Pennsylvania- The man whose charred body was discovered Wednesday inside his Dallas Township home owned an adult film-making company and has been embroiled in legal cases regarding his business.

Details of Bryan Charles Kocis’ personal and professional life began to emerge Thursday as investigators ruled his death a homicide and began to sift for clues and possible suspects.

Kocis’ had sued a former employee for breach of contract and was set to settle the dispute this week, according to John Yates, an attorney for the men and company Kocis had sued.

That settlement was to be mailed Thursday from California for Kocis’ signature, Yates said. The lawsuit stemmed from a dispute over the stage name and image of Sean Lockhart, aka Brent Corrigan, an adult film actor and one of the men named in the lawsuit, federal court documents filed in California show.

“They are extremely shocked,” Yates said of his clients’ reaction to news of the murder.

Yates said the Pennsylvania State Police contacted him Thursday seeking the phone numbers of the men involved in the business dispute with Kocis. Police said they hope to find information about a man who was scheduled to “model” for Kocis the day he was murdered, Yates said.

The attorney said he understood his clients for the case — including a man not named in the suit that police want to interview — are in San Diego, but he had not seen them because he was in Los Angles to work on the settlement.

It’s not the first time Kocis’ business led to a courtroom.

He was arrested in 2001 for having sex with a 15-year-old boy he met online, according to Luzerne County court documents. Kocis later pleaded guilty to a single count of corruption of minors after prosecutors agreed the boy had lied about his age and the teenager and his family said they wanted to avoid trial.

Kocis received one year probation and videotapes involving the 15-year-old were destroyed, court documents state.

Lockhart had a similar dispute with Kocis after the pair met in 2002, according to court records. Lockhart told Kocis he was underage when the first pornographic film was shot after the pair argued about the validity of a Lockhart’s contract.

The sides had agreed to settle the suit this week by entering into a joint business arrangement, Yates said. Details of that agreement are confidential, he said.

Kocis’ attorney for the federal case could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Lockhart, who performs under the stage name “Brent Corrigan,” ran a pornographic Web site with help from Roy Grant, of San Diego, according to court documents. The Web site is devoted to Lockhart and includes a personal online journal.

Kocis maintained in his lawsuit that the stage name and Lockhart were contractually tied to his business and being used illegally by Lockhart and his associates.

In an online posting dated Oct. 11, Lockhart — or someone posing as him under his stage name — begged fans to send money, saying he was having financial problems and could no longer pay rent. In that posting, he referred to Kocis repeatedly as a “wealthy evil force” and vowed to continue the legal fight.

Lockhart did not respond to a request for an interview left with his attorney Thursday afternoon.

Yates said he could not say for sure why his clients had decided to settle the suit with Kocis.

“Honestly, I think you would have to talk to Mr. Lockhart,” he said, in reference to a question about the October Web site posting. “But passage of time tends to heal wounds, and I think that was the case here.”