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LUZERNE COUNTY sure has its share of high-profile and dramatic murder trials in recent memory. There were other notable cases that ended in plea deals which avoided a trial altogether.
But there is one case awaiting trial that is unique in many ways.
Harlow Cuadra, 26, and Joseph Kerekes, 34, stand accused in the January 2007 slaying of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township. Kocis’ home on Midland Drive was set on fire to cover up the fact that the 44-year-old was stabbed more than 30 times, investigators believe.
Arrest records indicate Cuadra and Kerekes — both from Virginia Beach, Va. — killed Kocis, whom they believe was their main rival in the adult gay movie business.
The alleged motive and circumstances of the death came out as investigators learned more about the murder. Arrest records indicate that Cuadra and Kerekes wanted to start a business venture with Sean Lockhart, a model/actor in San Diego, Calif.
There was a problem.
Kocis and his company, Cobra Video, had exclusive trademark rights to Lockhart and Lockhart’s stage name, Brent Corrigan.
The contract prevented Lockhart from working with Cuadra and Kerekes.
I’ve been a reporter for nearly 10 years, mostly covering crime and courts.
But reporting about this case was certainly different than all the other murder cases that I’ve covered.
Before investigators learned about the motive, they released a picture of a partially nude male known only as “Drake,” who had a scheduled meeting with Kocis the night he was killed.
When the Drake picture was published, my voice mail and e-mail were inundated with tips from those involved in adult pornography.
The Virginia Beach connection
One of the callers, a person from Virginia Beach, told me to check out a few adult Web sites and a Myspace page.
After signing up to get my own Myspace account, I followed this person’s advice and found Cuadra’s Myspace page. His picture strongly resembled the Drake picture.
Cuadra and I made contact through e-mail that eventually led to several telephone interviews.
Cuadra denied any involvement in the murder. Investigators say otherwise.
When the criminal complaint was filed on May 15, 2007, investigators placed Cuadra and Kerekes at Kocis’ home on Jan. 24, 2007, by tracing their e-mails and cell phone signals.
E-mails were also traced to their Virginia Beach home – messages sent to Kocis just days before he was killed, the criminal complaint says.
When Kocis was killed, there was an explosion of rumors, conspiracy theories and innuendoes on Web sites and blogs that cater to gay pornography.
Cuadra and Kerekes even set up their own Web sites seeking donations to help with their defense fund. Cuadra was auctioning his personal belongings — including his hot tub of love, as he called it.
This case has certainly been different to report.
I say that because it not only involved common journalism practices of interviewing investigators and witnesses, but trying to make sense out of all those Web sites and blogs to which I was never accustomed.