WILKES-BARRE, PA — One of two men accused in the stabbing and immolation death of Cobra Video owner Bryan Kocis on Monday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy after admitting he lied about his whereabouts at the time of the killing.Joseph Kerekes, 34, at one time Kocis’ rival in a bitter contract dispute over popular gay performer Brent Corrigan, told the court he helped commit the crime. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for what investigators called one of the most gruesome murders they’ve seen.

Kocis’ nearly decapitated body, stabbed 28 times post-mortem, was discovered in January 2007 among the ashes of his burned home. Police arrested Kerekes and his alleged lover, Harlow Cuadra, both of Virginia Beach, VA, and charged them with murder in May 2007 after one of Cuadra’s publicity photos was found on the charred remains of a computer hard drive that lay among the ashes of Kocis’ rural Pennsylvania residence.

Kocis was 44 at the time of his death.

Even after pleading guilty, Kerekes declined to implicate Cuadra, whose trial is scheduled to begin January 5th.

“I absolutely will not testify for the state case against Harlow,” he told the court.

He did, however, apologize to Kocis’ family, but Kocis’ father said they were unwilling to accept Kerekes’ expression of remorse.

“We will never forgive nor will we forget what Mr. Kerekes has done to this family,” Michael Kocis told the court.

With the guilty plea, Kerekes avoided the death penalty. Cuadra, 27, still faces a death sentence if he is convicted on the first-degree murder charge for which he will be tried.