(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Harlow Cuadra took the stand in his own defense Tuesday, telling jurors he did not kill Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video.

Cuadra testified that Kerekes was a controller.  He said that Kerekes managed his e-mail accounts and held Cuadra’s credit and identification cards at all times, even when they went out.

Cuadra, crying openly, told the jury that as a child he had been sexually abused by his stepfather and hid his homosexuality until he left the Navy.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, the defense called Kerekes to testify, but he refused to answer questions about the murder.

Both Cuadra and Kerekes were charged with capital murder in the 2007 slaying of Kocis.

Last December in a plea deal, Kerekes pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second degree murder and was sentenced to life behind bars. At the time, he said that he was at Kocis’ home the night of the murder but it was Cuadra who killed him.

Tuesday after being sworn in, he said he would not testify on Cuadra’s behalf.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Cuadra.

The final prosecution witnesses were two police officers who arrested the pair. The officers’ testimony conflicts with that of Cuadra.

Luzerne County Detective Daniel Yersha told the court that after Cuadra listened to the charges he said that Kerekes was not involved.

“He said, ‘Joe didn’t do it,’” Yersha testified.

A second detective involved in the arrest, Dallas Township police Sgt. Doug Higgins, corroborated Yersha’s testimony.

Higgins said that after the charges were read, something that took 75 minutes, he asked Cuadra if he were hungry.

“He blurted out, ‘Joe didn’t do it,’” Higgins testified. “The last thing he said was, ‘Joe didn’t do it.’”

On Monday a forensics investigator testified that a laptop computer seized from Cuadra’s home had several pictures of Kocis saved to it, as well as nude photos of Cuadra that were sent to Kocis just days before the killing.

The prosecution argued that the photos of Kocis were to help Cuadra identify him, and that the nude shots of Cuadra were meant as a lure to get into Kocis’ home.

The prosecution alleges that Cuadra saw Kocis as a business rival in the lucrative gay pornography industry.

Kocis’ body was discovered in his home by firefighters responding to a blaze in the rural house. More than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns and police said the fire had been set deliberately to destroy evidence.

A medical examiner has testified that Kocis died of massive blood loss after his head was nearly sliced off. He suffered between 28 and 29 post mortem stab wounds before his home was torched.

The prosecution case took 10 days with 86 witnesses called to the stand.  The defense is expected to take up to a week.