WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania — The capital murder trial of Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes will begin Sept. 2, Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said Tuesday.
Kerekes and Cuadra, both of Virginia Beach, Va., face the death penalty for the grisly killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township in January 2007.
They are accused of slashing Kocis’ neck and stabbing his torso nearly 30 times and later setting his Midland Drive home on fire.
Attorneys for Kerekes said he would offer an alibi defense, previously referred to as “Plan B,” stating he was at the Fox Ridge Motel in Plains Township the night of Kocis’ murder.
The attorneys, John Pike, Mark Bufalino and Shelley Centini, said Kerekes would abandon an earlier “Plan A” alibi defense that suggested he was out of the state the night Kocis was killed.
Kerekes’ dual potential alibi defenses had compelled prosecutors to submit a list of 385 rebuttal witnesses.
Kerekes’ attorneys argued the list was designed to hamper their defense because it included immaterial witnesses who had no knowledge of Kerekes’ whereabouts.
Prosecutors agreed to submit a new witness list, which will be “cut down significantly,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick said.
Olszewski reserved judgment on a defense motion for dismissal of the charges against Kerekes and a prosecution request that he undergo an independent psychiatric examination.
Justin Hensley, a prosecution witness serving with the Army National Guard in Iraq, might be able to testify at the trial, Melnick said.
Prosecutors submitted a motion last week claiming Hensley’s military duty would make him unavailable. The motion also sought to admit testimony Hensley gave at a preliminary hearing.
Hensley, who worked with Cuadra and Kerekes in the making of homosexual pornographic movies, recently had his tour of duty extended into next year, but may be able to obtain temporary leave, Capt. Sonny Louie said in an e-mail to prosecutors.
“Mr. Hensley is a very material commonwealth witness,” Melnick told Olszewski. “He sets the scene for the events that transpired that evening.”