Pittsburgh: A judge refused to issue a posthumous divorce decree to a man who was killed the day before he was to sign the last of his divorce papers.
Dr John Yelenic, 39, was found slain in his Blairsville home on April 13, a crime that has not been solved.
The dentist and his wife, Michele, separated in 2002 and had agreed to the divorce and a property settlement.
Yelenic's attorney, Effie Alexander, asked a judge to issue the divorce decree because he believed the divorce was important to Yelenic.
But Indiana County Judge Carol Hanna on Wednesday ruled that Yelenic's marriage ended with his death, even if all parties agreed to a legal decree stating otherwise.
The request was mostly symbolic, because the couple had already decided how to split up their property.
Attorneys for Yelenic's wife and his estate agreed not to contest Alexander's request because it was largely a matter of principle that would not affect that property settlement.
Hanna cited a 1927 Pennsylvania ruling that says, "Marriage is the union of two lives which can be dissolved either by death or by process of law...you cannot untie a knot which has already been untied."
Although Yelenic signed a request to enter the divorce decree, he had not signed the final paperwork before he died.
Attorneys for the dentist, his estate and Michele Yelenic did not immediately return calls for comment.
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