
A Pennsylvania prosecutor will seek the death penalty for two gay porn actors and male escorts who are charged with killing a rival producer.
In the notice filed Monday, Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas said the case is eligible for the death penalty because Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes robbed Bryan Kocis and set his house on fire after they killed him.
The alleged arson, which posed a "grave risk of death to another person," was the prosecutor's primary reason for seeking the death penalty, according to the motion.
Cuadra and Kerekes are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Police say Cuadra and Kerekes killed Kocis, a Cobra Video executive and gay porn kingpin, because of a contract dispute involving actor Sean Lockhart, known in the adult film industry as Brent Corrigan. Cuadra was frustrated because his plans to make a film with the "Every Poolboy's Dream" star were held up by pending litigation and the actor's contract with Kocis' company, police said.
Cuadra, 25, and Kerekes, 33, went to Kocis' Dallas, Pa., home on Jan. 24, 2007, and convinced him to let them in by tricking him into believing that Cuadra was a new model interested in making a movie for Cobra Video, police said.
Once inside, they slashed his throat, nearly decapitating him, according to police documents. After he was dead, they stabbed him 28 times, then burned his body and set the house on fire, police said.
To pay for their defense in what is now a capital murder case, Cuadra and Kerkes have been forced to sell their male escort business, according to Cuadra's blog.
Cuadra is also auctioning his hot tub, clothing and undergarments on his Web site. Both have also tried to sell their homes.
In August, District Magisterial Judge James E. Tupper ruled that there was enough evidence for Cuadra and Kerekes to stand trial. During the two-day hearing, 14 witnesses testified about conversations they had with the two men after Kocis was killed, e-mails between Cuadra and Kocis in the days before the murder and possible motives for the killing.
Prosecutors also showed nearly 40 gruesome photos of Kocis' body and the wounds he sustained, and a surveillance video of both men in a gun store, where Cuadra purchased a gun and a knife. A state police captain testified the knife could have inflicted the wounds on Kocis.
Prosecutors also showed semi-nude photos prosecutors say Cuadra e-mailed to Kocis.
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