Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Two Virginia Beach men, accused of killing gay adult filmmaker Bryan Charles Kocis last January in rural Pennsylvania, are expected to be extradited this week from Virginia to Pennsylvania to face murder charges.
Harlow Cuadra, 25, and Joseph Kerekes, 33, appearing in a Virginia Beach court in orange prison garb and in ankle and wrist chains. gave up a battle to fight extradition and will be handed over to Pennsylvania authorities.
Court officials say for security purposes they will not say when the two men will be turned over and returned to Pennsylvania, although it is understood that it could take place late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Police say the pair killed Kocis because they viewed him as a rival in the lucrative gay porn market.
Kocis was the owner of Cobra Video – one of the country’s largest producers of gay adult videos.
He was stabbed 28 times and his throat was slashed. The killers then set his home in Dallas Township, north of Wilkes-Barre, on fire to destroy evidence.
The body was discovered after firefighters arrived on the scene. (story) Kocis’ remains were so badly burned he had to be identified through dental records.
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.
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 were arrested in May without incident.