Wilkes-Barre homicide trial opens with bloody crime scene photographs, 911 call

WILKES-BARRE — A botched drug deal led to an impromptu plan to “scare” Scott Edward Knox with no intention of killing him, homicide suspect Fernando Bracero’s attorney said on the first day of his Luzerne County jury trial before Court of Common Pleas Judge David W. Lupas on Tuesday.

Prosecutors contend Bracero, 37, along with three other men, retaliated over the bad drug deal and ambushed Knox, 33, by attacking and stabbing him to death in an alley behind the Mofon Lounge on Academy Street, Wilkes-Barre, on May 7, 2024.

First Assistant District Attorney Anthony Ross and Assistant District Attorney Julian Truskowski wasted no time in presenting their case-in-chief by playing Knox’s call to 911, and showing bloody crime scene photographs taken by Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Luke Jolley, a member of the Troop P Forensic Services Unit.

The 911 recording had Knox asking for help, responding to the call-taker that he was on West River Street and was bleeding to death. The recording also had Knox groaning in pain and gasping for air.

Wilkes-Barre City Patrolman James Verdekl responded to the 911 call and eventually found a blood-covered Knox behind a double block house on South River Street. Verdekl said he, along with other officers, followed a blood trail behind the Mofon Lounge, and obtained video footage of a white Ford pickup truck traveling on South River Street.

The truck was eventually found parked less than a block away on South Franklin and Academy streets, Verdekl said.

Ross and Truskowski displayed multiple crime scene photographs taken by Jolley to the jury, showing pools of blood in multiple locations and Knox’s blood-soaked clothing.

Court records say Knox was assaulted and stabbed by Bracero, Justice Supreme Flenory, 25, Jaime Knights, 65, and Jary Javier Fortuna, 33, behind the lounge. During the attack, Knox broke free and ran, where he was found behind the double block house on South River Street.

During opening statements to the jury, Bracero’s attorney, Andrew B. Bigda, said Knox and Charles Dennis arrived at Knight’s apartment on West River Street to buy crack cocaine from Fortuna. Dennis was the buyer but wanted to do a “switcheroo” by having fake crack cocaine he intended to secretly switch during the deal, Bigda said.

Fortuna realized he was about to get ripped off, Bigda said, and assaulted Dennis in the back of Knox’s truck, where Knights discovered a law enforcement badge.

After Knox and Dennis left, Bigda said Fortuna and Knights discussed retaliating for the rip-off attempt and targeted Knox rather than Dennis.

Bigda said that Knights called Flenory, who found Knox at an apartment and drove him to the Mofon Lounge, where he was beaten and stabbed.

“This was a plan to scare a guy; this was not a plan to rob Knox,” Bigda said, adding that prosecutors are “trying to ram a square peg in a round hole and it’s not going to fit.”

Ross and Truskowski argued Bracero was the suspect who lunged at Knox, who suffered three stab wounds.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross (now retired) testified that two of the three stab wounds would have been fatal. One stab wound lacerated the femoral artery in Knox’s upper right thigh, and the other lacerated the brachial artery in the upper right arm.

Knights previously pled no contest to third-degree murder. He has not been sentenced.

Criminal homicide trials for Flenory and Fortuna are scheduled for later in 2026.