Benji
WILKES-BARRES, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes will go to trial for the murder of Cobra Video's Bryan Kocis.
CourtTV.com reports that District Magisterial Judge James E. Tupper found enough evidence against the two for them to be tried following a two-day hearing in which 14 witnesses testified.
Cuadra had this to say to reporters after the ruling: "It sucks." He added," I didn't do it. I didn't kill that man."
Cuadra, 25, and Kerekes, 33, are charged with murdering Kocis in order to free up actor Sean Lockhart - who goes by the name Brent Corrigan and who has not been charged with anything - from legal tangles with Cobra Video, so that Corrigan could work for them. Police say the two cut Kocis' throat, nearly decapitating him, CourtTV says. Kocis was then stabbed 28 times and his home was burned in order, police believe, to cover up the crime.
Both Kerekes and Cuadra claim innocence. Kerekes says, "I was never in that house, and I intend to get an expert to prove that."
The hearing included almost 40 photos of Kocis' body, surveillance video of Cuadra and Kerekes in a gun store with Cuadra buying both a gun and a knife, documents showing Cuadra used his computer to run a background check on Kocis, photos of Cuadra that he allegedly sent to Kocis to set up an interview on the pretext of wanting to appear in a Cobra film, and testimony from a state trooper that an e-mail address "tied to Cuadra" was created specifically to contact Kocis and that the last e-mail between the two was sent the night of the murder when a meeting had been set up for 15 minutes later.
Kerekes claims he was in a local hotel room at the time of the murder. State police corporal Leo Hannon gave testimony that though Cuadra and Kerekes did indeed have a hotel room in the area, cell phone records place them in the vicinity of Kocis' home at the time of the murder. He also said that a rental car in Cuadra's name had mileage that was similar to the distance from Virginia, where they live, to Kocis' place.
Adult producer Grant Roy, who had a taped conversation with the accused men April 28 in San Diego, testified that both of them spoke of being in Kocis' house the night of the murder and that "[Cuadra] said it went really quick, and he said that [Kocis] never saw it coming. He said it seemed kind of sick, but he felt like he had got even with [Kocis] in a way. It made him feel good."
Roy pointed out that neither of the accused admitted to the murder but that it had been heavily implied. He said that Cuadra and Kerekes admitted to destroying Kocis' home and that while he was in the house, the doorbell rang. Roy said, "He said that's when this dude arrived, and it was over." The "dude" in question was not identified.
When they go to trial, Kerekes and Cuadra will now confront charges of homicide, arson, conspiracy to commit murder, abuse of a corpse, and robbery.
The district attorney will decide in the next few weeks if the state will seek the death penalty.
GayVN
- By
