In just three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, a jury of eight men and four women found Harlow Cuadra guilty of 12 charges, including theft, robbery, arson, abuse of a corpse, and, most importantly, the gruesome first-degree murder of Byran Kocis.
The convicted killer had nothing to say on his way out of court, but his mother couldn’t be consoled. She prayed in court before the verdict with other family members and then wept when she heard the word ‘guilty.’
Cuadra was accused of murdering Kocis in Dallas Township in 2007 with his lover and business partner, Joseph Kerekes, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and is serving a life sentence.
Investigators said Kerekes and Cuadra considered Kocis their main rival in the gay pornography business. Cuadra’s sentence is now in the hands of that same jury. They will have to decide whether to punish him with a death sentence or life in prison.
The jury will decide the penalty Friday.
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