(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Two men accused of killing a gay porn producer they saw as a competitor will be tried together a judge has ruled, rejecting motions by attorneys for the pair that they be tried separately.

The separate lawyers for the men sought separate trials, telling Olszewski their clients were likely to implicate each other.

Olszewski set a trial date to tentatively begin jury selection Jan. 5.

Kerekes, 34, and Cuadra, 26, are accused of killing Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video in 2006.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

At a preliminary hearing last year, two medical examiners testified that Kocis died of massive blood loss after his head was nearly sliced off.

Luzerne County Coroner Dr. John Consalvo testified that Kocis suffered between 28 and 29 post mortem stab wounds before his home was torched in an attempt to cover up the killing last January.

When Kocis’ body was discovered by firefighters, more than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns.

Homicide detectives were able to find Kocis’ computer in the charred remains of the rural home and forensics scientists salvaged and reconstructed part of the hard drive.

On the hard drive they found a photograph of a man who was to have had an appointment with Kocis the night he was killed.

The picture came with the name “Drake” and police at the time said it could be a nickname or his last name.

Several days after the picture was released, the Times Leader newspaper found a Virginia beach escort who said he was the subject of photograph, that it was a head shot that he uses for publicity purposes, that he had never heard of a “Drake,” and that he was working in Virginia the night Kocis was killed.

He declined at the time to give his last name but said his first name was Harlow.

It was then that police began collecting evidence on Cuadra. He and Kerekes, said to be his lover, were arrested several months later without incident and have been held in separate jails.

The prosecution has indicated it will call Kerekes’ cellmate to testify that Kerekes told him and other prisoners about the killing, and that the man will tell a jury that there was so much blood they could not clean it up and decided to set the house on fire.

Among other expected witnesses is porn star Sean Lockhart. Lockhart was under contract to Kocis and Kerekes and Cuadra wanted him for their own company.

When Kerkes and Cuadra became suspects in the murder, police began taping their conversations.  Another adult video producer, Grant Roy, was fitted with a recording device when he met with the pair and Lockhart at a California restaurant.

Court filings by the prosecution allege that the accused made incriminating statements on the tape.

But both Cuadra and Kerekes claim they were at a hotel when Kocis was killed.

In ruling that the two did not need separate trials, Olszewski said the alibi defenses are “neither antagonistic nor irreconcilable. They certainly do not require severance.”

The trial is expected to last more than a month – the prosecution alone has indicated it may call more than 30 witnesses.  Over 35 prosecution subpoenas have already been issued.