WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Before Joseph Kerekes left the courthouse in December under a sentence of life without parole, he swore he would not testify against his boyfriend, business partner and co-defendant, Harlow Cuadra.
He said nothing about testifying on Cuadra's behalf, though.
On Thursday, Kerekes, 35, was transferred from the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, Pa., to the Lackawanna County Jail after Cuadra's attorneys added him to the list of witnesses for the defense. He may take the stand next week, according to court documents.
Cuadra, 27, faces a potential death sentence if he is convicted of the January 2007 stabbing and immolation death of Bryan Kocis, 44, a former business rival in the gay adult entertainment industry.
Before Kerekes was sentenced in December, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and several conspiracy charges. In addition, he allocated to the murder, as required by law. Among his admissions, according to court records, were that Cuadra wanted Kocis permanently eliminated from a contract dispute involving gay porn star Brent Corrigan, with whom Cuadra wanted to perform on camera. Kerekes told the court Cuadra purchased a .38-caliber handgun and the knife used to stab Cobra Video owner Kocis 28 times and then nearly decapitate him. Cuadra rented the SUV in which the two drove from their home in Virginia Beach, Va., to Kocis' home outside Dallas Township, Pa., Kerekes said. He told the court the lighter fluid and lighters used to set fire to Kocis' home with the dead man's body inside were purchased at a nearby Wal-Mart.
Kerekes always knew Cuadra planned to kill Kocis, he told the court.
The prosecution was unaware Kerekes might testify until they saw his name on the defense's witness list. Prosecutors told The Dallas Post they do not know what testimony Kerekes is prepared to give on his lover's behalf, and the defense hasn't revealed its strategy.
On Wednesday, jurors in the trial heard testimony from four of Cuadra's former escort clients. Two of the men testified Cuadra asked them to help him construct an alibi.
Howard Mitchell Hallford, 48, told the court he had been a client of Cuadra's escort service since 2004 and gave $70,000 to help fund Cuadra's defense because he was in love with the younger man. The Atlanta, Ga., businessman also told the court Cuadra asked him to tell police the two of them were together the night Kocis was killed. They were not, he added.
"Basically, he didn't have an alibi for that night," Hallford said, explaining that he could not lie to police, even for Cuadra. "Harlow said, 'A bad alibi is better than no alibi.'"
A second former client testified Cuadra also asked him to lie to the court. Nep Maliki produced a letter he said Cuadra wrote to him on June 13, 2007 - after Cuadra was jailed on the murder charge - outlining specific details he wanted Maliki to recount for investigators.
"I remember that you came over on January 24th [2007] around 7:30 a.m., maybe it was 8 a.m.," Cuadra wrote. "You had on black jeans and a black heavy sweater. Black slip-on shoes."
Maliki, a fast-food restaurant employee in Virginia Beach, told the court he donated $50 to Cuadra's defense fund.
Prosecutors have called 58 witnesses since the trial began Feb. 27. Proceedings are expected to resume Friday morning.
