William Benjamin Wolfe is escorted at the Luzerne County Courthouse on July 28.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader file photo
William Benjamin Wolfe’s capital homicide trial has been scheduled to begin in May 2027.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr.’s decision was announced Wednesday. Wolfe, 56, is facing charges for his alleged role in the tortured killing of a Michigan woman in Wilkes-Barre.
Wolfe was the only defendant to plead not guilty to criminal homicide charges stemming from what prosecutors allege was the kidnapping, torture and beating death of Nicole Cuevas Ingram, 38, whose body was found buried in the dirt basement of 142 Carlisle St. on Feb. 27, 2023.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce previously said detectives believe Ingram was killed in late April 2022, after being held against her will and tortured inside the home for nearly a month.
Sanguedolce, along with First Assistant District Attorney Anthony Ross and Assistant District Attorney Gerry Scott, filed a notice of aggravating circumstances in seeking the death penalty for Wolfe, if convicted of first-degree murder.
Wolfe, through his court-appointed attorneys Bernard J. Brown and Sidney D. May, pled not guilty to charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault, abuse of corpse and two counts of criminal conspiracy during his formal arraignment on Aug. 24.
Sklarosky recently filed a trial management order scheduling pre-trial proceedings, including jury selection to begin May 17, 2027, for Wolfe’s capital homicide trial.
Since it is a capital trial, jurors will be questioned individually, called voir dire, by prosecutors and Wolfe’s attorneys, instead of the standard process of selecting jurors from a jury pool. Prosecutors and Wolfe’s attorneys will be allotted a certain number of peremptory challenges to remove a juror without stating a specific reason.
Four other defendants have entered plea agreements with prosecutors related to the alleged crimes Wolfe is facing.
Jason P. Race, 45, pled guilty to first-degree murder and has since been sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
Faith Beamer, 42, pled guilty to third-degree murder for her role in Cuevas Ingram’s death. Beamer has not been sentenced.
Desiree K. Linnette, 46, pled guilty to separate counts of first-degree murder and related offenses for her role in killing Cuevas Ingram and Debra Fox, 68. Fox, who formerly owned 142 Carlisle St., was tortured and killed in a hotel room at the Host Inn on Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre, on Jan. 8, 2024. Linnette has not been sentenced.
Linnette’s daughter, Sarai Kamalani Doyle, 25, pled guilty to separate counts of third-degree murder for her role in the Cuevas Ingram and Fox murders. Doyle has not been sentenced.
Fox’s body was found on an embankment behind the Host Inn near Exit 1 of the North Cross Valley Expressway in March 2024.
Brown was appointed under a private contract with Luzerne County in August 2026 to represent Wolfe because he is certified to handle capital death-penalty cases.
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