Bio

Kathleen Ann Foley was born on October 24, 1961. Her maiden name was Zimmerman.

In 1989 she moved from Orwigsburg to the Lehigh Valley to take a job at Allentown State Hospital. She worked there as a psychiatric aide. That same year she married Joseph "Joe" Foley.

Murder Story

Kathleen Ann Foley was born October 24, 1961. On July 31, 1998, her husband, Joseph "Joe" Foley, 39, was found dead in their Fountain Hill, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, home. Police were called after Kathleen Foley said she could not wake her husband.

Investigators believed Joe Foley had been shot. Prosecutors said he was killed with his own 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, a Hungarian-made FEG model RK59, but the gun was never found. Authorities recovered bullets that they said matched the ammunition used in that gun.

Police learned that Kathleen Foley had been having an affair with a co-worker, George Fleming, at Allentown State Hospital. Prosecutors argued that the affair and her desire to be with Fleming gave her motive. Telephone records showed Kathleen Foley paged Fleming three times the night prosecutors say the killing occurred.

State police conducted a 15-month investigation. They interviewed many witnesses, reviewed telephone and bank records, and examined the scene. Prosecutors said circumstantial evidence showed Kathleen Foley had motive, opportunity and a faulty alibi. The defense argued other people had motives and that the case relied on suspicion and conjecture.

Kathleen Foley was arrested in October 1999. Her trial began in September 2000. During the trial, she testified that she did not kill her husband and that she loved him. Prosecutors said she shot Joe Foley the night of July 30, 1998, and tried to make it look like a burglary. The defense questioned the time-of-death estimates and other parts of the investigation.

On September 29, 2000, a Lehigh County jury convicted Kathleen Foley of first-degree murder. On October 2, 2000, Judge Alan M. Black sentenced her to life in prison. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Family members of Joe Foley spoke in court about their grief. They said they would refer to her by her maiden name, Zimmerman. Prosecutors and some witnesses said Kathleen Foley continued the affair after Joe Foley's death. George Fleming denied involvement in the killing and said he did not know who killed Joe Foley.