Trial reunites Harlow Cuadra with his family

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.comStaff Writer

WILKES-BARRE – An e-mail on the Web social networking site MySpace reunited Harlow Cuadra with his family after nearly five years of being separated.

Cuadra testified earlier in the week that he kept away from his relatives because he felt ashamed he’s gay. Once they were reunited, his family rallied to support him after his arrest for the murder of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township more than two years ago.

They testified in Luzerne County Court on Friday trying to convince the jury to spare his life.

Cuadra, 27, of Virginia Beach, Va., was convicted by the jury on Thursday for killing Kocis, 44, inside Kocis’ residence on Jan. 24, 2007. The same jury that found him guilty of first degree murder and 11 other charges will determine if Cuadra should be sentenced to life in prison or be executed.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick and Cuadra’s attorneys, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul Walker, are set to give closing arguments on Monday before the jury deliberates Cuadra’s future.

Cuadra’s mother, Gladis Zaldivar, and his sister, Melissa Zaldivar, 19, have attended every day of the trial including jury selection since Feb. 17. Since Monday, his brothers, Jose Cuadra, 28, and David Bizizuela, 16, have attended court proceedings. They all reside in Greenville, S.C.

Jose Cuadra and Bizizuela told the jury that they found Harlow on MySpace in early 2007, after not hearing from him since early 2002.

Bizizuela sent Harlow an e-mail and got a reply, “Sorry, I don’t know any 14-year olds.”

They were reunited after Jose sent Harlow an e-mail, Jose said.

“I found out in 2007 on MySpace that Harlow was involved in gay porn,” Jose testified. “I sent Harlow an e-mail to meet up.”

Harlow invited Joseph Kerekes, his lover and partner in a male escort business and production of gay pornographic Web based movies, to meet the family, Jose said.

“It was weird at first but he’s my brother. He was scared that we would reject him because he’s gay. He’s my brother,” Jose testified.

“I didn’t care about that, him being gay,” Bizizuela testified. “I was happy to get my brother back.”

Bizizuela said he last saw Harlow when he was 9 years old.

Jose told the jury about the financial hardship and troubled childhood they endured while residing in Florida. Jose said they resided in a tiny, windowless apartment, slept on the floor without a mattress and had only one ball to play with.

“We were living on welfare, living on food stamps; it was bad,” Jose said.

Their mother, Gladis, remarried in April 1995. Their stepfather provided financial support but wanted something in return, Walker said.

“(Stepfather) had a fixation with him, Harlow,” Jose said.

Jose said the stepfather would send him to the store so he could be alone with Harlow, who was sexually abused for about 10 years. Jose said he left home when he was 16 years old when the stepfather grabbed him.

Gladis Zaldivar, who needed an English interpreter for her testimony, told the jury that she caught her husband molesting Harlow. She immediately left him taking her children, but her husband begged her to forgive him.

After reading a letter her husband wrote to Harlow, who had enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January 2000, Gladis learned her husband continued to have feelings for Harlow.

Harlow last spoke to his mother in early 2002 and felt embarrassed when she found out he was gay. It would be five years until he next spoke to his family.

“You don’t know how much I missed you,” a crying Gladis told Harlow on Friday.

Melissa Zaldivar said the first time she saw Harlow after five years was at a court hearing in Virginia Beach, Va., after his arrest in May 2007 for Kocis’ murder.

“Harlow told us he was afraid we would reject him because he was in the pornography business and he was gay,” Melissa testified.

Melissa also recalled her childhood that she called “happy” until her mother and father divorced.

“My brother (David) and I were on MySpace and we went to search for him (Harlow),” Melissa said. “Jose logged on and sent Harlow an e-mail and he called.”

Karen Stanton, a civilian employee with the Department of the U.S. Navy, testified about Harlow’s military service.

Harlow signed a delayed enlistment contract on Aug. 26, 1999, and reported for duty on Jan. 13, 2000, Stanton said.

Harlow committed to serve eight years and was trained as a hospital corpsman. While stationed in Norfolk, Va., Harlow met Kerekes in an on-line chat room.

Kerekes, 35, convinced Harlow to leave the Navy and helped pay for an attorney to expedite the process.

Harlow requested to separate from the Navy due to being a homosexual, Stanton said.

She said Harlow was honorably discharged after serving two years, 11 months and eight days in the Navy.

"I don’t mean this in a bad way, but it is a straight man’s military," Harlow testified on Tuesday when he took the witness stand against his lawyers advice.

Harlow moved in with Kerekes and joined him running a male escort business. Escorting turned into producing gay pornographic films as a “hobby,” Harlow said, on the Internet.

Kerekes took over the Web site after it made several hundred dollars, Harlow said.

Investigators said Kocis was killed because Cuadra and Kerekes considered him their main rival in the adult film production industry, and wanted to work with adult film actor Sean Lockhart, who was a contract actor for Kocis’ company, Cobra Video.

Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.