Kriti Mehrotra
When firefighters responded to a call in Dallas Township, Pennsylvania, on January 24, 2007, they never expected to find the remains of Bryan Charles Kocis (also known as Bryan Phillip). As explored in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Lethally Blonde: Killing King Cobra,’ he had been brutally murdered before arson was used in the hopes of disguising the real circumstances of his demise. What followed was an extensive investigation into the life and career of the victim, the evidence available at the scene, and his potential enemies, which culminated in the arrest of 2 individuals.
Bryan Kocis Was Fatally Stabbed and Nearly Depacitated Inside His Own Home
Born to Joyce Kocis and Michael Kocis on May 28, 1962, Bryan Charles Kocis was raised in Larksville, Pennsylvania, and knew at an early age that he had a creative and entrepreneurial mindset. Therefore, upon graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology, he kick-started his career as a medical photographer for a local eye doctor before leaving and exploring the world of business. He reportedly opened several businesses over the years that failed before finding himself involved in a rather successful cell phone venture in 2001. However, he was removed as a partner shortly after, as it came to light that there was a videotape of him sexually engaging with a 15-year-old boy in his home. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault, but he was only given probation because the victim had lied to him about their age. The charge of sexual assault was later modified to corruption of minors because consent had been involved.
It was then that Bryan launched his own adult film studio called Cobra Video LLC, which did so well that he was even able to branch out from Pennsylvania to Delaware in 2005. His primary focus was on gay pornographic films, so he faced a lot of backlash from more conservative groups, and then he got into a controversy with one of his own stars. In September 2005, Sean Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan) claimed he was underage when he filmed scenes for Cobra Video and had used fake IDs to get himself hired for those scenes. Bryan denied ever knowing he had lied, resulting in there being a civil lawsuit being filed by both sides; however, he did remove several titles starring Brent from circulation.
A final hearing in the civil dispute between Bryan and Brent was scheduled for February 21, 2007, but it never came to be. That’s because everything turned upside down for the entire adult entertainment community on January 24 when his Dallas Township, Pennsylvania, home went up in flames. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the situation was dire, so they immediately got to work but sadly could only recover Bryan’s remains. He had been burned beyond recognition, so dental records were used to identify him, and then an autopsy revealed his cause of death was not the fire. The 44-year-old was stabbed 28 times before his throat was cut to such an extent that he was nearly decapitated.
Bryan Kocis’ Murder Investigation Led to Two Suspects Within Months
With the way Bryan was killed and how he was recovered, it was evident to the authorities that he had been targeted. After all, the signs made it clear that he was an intended victim with the horror of the stabbing and near decapitation, and then there was an attempted cover-up with the arson of his home. They thus questioned all his loved ones, canvassed the neighborhood, and even looked into his potential enemies or people he had trouble with. Sean Lockhard (aka Brent Corrigan) was questioned, too, but he was quickly cleared. It was Bryan’s own computer that had fortunately survived the fire that broke his murder case wide open, as it pointed officials to his real perpetrators – 2 industry rivals.
Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes of Virginia Beach, Virginia, were arrested and charged with Bryan’s murder on May 15, 2007. Their arrest came after officials discovered e-mails wherein Harlow pretended to be a new model to arrange a meeting with the gay pornographic film director on the night of the murder. Therefore, they came to believe that the 2 men arrived at the Cobra Video executive’s home under the pretense of being interested in starring in one of his projects before turning on him.
Since there were no signs of a forced entry and the smoke detectors were disabled, authorities were certain that what happened inside Bryan’s home was no accident. According to them, 25-year-old Harlow and 33-year-old Joseph slashed his throat because they wanted to work with his former lead star Sean Lockhart (Brent Corrigan). Police records also indicate that the duo stabbed him 28 times after he had already died and then burned his remains before setting fire to his whole house.
Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes Are Both Serving Life Times For Their Crimes
After Harlow and Joseph initially became suspects in Bryan’s homicide, authorities also looked into who they really were and identified them as sex workers who also operated a gay porn business. They were Bryan’s rivals for all intents and purposes. Later on, while they faced charges related to murder in Pennsylvania, they were charged with conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to receive money from the earnings of prostitution, and racketeering. A search of their heavily mortgaged half-million-dollar home was also conducted, during which several cars, computers, entertainment systems, plasma televisions, and jewelry were seized. As if that’s not enough, the men also ended up forfeiting the $26,000 in their business account.
In the end, on December 8, 2008, Joseph pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy, second-degree murder, tampering with or fabricating evidence, and theft, for which he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. On the other hand, Harlow decided not to plead guilty, so he stood trial for the charges against him in February 2009, two years after Bryan’s homicide. With the evidence present against him, the jury unanimously found him guilty of all charges, but they deadlocked on whether he should be given the death penalty or not. Ultimately, on March 16, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole, which he tried to appeal, but to no avail. It’s unclear whether they were ever convicted of the charges against them in Virginia. Today, 44-year-old Harlow Raymond Cuadra is incarcerated at the medium-security State Correctional Institution (SCI)-Coal Township, whereas 52-year-old Joseph Manuel Kerekes is serving his time at the close-security State Correctional Institution (SCI)-Huntingdon. They are both expected to remain behind bars for the rest of their lives.
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