INDIANA, Pa. -- State policeman Kevin Foley, linked to the killing of a small-town dentist by DNA and his own words, must stand trial for homicide, a judge ruled yesterday.

Trooper Foley, 42, is charged with slashing the throat, face and torso of Dr. John Yelenic in April 2006. Prosecutors say he attacked the 39-year-old dentist with a knife or other sharp object, inflicting so many wounds that Dr. Yelenic bled to death in minutes.

The attack occurred in Dr. Yelenic's Blairsville house the night before he was to sign and notarize his divorce papers. His estranged wife, Michele Yelenic, was living with Trooper Foley at the time of the killing.

During his six-hour preliminary hearing, Trooper Foley listened intently as fellow police officers delivered some of the most damaging testimony against him.

Blairsville Officer Jill Gaston said she and a deputy coroner drove to Michele Yelenic's home to tell her that her husband had been murdered. Officer Gaston said Trooper Foley let her in, and she noticed he had a fresh, inch-long gash above his left eye.

"Hockey," Trooper Foley said in explaining his injury to her.

State Trooper Deana Kirkland testified that she also saw him with an injured eye after Dr. Yelenic's killing, though she could not remember if it was the right or left.

She said Trooper Foley had once confided in her that he wanted Dr. Yelenic dead.

"He wished Dr. Yelenic would die in a car accident," Trooper Kirkland testified.

Another trooper, Daniel Zenisek, reluctantly added to the testimony against his friend, Trooper Foley.

Though under oath, Trooper Zenisek first denied that he had a conversation with Trooper Foley about Dr. Yelenic.

The prosecutor, Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek, turned fiercely on Trooper Zenisek, saying he was contradicting an earlier statement.

Trooper Zenisek then admitted that Trooper Foley had once jokingly said he wanted to kill Dr. Yelenic some night. Trooper Zenisek said Trooper Foley asked him if he wanted to help commit the killing, though he insisted this was done in jest.

Along with the circumstantial evidence, prosecutors say they have a DNA match and shoe print evidence that proves Trooper Foley was in Dr. Yelenic's house the night of the murder.

Cpl. Randall Gardner of the state police said scrapings from under Dr. Yelenic's fingernails were analyzed by the FBI lab for DNA.

He said the findings, introduced as evidence yesterday, show a mixture of DNA from Dr. Yelenic and Trooper Foley.

Defense lawyer Richard Galloway pounced on the report, saying it was introduced improperly through "double hearsay" testimony.

Mr. Galloway also attacked the prosecution's conclusions, saying the DNA report leaves open the possibility that a black or Hispanic person could have attacked Dr. Yelenic. Trooper Foley is white.

Prosecutors said DNA is the biggest piece of physical evidence against Trooper Foley, but not the only one.

They pointed to bloody shoe prints that the FBI lab said came from an ASICS "Gel Creed" or "Gel Creed Plus" athletic shoe. Trooper Foley wore just such a shoe, size 10.

The defense put on no witnesses, but said the prosecution's case was so weak it should be thrown out.

District Judge Guy Haberl disagreed.

He found sufficient evidence to hold Trooper Foley for trial in Indiana County Common Pleas Court.

A contingent of Dr. Yelenic's old friends from Juniata College were in court for the ruling. They said they had long suspected Trooper Foley of involvement in the killing, and feared he might get away with it because of his status as a policeman.

Dr. Yelenic's parents are dead and his former wife did not attend the hearing.

But his cousin, Mary Ann Clark, waited in court all day for the ruling.

"I was nervous, but we got the outcome we wanted," she said.

Mr. Krastek estimated that Trooper Foley's trial will not start for at least six months. Trooper Foley will remain in jail until then.