Porn Producer Murder Trial Expected To Be Drawn-Out and Sordid

I continue to find some humor/irony in the fact that the two suspects in the Bryan Kocis murder trial are from Republican dominated Virginia Beach and that based upon local gossip and rumors, the escort service the suspects operated in Washington, D.C., had prominent closeted Republican members of Congress as clients. I have had people, in fact, flat out recount to me in person supposed details of local escorts being hired by members of Congress and/or senior military personnel. Whether or not any of it is true, I have know way of knowing. Nonetheless, rumors that the pair were set up to silence them have circulated at times locally and on various blogs. Having one been threatened myself by the aide to a closeted former member of Congress who will remain unnamed (I was told that very bad things were going to happen to me), I guess I cannot wholly rule out that possibility. From an attorney perspective, the handling of the case so far borders on a three ring circus and will probably cast doubts on whatever the outcome of the trial. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

*

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) The trial of two men accused of killing a gay porn producer they saw as a competitor could last for several months and contain lurid details of how the seamy underbelly of gay life operates. Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra are accused of killing Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video in 2006. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

*

Each of the accused will be assigned a new lawyer. So far the two accused have had 13 lawyers representing them. A 14th was disqualified by the judge. Even when the trial begins the prosecution alone has indicated it may call more than 30 witnesses. Over 35 prosecution subpoenas have already been issued. Among the expected witnesses is porn star Sean Lockhart.

*

When the pair became suspects in the murder Virginia Beach police and the FBI began their own investigation into the men and started looking into their business. Last July Cuadra and Kerekes were charged in Virginia with racketeering, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to receive money from the earnings of prostitution. The pair made a plea agreement in which they pleaded no contest and allowed police in Virginia to seize their assets.

Jail House Confession In Gay Producer Murder?

365gay.com is reporting a supposed new development in the Pennsylvania murder trial of two Virginia Beach men which - if unconfirmed, unofficial comments I have heard locally are true as to the two suspects' personalities - seems the reverse of who some locals view is the more potentially violent of the two suspects. Then, of course there continue to be unconfirmed rumors that high elected GOP officials in Washington and some very senior military officers used the escort service that the two suspects once operated. Having been once personally threatened by a top aid to a closeted member of Congress who knew that I knew his boss' secret, I don't know what to believe and in some ways wonder if the real truth of this murder will ever come out. Here are some highlights:

*

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) One of two men accused of killing gay porn producer Bryan Kocis in 2006 confessed to fellow inmates in jail according to papers filed by the prosecution. The filing alleges that Joseph Kerekes told one cellmate that he and Harlow Cuadra plotted to kill "a dude" in order to gain the movie rights to a porn star that was under contract to Kocis' Cobra Video.

*

The court papers claim that Kerekes told the cellmate and other prisoners that there was so much blood they could not clean it up and decided to set the house on fire. He also allegedly told the inmates who he used his cell phone and computer to try to create an alibi. The court papers list the inmates, in two separate facilities, to whom Kerekes allegedly made the statements. The inmates are expected to be called as witnesses at the trial.

New Evidence Said to Emerge In Gay Porn Producer Murder

I’m not sure what I believe about this case involving two Virginia Beach men accused of killing gay adult video producer Bryan Kocis at his home in Pennsylvania. I know for a fact that there are local gays in this area who are convinced that Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra are innocent and were set up to receive the blame. These supporters have go so far as to raise money for their legal defense costs. In addition, there have been persistent rumors that Cuadra and Kerekes were running a call boy network in the Washington, D.C., area that had GOP players in the DC area as clients. Similarly, there has been other speculation that Cuadra and Kerekes are being set up in order to silence them and/or have them destroy the DC client list. Yet other theories even cite that the case somehow has ties with the double murder and suicide last summer in an Orlando, Florida, at the residence owned by the former Executive Director of the Georgia Republican Party (Jason Robert Drake was identified as the shooter) and to right-wing GOP Congressman Patrick McHenry who was found to have numerous young men residing at his residence and to have ties to Jason Robert Drake (http://patgobyebye.blogspot.com/2007/09/traditional-media-ignores_04.html). Again, I am at a loss as to what the true story might actually turn out to be. It's just very ironic that two residents of conservative, GOP dominated Virginia Beach are involved in such a case. In any event, here are highlights from 365gay.com’s latest coverage (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/02/022708mur.htm):

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) The prosecution in the murder trial of two men accused of killing gay adult video producer Bryan Kocis says it has received new evidence from the FBI. The Luzerne County District Attorney's office has told the judge in the case that the FBI has turned over several handed over various handwritten letters believed to have been written by defendants Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra. The District Attorney's office has not revealed what is in the letters, but a motion to judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. asks for an order requiring both defendants to produce handwriting samples to the court. "The documents indicate that both defendants had written the letters which contain material information relative to the ... case," the motion says.

On the hard drive they found a photograph of a man who was to have had an appointment with Kocis the night he was killed. The picture came with the name "Drake" and police at the time said it could be a nickname or his last name. Several days after the picture was released the Times Leader newspaper found a Virginia Beach escort who said he was the subject of photograph that that it was a head shot that he uses for publicity purposes, that he had never heard of a "Drake" and that he was working in Virginia the night Kocis was killed.

When the pair became suspects in the murder Virginia Beach police and the FBI began their own investigation into the men and started looking into their business. In July Cuadra and Kerekes were charged in Virginia with racketeering, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to receive money from the earnings of prostitution. The pair made a plea agreement in which they pleaded no contest and allowed police in Virginia to seize their assets.