton Moreland?

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• 29:13Payton Moreland?

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• 29:58Payton Moreland?

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• 30:38Payton Moreland?

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• 31:22Payton Moreland?

  But Lydic, who was running her first murder investigation ever, was told by superiors not to interview him, not to even really look in his direction. Like, we know he is dating the ex-wife, but he's one of us.

• 31:37Garrett Moreland?

  I can't take that.

• 31:38Payton Moreland?

  Don't go there.

• 31:40Garrett Moreland?

  It annoys me.

• 31:41Payton Moreland?

  But she's like, making me even more suspicious. The stakes are really high for her, though. She doesn't want to mess up this case. It's her first murder case. Hence, storing the fingernails for later, but not really telling anyone. The more, though, she considers Kevin, the more these red flags pop up. Like, the fact that, right after the murder, Kevin supposedly had this big mark on his forehead. And when someone asked him what happened, he said, "Oh, I just got hurt playing hockey." But Lydic feels like her hands are tied. Even if she were to speak out against Kevin in the department, who's gonna listen to her, especially because it seems like everyone is protecting him? The state police, which Kevin is one of, comes knocking on the Blairsville Police's door to say,

• 32:25Payton Moreland?

  "Hey, we're actually gonna take over the investigation now."

• 32:29Garrett Moreland?

  Wait, what? I don't think it works like that.

• 32:30Payton Moreland?

  Well, the state police apparently do get a search warrant for Kevin's car in the house he shares with Michelle, but they claim they search it and they don't find anything. Now, whether or not they actually did their job or just wanted to make it seem like they did and clear him as a suspect, I have no idea. But I can tell you this.

• 32:46Garrett Moreland?

  So freak is going on.

• 32:48Payton Moreland?

  The case starts to run cold. Meanwhile, the rest of John's friends and family are literally shouting from the rooftops, "Hi, please interview Kevin Foley, like, tape it and let us know that you've done this. Like, let us know that you have properly looked into him. Like, he's clearly an issue here."

• 33:07Garrett Moreland?

  I need to know what the, what's going on with the attorneys.

• 33:10Payton Moreland?

  Well, John had mentioned to a friend that he was being threatened by someone in the police force before he went to that attorney and gave him the money.

• 33:19Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 33:19Payton Moreland?

  Now, remember, he told the attorney, "I feel like my death also might be covered up." Now, luckily, that same friend who John had talked to is involved in local politics. So they go to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office and say, "Hey, uh, so this is what's going on over here. There is a man who's been murdered and his ex-wife is dating a cop and, you know, he had told me before all of this that he was having issues with the cop and now he comes up murdered. I don't think the case is getting proper attention. I'm not saying one of the cops has murdered him. I'm just saying I don't think the case is being properly looked into." And once the state prosecutors start looking into the case, they realize, uh, there are problems in this case, that they might be dealing with some sort of police corruption over here.

• 34:04Payton Moreland?

  So as they're looking back at the case files, they find all of these interviews from Kevin's coworkers. None from Kevin himself, though. So there's no interviews in files from Kevin, but all of his coworkers claim, "Yeah, Kevin hated John." In these interviews, his coworkers would say that Kevin would just casually mention out loud how he wished John, his girlfriend's ex-husband or soon to be ex-husband would die a horrible death.

• 34:33Garrett Moreland?

  What is wrong with people?

• 34:35Payton Moreland?

  And that was sometimes the first thing out of his mouth after the words, good morning. Like, he made it very obvious and loud that he hated this man.

• 34:44Garrett Moreland?

  It's crazy what an ego can do. Like, it's absolutely wild what an ego can do. And we see it every day with just people in general, just like how their egos completely.

• 34:55Payton Moreland?

  They just can't stay silent.

• 34:56Garrett Moreland?

  They just can't, they can't handle it.

• 34:59Payton Moreland?

  No.

• 34:59Garrett Moreland?

  Like, so many, men more than women.

• 35:03Garrett Moreland?

  Like, so many men, they just cannot handle any form of, ah, I don't even know, any form of feeling inferior at all.

• 35:13Payton Moreland?

  Well, and he just, like, can't help but to walk into a place of work as someone who has power and let everyone in the office know who has no idea who John is. They have no affiliation with John. It's not like he's also a coworker. And say, I hate this guy.

• 35:30Garrett Moreland?

  They don't care.

• 35:30Payton Moreland?

  No, that's what I'm saying. Like, you're delusional. Like, you're delusional. These people don't even care, but you are so bothered in it that you think everyone cares. You think your opinion needs to be heard.

• 35:42Garrett Moreland?

  People are wild.

• 35:43Payton Moreland?

  So the prosecutors are like, hey, we're looking into Kevin right now. And they start to compile some real evidence against him. And it starts with some surveillance footage. So they find these security tapes from two convenience stores right near John's house from the night of his death. And in them, they see a truck passing by around 1:00 a.m. headed in the direction of John's house. And remember, this is about 30 minutes before neighbors hear those horrible, what they said, pig noises coming from John's house. Here's the thing about this truck in this footage, though. While the prosecutors feel confident that it is Kevin's truck, they have it analyzed by an FBI specialist and they're like, hey, it's kind of hard to make out.

• 36:25Payton Moreland?

  There's some similarities to his truck, but there's also differences too. So it's not the smoking gun they're after. They keep digging. And they start looking at the bloody boot prints that were left behind. Now, they do see. To be Kevin's size, but that alone is not going to make them able to press charges. What they needed to match was the tread of the boots as well. They needed to prove that Kevin owned boots that matched the ones from the blood prints. And they find that it's a brand of shoe called Asics. But they learn it's a limited edition shoe that was never sold in stores in Western Pennsylvania. However, the brand actually had this law enforcement purchase program thing at the time that allows police and firefighters to order.

• 37:09Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, man, it's all coming down.

• 37:12Payton Moreland?

  Directly from them for a discount. Now, this is in 2006 before shopping online. I mean, it just wasn't what it is now. So it's a lot crazier that someone was ordering directly from a store and not in person. And when they look into those records, they find sure enough, Kevin Foley bought a pair of the same special edition shoes before John's death.

• 37:33Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, I just have to say what an absolute. What an idiot because he's a cop and just did he forget that?

• 37:41Payton Moreland?

  They would be able to.

• 37:42Garrett Moreland?

  Do this.

• 37:43Payton Moreland?

  Also, you just walked out. You didn't even try to clean up your boot prints. Like you're a cop. You know what they're going to be looking for. I just think this goes to show that like he really didn't.

• 37:52Garrett Moreland?

  He didn't care. He's hated him.

• 37:53Payton Moreland?

  He was like, I'm safe. Like I'm safe. I'm a cop. I will never be charged for this. I don't even need to try to cover it up.

• 38:00Garrett Moreland?

  Hated him so much. I don't think he cared. Like what was happening in that moment?

• 38:04Payton Moreland?

  So this is obviously the same tread and size as the bloody prints found in John's home. But there was still one more piece of evidence that they wanted to examine. And that was the secret fingernail clippings that Lydic had kept after the autopsy. Those still hadn't been sent out for DNA testing, but that was about to change. So the clippings are sent to an FBI crime lab. And when they come back with the results, they say there's only a one in 13,000 chance. The DNA found under John's fingernails does not belong to Kevin Foley. Those are pretty good odds.

• 38:42Garrett Moreland?

  That's also a weird way to say it though. Instead of saying there's a really good chance it's the DNA. You know what I'm saying? No offense to how you said that or how that was written, but it was just like, there's a one in 13 chance it.

• 38:54Payton Moreland?

  No, 13,000.

• 38:55Garrett Moreland?

  13,000 chance it's not usually, I don't know. Anyways, keep going.

• 39:00Payton Moreland?

  Well, how else would I have said that?

• 39:02Garrett Moreland?

  Um, there's a one in.

• 39:06Garrett Moreland?

  There's like a 50% chance that it is his DNA.

• 39:10Payton Moreland?

  Well, when you're ruling out, like when you're ruling out.

• 39:13Garrett Moreland?

  It's just usually we do it backwards. You know what I'm saying?

• 39:15Payton Moreland?

  Okay.

• 39:16Garrett Moreland?

  But I know what you're saying. It was just, you know, it confused me a little bit.

• 39:19Payton Moreland?

  Don't blame me. Blame the sources that give me the information.

• 39:22Garrett Moreland?

  I don't blame you. I don't blame you.

• 39:23Payton Moreland?

  I can't change their statistic. I don't know that.

• 39:25Garrett Moreland?

  I don't blame you.

• 39:26Payton Moreland?

  These are pretty good odds either way, in my opinion, that this DNA belongs to Kevin Foley. And then you add in everything else. The DA is confident they have enough to file murder charges. And on September 27th, 2006, the state trooper is finally arrested for John's murder. Kevin's trial begins in March of 2009, and here is the story the prosecution paints. On the evening of April 13th, 2006, Kevin might have shown up at John's house to bully him about some of the terms of his divorce agreement, including the spousal support Michelle was about to lose when the divorce went through. Maybe the discussion got heated, a fight broke out,

• 40:08Payton Moreland?

  and ended in murder after Kevin pursued John through his home. Now, when it comes to evidence, one in 13,000 chances that it's not his DNA isn't great when 13 million people are in Pennsylvania.

• 40:23Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 40:23Payton Moreland?

  But it's been two years since they got those results back by the time of trial. So in the meantime, DNA testing had made some pretty big leaps and bounds. So during the trial, they call up another expert who ran that DNA again in a newer test, and their technology says there's actually a one in 189 billion chance.

• 40:43Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 40:44Payton Moreland?

  That it's someone else's DNA.

• 40:45Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 40:46Payton Moreland?

  That feels like a smoking gun. Now, of course, the defense tries to refute these findings, especially because this is really the first time that results from this new technology have been used in court before. But they also point to a few different loose ends that they believe show Kevin is innocent, like the fact that someone heard John yell, "I'm never gonna loan you money again," even though John had never actually loaned him anything.

• 41:08Garrett Moreland?

  Let's be honest, eyewitnesses are always all over the place.

• 41:13Payton Moreland?

  They even tried to point the finger at an already incarcerated convict who said he killed John, even though he had zero connection to the case. Overall, the defense's case at trial is pretty weak. Especially when they called up one of Kevin's friends and fellow troopers who said Kevin had asked him at one point to actually help him kill John.

• 41:31Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 41:32Payton Moreland?

  And then shockingly, Kevin Foley himself takes the stand at his own trial. He kept insisting he was innocent and that he had a sick sense of humor. And sometimes he did make off colored jokes, but he claimed he never said any of these things with the intention of actually carrying them out. So he's like, yeah, yeah, I did say that I wish he would die a horrible death. I did say I hate him and I actually did ask someone to help me kill him, but I was joking. You know who wasn't at this trial, though?

• 41:56Garrett Moreland?

  The wife.

• 41:57Payton Moreland?

  Michelle. She never stepped foot into the courtroom and probably for the best. After about two weeks of testimony.

• 42:04Garrett Moreland?

  Can I say something? That's a little sus to me. I know we're not, it's probably not going to be about her at all, but that's a little suspicious.

• 42:12Payton Moreland?

  According to the law, Michelle never asked her boyfriend to go kill her soon to be exonerated.

• 42:17Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, according to the freaking law.

• 42:20Payton Moreland?

  I think the reason they go for this because they, they, they're not saying it's necessarily premeditated.

• 42:24Garrett Moreland?

  According to the law, she's innocent. According to Garrett Merlin, she's not. People are gonna stink in.

• 42:31Payton Moreland?

  Fill your identity.

• 42:32Garrett Moreland?

  Identity, yeah.

• 42:33Payton Moreland?

  So after about two weeks of testimony, the jury deliberates and after over six hours, they return with a verdict. Kevin Foley was found guilty of first degree murder and he was sentenced to life behind bars. Now, as for Michelle, she never faced any charges in John's death. After the trial ended, she took the three kids and moved to Georgia.

• 42:51Garrett Moreland?

  Did she get all the money? She probably did. She probably got all the money too.

• 42:54Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, I didn't see anything in sources about that. Apparently no one's asked that question, but I'm gonna assume. Yes, I mean, if she has nothing to do with the murder, his family can't come in and say, you know what I mean?

• 43:07Garrett Moreland?

  That just irks me the wrong way. I.

• 43:11Garrett Moreland?

  Just my opinions that something's a little off there.

• 43:14Payton Moreland?

  There are still people who think she played a role in this. She should be held accountable, that Michelle allegedly may have even manipulated Kevin into doing it. But Michelle denies this. She says she never fueled any hostility Kevin had toward John. Prosecution never found evidence in their investigation to charge her with anything either. Though, John did have one request before he died. One, he set aside with that money in case his premonition came true. He wanted his attorneys to pass along a message to JJ. So he said, "I'll take the $10,000, investigate my murder, and also make sure JJ knows how much I love him."

• 43:54Garrett Moreland?

  That's so heartbreaking.

• 43:55Payton Moreland?

  And that is the case of John Yelenic.

• 43:58Garrett Moreland?

  Dude, that's so heartbreaking. I mean, John didn't do anything, man.

• 44:02Payton Moreland?

  I mean, people get divorced every day. And ain't nobody killing anyone.

• 44:07Garrett Moreland?

  That's so sad. Honestly, I don't know. That's sad. It's horrible.

• 44:13Payton Moreland?

  All right, you guys, that is our case for today, and we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

• 44:18Garrett Moreland?

  And I hate it.

• 44:18Payton Moreland?

  Goodbye.