The Citizens' Voice is reporting that Grant Roy went to investigators last spring with the idea of wearing a recording device to capture the conversations he planned to have with accused killers Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes when they visited him in San Diego in April 2007.
Roy testified at an evidence suppression hearing Thursday that he wore a microphone under his shirt as he and business partner Sean Lockhart dined with Cuadra and Kerekes at a restaurant in the La Jolla section of San Diego on April 27, and held an automobile key remote that contained a microphone as they spoke at a nude beach the next day.
In the conversations, Cuadra spoke about the about the killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township, four months earlier.
Kocis, a producer of gay pornographic movies, had been a rival of Cuadra and Kerekes and had, until days before his death, been locked in a lawsuit with Roy and Lockhart, a pornographic actor who starred in films for Kocis, over Lockhart’s ability to work for other companies using his stage name, Brent Corrigan.
“It was quick, he never saw it coming,” Cuadra said, according to a transcript of the conversations.
“Actually seeing that (expletive) go down,” Cuadra said later in the transcript, allegedly referring to Kocis. “It’s actually sick, but it made me feel better inside.”
John Pike, an attorney for Kerekes, questioned Roy’s motivation in volunteering to work as an informant. Police in Pennsylvania had identified Roy as a possible suspect soon after Kocis’ death, Pike said, and as of last October, the state police still considered him a “known enemy” of Kocis. Roy arrived at the Luzerne County Courthouse around 2:30 p.m. He testified for less than 40 minutes.
Kerekes, 34, and Harlow Cuadra, 26, both of Virginia Beach, Va., are accused of slashing Kocis’ neck to the point of near decapitation, stabbing his torso nearly 30 times and later setting fire to his Midland Drive home. They face the death penalty and are scheduled to stand trial together, beginning Sept. 2.
Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. heard arguments Thursday on defense requests to suppress a myriad of evidence, including the post-arrest interview, items seized from the Virginia Beach home where Cuadra and Kerkes lived, and the recorded conversations. The hearing is scheduled to continue Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Earlier in the hearing, Kerekes claimed police ignored his requests for an attorney during an interview shortly after his May 2007 arrest in Virginia Beach.
Kerekes said Cpl. Leo Hannon of state police and Special Agent James J. Glenn of the FBI proceeded with questions about his background, employment and personal relationships, and later read from the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause filed against him.
“They walked into the room and I said, ‘I want a lawyer,’” Kerekes said during brief testimony that was limited to the post-arrest police interview. “It was the first thing out of my mouth.”
Kerekes said he told the investigators to get his attorney and skip the reading of the documents.
“I don’t really want to hear it,” Kerekes said, repeating what he told Hannon and Glenn during the interview, which was conducted at the Virginia Beach police headquarters.
“It was a soap opera,” Kerekes said of the criminal complaint and the affidavit. “It’s inflammatory. They highlighted all these parts. They wanted me to say something.”
According to Hannon, Kerekes did say something.
Toward the end of the interview, Kerekes said he wanted to “tell the truth.” Hannon said he advised Kerekes to stop speaking and get an attorney.
“Knowing the totality of the circumstance, I cut him off, for lack of a better term,” Hannon testified.
Roy testified at an evidence suppression hearing Thursday that he wore a microphone under his shirt as he and business partner Sean Lockhart dined with Cuadra and Kerekes at a restaurant in the La Jolla section of San Diego on April 27, and held an automobile key remote that contained a microphone as they spoke at a nude beach the next day.
In the conversations, Cuadra spoke about the about the killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township, four months earlier.
Kocis, a producer of gay pornographic movies, had been a rival of Cuadra and Kerekes and had, until days before his death, been locked in a lawsuit with Roy and Lockhart, a pornographic actor who starred in films for Kocis, over Lockhart’s ability to work for other companies using his stage name, Brent Corrigan.
“It was quick, he never saw it coming,” Cuadra said, according to a transcript of the conversations.
“Actually seeing that (expletive) go down,” Cuadra said later in the transcript, allegedly referring to Kocis. “It’s actually sick, but it made me feel better inside.”
John Pike, an attorney for Kerekes, questioned Roy’s motivation in volunteering to work as an informant. Police in Pennsylvania had identified Roy as a possible suspect soon after Kocis’ death, Pike said, and as of last October, the state police still considered him a “known enemy” of Kocis. Roy arrived at the Luzerne County Courthouse around 2:30 p.m. He testified for less than 40 minutes.
Kerekes, 34, and Harlow Cuadra, 26, both of Virginia Beach, Va., are accused of slashing Kocis’ neck to the point of near decapitation, stabbing his torso nearly 30 times and later setting fire to his Midland Drive home. They face the death penalty and are scheduled to stand trial together, beginning Sept. 2.
Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. heard arguments Thursday on defense requests to suppress a myriad of evidence, including the post-arrest interview, items seized from the Virginia Beach home where Cuadra and Kerkes lived, and the recorded conversations. The hearing is scheduled to continue Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Earlier in the hearing, Kerekes claimed police ignored his requests for an attorney during an interview shortly after his May 2007 arrest in Virginia Beach.
Kerekes said Cpl. Leo Hannon of state police and Special Agent James J. Glenn of the FBI proceeded with questions about his background, employment and personal relationships, and later read from the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause filed against him.
“They walked into the room and I said, ‘I want a lawyer,’” Kerekes said during brief testimony that was limited to the post-arrest police interview. “It was the first thing out of my mouth.”
Kerekes said he told the investigators to get his attorney and skip the reading of the documents.
“I don’t really want to hear it,” Kerekes said, repeating what he told Hannon and Glenn during the interview, which was conducted at the Virginia Beach police headquarters.
“It was a soap opera,” Kerekes said of the criminal complaint and the affidavit. “It’s inflammatory. They highlighted all these parts. They wanted me to say something.”
According to Hannon, Kerekes did say something.
Toward the end of the interview, Kerekes said he wanted to “tell the truth.” Hannon said he advised Kerekes to stop speaking and get an attorney.
“Knowing the totality of the circumstance, I cut him off, for lack of a better term,” Hannon testified.
