The murder trial of gay-porn producer Bryan Kocis began Feb. 24, and attorneys for accused killer Harlow Cuadra contested during opening arguments that their client is innocent.
Cuadra, 27, is accused of stabbing Kocis nearly 30 times and slashing his throat almost to the point of decapitation. Firefighters found Kocis, 44, in his Dallas Township home Jan. 24, 2007, after the house had been set ablaze, which prosecutors allege was an attempt to cover up the crime.
Cuadra’s partner Joseph Kerekes, 35, was also arrested for the crime, but pleaded guilty in December and is now serving a life sentence without parole.
If convicted, Cuadra could face the death penalty.
Prosecutors maintain that Cuadra and Kerekes, who operated their own gay-porn business in Virginia, plotted to kill Kocis so they could obtain the rights to work with Sean Lockhart, a porn star under contract with Kocis.
One of Cuadra’s attorneys, Joseph D’Andrea, argued during his opening statement Tuesday that Cuadra had no part in the killing and that Kerekes was the mastermind behind the murder. D’Andrea also alluded to the fact that Lockhart and his lover and business partner Grant Roy could have played a role in the murder.
“Joe was the dominant partner. Joe was controlling and he controlled Harlow, both on the personal and professional side,” D’Andrea said. “Joe Kerekes cared about one thing — getting ahead — and that meant money. Our defense is simple: Harlow didn’t do it.”
D’Andrea’s opening statement lasted 15 minutes, while assistant district attorney Michael Melnick’s topped out at nearly an hour-and-a-half.
Melnick discussed the numerous pieces of evidence the prosecution is prepared to levy against Cuadra, such as computer and cell-phone records that seem to implicate him in the crime, and detailed the timeline of the murder investigation, which he noted stretched from “the waters of the Atlantic to the sands of the Pacific.”
During the first day of the trial, the prosecution called eight witnesses to the stand, including Andrew Shunk, a former actor with Cuadra and Kerekes’ porn business.
Shunk testified that Cuadra and Kerekes were expecting a big payout from a contract with Lockhart, who is known as Brent Corrigan in the industry, and were willing to pay him $50,000 per scene.
“They thought if they brought in Sean Lockhart, they would bring in six figures,” Shunk said. “They thought it would create a youth phenomenon.”
Prosecutors also called Luzerne County chief deputy coroner William Lisman, state police Cpl. Thomas Wall, forensic pathologist Dr. Mary Pascucci and forensic dentist Dr. John Hosage, all of whom testified about the state of Kocis’ body after it was discovered.
Pascucci said Kocis died as a result of the neck slash and was stabbed 28 times after his death. Following the fire, Kocis had third-degree burns on 90 percent of his body.
The prosecution alone issued more than 150 witness subpoenas for the trial, which presiding Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski predicted could last up to three weeks.
Defense and prosecution attorneys spent last week interviewing 122 possible jurors during the five-day jury-selection process, which wrapped up Feb. 23. The attorneys eventually selected a panel of eight men and four women to serve on the jury, as well as three men and one woman as alternates.
At least one potential juror was dismissed because he expressed disapproval of Cuadra’s “lifestyle and gay pornography” during questioning.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].