Posted on 03/13/2009 3:30:59 AM PDT by Born Conservative
WILKES-BARRE – Harlow Cuadra slumped in his chair when he heard the jury foreperson say “guilty,” convicting him for the brutal slaying of Bryan Kocis in January 2007.
The verdict, which came after more than three hours of deliberation on Thursday, carries 12 convictions, including first-degree homicide. The jury will return today to determine whether Cuadra, 27, should be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cuadra showed little emotion other than slumping in the chair. He appeared withdrawn and said nothing when escorted out of the Luzerne County Courthouse about an hour after the jury found him guilty.
His mother, Gladis Zaldiva, cried uncontrollably yelling out, “Joseph Kerekes, Joseph Kerekes, he is the killer, not my son.” She also yelled out in Spanish as she left the courthouse.
Cuadra was convicted for killing Kocis, 44, who was found dead with a slashed neck and 28 stab wounds inside his Midland Drive, Dallas Township, residence that was set ablaze on Jan. 24, 2007.
Investigators said Kocis was killed because Cuadra and his lover and business partner, Joseph Kerekes, considered him their main rival in the gay adult film production industry, and wanted to work with adult film actor Sean Lockhart, who was a contract actor for Kocis’ company, Cobra Video.
Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and is serving life in prison.
Kocis’ parents, Michael and Joyce Kocis, tightly embraced one another as the verdicts were read just after 2 p.m. inside the crowded courtroom. They hugged District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll and lead prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick prior to exiting the courtroom.
They declined comment after Thursday’s proceeding.
Before the verdict was announced, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. ordered sheriff deputies to remove anyone who causes an outburst in the crowded courtroom. Three sheriff deputies stood in the aisle, three stood near Cuadra and two stood near the door.
As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Cuadra’s mother shook her head “No” as she leaned forward.
Melnick, who along with assistant district attorneys Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski, refused comment due to a court-imposed gag order.
Cuadra’s attorneys, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul Walker, also declined comment. They consoled Cuadra after the verdict was announced.
Dallas Township police, state police at Wyoming and county detectives said Cuadra and Kerekes planned to kill Kocis by sending Cobra Video an actor’s application under the name Danny Moilin on Jan. 22. Two days earlier, the pair purchased background information through USA People Search that provided Kocis’ address, telephone number and names of neighbors.
Kocis invited Moilin to his home on Jan. 24.
Authorities learned Cuadra and Kerekes rented a 2006 Nissan XTerra and purchased a knife, a .38-caliber handgun and ammunition at a pawn shop in their hometown of Virginia Beach, Va., on Jan. 23. They checked in later that day at the Fox Ridge Inn in Plains Township and drove past Kocis’ home that night.
Investigators traced a number of e-mails and cell phone calls Kocis received to Cuadra and Kerekes, including an e-mail account that was used to send the actor’s application on Jan. 22.
The Yahoo! e-mail was never used after Kocis’ murder.
Melnick said the two began planning the murder after meeting Lockhart and his business partner, Grant Roy, at the Adult Video News expo in Las Vegas, Nev., in mid-January 2007.
A federal civil lawsuit Kocis filed against Lockhart, Roy and their production company LSG Media, reached a verbal settlement at the AVN expo. The settlement required Cobra Video to receive 20 percent of revenue earned from sales involving movies involving Lockhart.
During dinner at the Le Cirque restaurant at the Bellagio, Roy and Kerekes talked about producing movies involving Lockhart and Cuadra.
Cuadra was the only witness to testify in his defense compared to 86 witnesses called by prosecutors during 12 days of testimony.
Cuadra blamed Kerekes for killing Kocis. He said he was inside Kocis’ residence talking to him when a jealous Kerekes stormed inside and slashed Kocis’ throat with a knife. Melnick said Kocis was nearly decapitated.
After Kocis’ murder, Cuadra and Kerekes fled their Virginia Beach home and stayed for about 45 days in South Beach, Fla. They met Roy and Lockhart in San Diego, Calif., on April 27 and April 28 where investigators intercepted two conversations through recording devices carried by Roy.
It was during conversations among the four men, Melnick said, that Cuadra and Kerekes made admissions to the murder.
Cuadra claimed he was scared of Kerekes, who was described during the trial as the more dominant one in their relationship.
The jury is expected to hear testimony from Kocis’ family, Cuadra’s family and likely psychiatrists before it deliberates Cuadra’s punishment of life in prison without parole or death.
Olszewski said he will have the jury deliberate until a verdict is reached today. If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous decision for the death penalty, Olszewski is mandated by law to sentence Cuadra to life in prison without parole.
(a) sodomizing kids is not an “escort business”.
(b) these people make me sick.
(c) “don’t ask don’t tell” should apply to everyone, punishable by fine.
Wow. These guys were real pros when it comes to the assassination business.
There’s only one word to describe all this:
sordid.
Just yuck!
Well, they were pros at something else. Can’t be a pro at everything, I suppose.
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