Pennsylvania- Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. on Tuesday granted a prosecution request to establish bail for a Texas woman they plan to use as a material witness in their capital murder case against Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes.
Renee Marie Martin of Fort Worth, Texas, is a business associate of Cuadra and Kerekes and maintained contact with both defendants after their arrest for the killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township in January 2007, prosecutors said.
Martin established and participated in three-way telephone conversations with Cuadra and Kerekes and heard “incriminating statements” they made during those calls, prosecutors said.
Cuadra, 26, and Kerekes, 34, both of Virginia Beach, Va., are scheduled to go on trial before Olszewski on Sept. 2.
The prosecutors, Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll, deputy district attorney Tim Doherty, and assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick and Shannon Crake, said they asked for bail for Martin because she lives out of state and “represents a flight risk.”
Olszewski established a $50,000 unsecured bail for Martin and ordered her to maintain weekly contact with state police.