Joe Kerekes' jailhouse interview provides more questions than answers.
Yesterday, Kerekes told Times Leader reporter Ed Lewis that 'Cuadra set up a meeting with Kocis using a fictitious name in hopes of "winning him over" to their business proposal with Lockhart....'
But why would a fictitious name be helpful in winning Kocis over? Harlow Cuadra already had a small, loyal following of fans from his porn work at Boybatter. Those die-hard fans to be found on Cuadra's blog even now, their ardor undeterred by the host of charges against Mr. Cuadra. Surely providing your own fan-base is more likely to sway a businessman like Mr. Kocis more readily than pretending to be an unknown and batting your lashes over those lovely baby-browns.
Ah, wait. Joe explains: 'they feared Kocis would have rejected their plan because Kocis mainly worked with young men between 18 and 21 years old, and would see Cuadra, 25, as too old for Cobra Video’s target audience.'
Really? Did the plan also call for Mr. Cuadra to present fake ID showing him to be younger than 25 when it came time to pony up proof for the 2257 data? If so, where is this unusual fake ID now? That would be an important bit of evidence to prove these claims.
Pity Mr. Kocis: it seems that when his models aren't lying about being of age, they're lying about being younger than they really are. Or is it more likely that Mr. Cuadra and Mr. Kerekes knew that the meeting with Kocis would never progress to the point that fake ID was required? Isn't it more likely that they were aware that Mr. Kocis would be dead (and on fire) before the charade ever got so far as whipping out IDs? You know... the pair of them having purchased a gun and a knife (for some reason) before they left on their 'tourist' trip to Wilkes-Barre?
From the TL story: Kerekes said Cuadra called him [Kerekes] when he [Cuadra] arrived at Kocis’ home at about 7 p.m. He said he was surprised when Cuadra immediately called him after a few minutes saying... something was wrong and that he was leaving.
According to Kerekes, Cuadra later said he'd smelled smoke and 'heard a noise.'
So, the fire had already started by a few minutes after 7:00 pm? That's odd. In the affidavit, Kocis' attorney, Sean Macias, gave evidence that he spoke with Mr. Kocis on the phone as late as 7:50 pm. Was Mr. Kocis standing in the middle of a raging blaze at the time? Or was he already dead on the couch with 'someone' making noises on the second floor of his house? Or does Mr. Kerekes need a timeline scribbled on his palm the next time he decides to talk to a reporter?
Then, of course, is the matter of that pesky 'light-colored SUV' seen fleeing the scene of the murder at approx. 8:20 pm-- fully an hour later than Kerekes has Cuadra departing.
The story: Kerekes said Cuadra arrived at the motel room and they quickly checked out.
Why the sudden rush to escape? Kerekes says that Cuadra saw an open door and heard a noise. Why would that prompt loading up the SUV, leaving a motel room that was already paid-for, to scuttle back to Virginia Beach in fear? Roughly six hours of scuttling, to be accurate.
We come then to the aftermath. Why didn't Cuadra send any more emails to Mr. Kocis ater that? Why didn't he try to call Mr. Kocis after that? Why was a little smoke and a noise enough to totally derail a purported 'plan to work with Mr. Kocis' into which Kerekes and Cuadra had already sunk a fair amount of time, obfuscatory efforts, not to mention money? Smelled some smoke... whoops, guy must be dead-- abort, abort.
Mr. Kerekes is digging a hole big enough for himself and Mr. Cuadra.
-KM
