To Love and to Perish

Nearly three years had passed since Blairsville dentist John Yelenic was savagely murdered with a knife in his home.  A jury decided the fate of accused murderer Pennsylvania State Trooper Kevin Foley, the live-in boyfriend of John’s estranged wife Michele.  But even with the verdict, John’s friends and family wondered if justice had been completely served. Should Michele have faced some consequence for the literal death of her husband and the figurative death of her lover? Those questions linger toda

Friends and family of murdered Blairsville dentist John Yelenic were frustrated. A year had elapsed and still there was no arrest in the brutal slaying. It seemed to them the logical suspect was right under the nose of Blairsville police and, later, state police investigators who took over the probe. John's cousin Mary Ann Clark approached then-Attorney General Tom Corbett and asked him to take over the probe. Six months later, Kevin Foley was arrested in the homicide.

A year had passed since beloved Blairsville dentist John Yelenic was savagely murdered in his home on April 13, 2006. There had been no arrest -- this despite the fact that state Trooper Kevin Foley, the live-in boyfriend of John’s estranged wife, Michele, had openly and often said John should die. On the anniversary of John’s death, more than 130 friends and family held a vigil outside his home. Amid the sadness was the haunting feeling that maybe justice would never be served on an officer of the la

Generous, kind and funny, John Yelenic had dated regularly but never felt he had met the woman to marry. But with his mother's wish and at the age of 29, John thought maybe it was time to settle down. Why not with Michele Magyar Kamler,  the 25-year-old woman he was dating? Friends quickly ticked off the reasons for their concern, but the couple wed anyway. John would learn all too soon this would be no fairy-tale marriage.

John Yelenic so loved his hometown of Blairsville that after he graduated from dental school there was no question where he wanted to practice.  A fine dentist and an altruistic millionaire, John became revered for his generosity in helping anyone in the tiny town who needed a financial boost. That’s why residents were horrified and bewildered when John’s body was discovered slashed and sliced in his home on Holy Thursday 2006. It was a mysterious and tragic end of a well-lived life.

“To Love and to Perish,” Season 2 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette True Crime podcast, examines the stranger-than-fiction tale of how a love triangle and its infidelity, greed and hatred led to a gruesome murder. Why was a beloved small-town dentist brutally killed in his home?  And who wanted him dead? Find out when the first episode is released Sept. 12.

The team behind the awarding-winning Season 1 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette True Crime series returns for Season 2. Host Michael A. Fuoco and producer Ashley Murray are following the success of “Three Rivers, Two Mysteries” with another true crime tale. The new season, “To Love and to Perish,” explores the story of how love, betrayal, greed and hatred in a small town erupted into a gruesome murder. The first chapter will be released in September.

The team behind the awarding-winning Season 1 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette True Crime series returns for Season 2. Host Michael A. Fuoco and producer Ashley Murray are following the success of “Three Rivers, Two Mysteries” with another true crime tale. The new season, “To Love and to Perish,” explores the story of how love, betrayal, greed and hatred in a small town erupted into a gruesome murder. The first chapter will be released in September. Take a listener’s survey at post-gazette.com/podca

The families of Paul Kochi and Dakota James discuss the lives of their sons, the painful mysteries of their deaths and their contentions about how the died. The families’ comments about the cases, the podcast and their grief were recorded during a live public event on Dec. 7, 2017 at Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Forensic pathologist Cyril H. Wecht, psychologist Paul Friday and attorney, college professor and former FBI supervisory special agent Lawrence Likar talk about their involvement in the Post-Gazette podcast and offer opinions about the cases of Paul Kochu and Dakota James. Their discussion was recorded during a live public event on Dec. 7, 2017, at Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh. The moderator is Andrew Conte, director of Point Park’s Center For Media Innovation.

Host Michael A. Fuoco, producer Ashley Murray and editor Virginia Linn detail how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette came to produce its first serialized podcast. During a live event on Dec. 7, 2017, they discuss the interviews and explain their production process, bumps in the road and other details. The recording was made during a public event at Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh. The moderator is Andrew Conte, director of Point Park’s Center For Media Innovation, where the podcast was produced.

Grief, frustration and even anger remain as the third anniversary of Paul Kochu’s disappearance and the one-year mark for Dakota James approach. Both families have hired private consultants to help them with their goal of determining what happened to their sons. Additionally, the Kochu family has set up a scholarship and the James family has established a foundation to keep the memory of Paul and Dakota alive--even as questions about their deaths still loom large.

The Kochu and James families felt detectives did not prioritize their cases and treated them with insensitivity. Police deny the claims but say they understand why the families might feel that way. Because of all of that, the district attorney has started a new program to assist families of missing people.  Meanwhile, whether Paul and Dakota’s cases can possibly be linked to the theory of the Smiley Face Killer serial killer is a matter of conjecture, much of it on the Internet.

Dakota James had a focused mind, a sharp wit and a soft spot for older generations. Dakota was gay and because of that, his parents worried for his safety. After a night of barhopping with a co-worker in January 2017, he disappeared as he appeared to be walking to a bridge on his way home. In March 2017, his body was found in the Ohio River not far from Pittsburgh. Was this a hate crime? Or could it have been an accident, as the medical examiner ruled?

Paul Kochu, a native of eastern Pennsylvania, was a compassionate, caring and pleasant ICU nurse in a Pittsburgh hospital. But in December 2014, after being injured in an altercation with a roommate, he disappeared into the night. The following March, his body was found floating in the Ohio River, 85 miles downriver from Pittsburgh. Was this a murder, an accident or a suicide?