Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- A gay man who operated one of the country’s biggest gay adult entertainment companies died of massive blood loss after his head was nearly sliced off a court was told on Monday.

Harlow Cuadra, 25, and Joseph Kerekes, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va., are accused of killing Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video.

A preliminary hearing Monday heard from two medical examiners who agreed that Kocis was nearly decapitated.

“We were able to ascertain it was a smooth cutting, probably one swipe. It was a very sharp object,” Luzerne County Coroner Dr. John Consalvo testified.

Consalvo also told the court that Kocis suffered between 28 and 29 post mortem stab wounds before his home was torched in an attempt to cover up the killing last January.

When Kocis’ body was discovered by firefighters more than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns.

The court was shown more than a dozen graphic pictures of the charred body.

Police say the pair killed Kocis because they viewed him as a rival in the lucrative gay porn market.

Homicide detectives were able to find Kocis’ computer and forensics scientists salvaged and reconstructed part of the hard drive.

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. (story)

He declined at the time to give his last name but said his first name was Harlow.

It was then that police began collecting evidence on Cuadra. He and Kerekes, said to be his lover, were arrested in May without incident.

When the pair became suspects in the murder Virginia Beach police began their own investigation into the men and started looking into their business.

Last month 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.

Court documents show that among the assets seized were thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, plasma TVs, computers and various other home entertainment systems.

There also was a Honda Civic, Dodge Viper, Chevrolet Corvette and BMW. In addition the men forfeited $26,000 that was in their business account. The only thing not taken was their half-million dollar home because it was heavily mortgaged.

The seizure left the men without assets. They are being represented in the murder case by legal aide attorneys.