BLAIRSVILLE, Pa. -- Somebody killed Dr. John Yelenic in his own home, the first homicide that people can remember in this tree-shaded town of 3,500 people.

Dr. Yelenic, a dentist, bled to death, but neither police nor the coroner would say what type of injury killed him.

"Although the coroner's office cannot release certain details of the autopsy because of the ongoing investigation, I am fully convinced of homicide in Dr. Yelenic's death," Indiana County Coroner Michael Baker said yesterday.

He would not discuss when Dr. Yelenic died, but a 9-year-old neighbor saw blood and a broken window near his front door about 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The child alerted two adults, who found the body.

Dr. Yelenic, 39, had a successful general dentistry practice in Blairsville for 13 years. But friends and neighbors said his personal life was rocky. He had been locked in a protracted divorce proceeding with his wife, Michele.

Tim Abbey, of Manchester, Conn., a friend of Dr. Yelenic's since their days together at Juniata College, said the divorce papers were to be signed yesterday.

"John had been through this nasty divorce proceeding for the past four years and it was almost over for him," Mr. Abbey said.

Michele Yelenic, 34, was living apart from her husband, in Indiana, Pa. She could not be reached yesterday.

Public records show that the Yelenics married on Dec. 31, 1997, in Las Vegas. She had two children from a prior marriage, and they adopted a boy from Russia, said Dave Lavrich, of Philadelphia, another of Dr. Yelenic's friends from college.

After the marriage soured, Mr. Lavrich said, custody and money issues turned the Yelenics into adversaries. Mr. Lavrich said she called police numerous times with complaints about her husband.

The police station was closed yesterday for Good Friday, but court records show that one of Ms. Yelenic's charges about her husband landed in front of a judge in December 2003.

She alleged that Dr. Yelenic violated a court order to leave her alone. The judge, though, found him not guilty of indirect criminal contempt.

Mr. Lavrich said that case only intensified bad feelings between the two. He said Dr. Yelenic adored his adopted son and worried about losing contact with him as the divorce negotiations became more bitter.

Townspeople described Dr. Yelenic as bright and charismatic.

"John was a lot of fun, and his personality was infectious," said Stacie Potts, who met him when he was a senior at Blairsville High and she was a freshman.

She remembered him as a trombone player in the band and a boy so smart he made every honor roll.

After graduating from high school in 1985, he went to Juniata and then to dental school at the University of Pittsburgh.

He could have worked anywhere, but Blairsville called him home, Mr. Lavrich said. Dr. Yelenic lived with his ailing mother while he established his practice.

Both his parents are dead now. He had no siblings.

Though his marriage was about to end, Dr. Yelenic was upbeat in recent days, said his neighbor, Steve Stoklosa.

"He was excited to be getting on with his life," Mr. Stoklosa said.

Now Blairsville police are focused on his death. Mr. Lavrich said they will not find anything exotic in his background.

"He was a very simple guy. He didn't even own a cell phone," Mr. Lavrich said. "His interests really were family and community."

Dr. Yelenic's funeral will be Tuesday.

First Published: April 15, 2006, 4:00 a.m.