Cobra Killer (8 page)

Kocis went forward in 2006 with the release of two films Lockhart had filmed prior to their split, each of which bore titles that reflected the contempt that had grown between the two
. Brent Corrigan’s Fuck Me Raw
featured a crude cover photo of Lockhart exposing his anus with sperm running from his sphincter (a Photoshop alteration to the photo allegedly added in later) and
Take It Like A Bad Boy
(alternately named
Take It Like A Bitch Boy). Take It
would be Kocis’ final production for his Cobra enterprise, covering an extraordinarily lengthy 140 minutes.

Lockhart took exceptional insult from the degrading video titles and cover images. It was an annoyance he would have to live with. “It bothered me…(but) I knew what (Kocis) was trying to do, and it didn’t get to me,” Lockhart said.
⁽⁵⁶⁾

Lockhart’s counsel Beville was unimpressed, noting that the biggest problem facing Kocis and Cobra was the fact that they had allegedly never inspected the actual ID, in violation of federal law. “In order to prove their civil case they have to give factual evidence of a felony committed by themselves,” Beville claimed.
⁽⁵⁷⁾
“I believe Bryan Kocis is doing this to keep the other models that he may have photographed underage from coming forward,” he added. Kocis called that claim “a baseless allegation” and urged Beville to produce any proof of any other underage performers having worked at Cobra.
⁽⁵⁸⁾

Kocis, through his new California counsel, Jeffrey Douglas, made it clear who he felt was at fault in the underage performance saga: Lockhart. He accused Lockhart of having committed fraud and possibly serious crimes by knowingly appearing under the age of eighteen in the videos, and “feloniously” obtaining a fake driver’s license, Douglas said.
⁽⁵⁹⁾

In April 2006, Pacific Sun Entertainment withdrew two more Cobra Video releases,
Campus Boyz I
and
Campus Boyz II,
from distribution, offering no explanation as to why. The move did nothing to quell swirling rumors that Kocis had engaged other performers besides Lockhart under the age of eighteen. No other confirmed allegations about any other Cobra performers being underage were ever raised publicly, however.

A very personal, ugly fight

Months of nasty e-mail and blog postings followed on both sides of the Kocis-Lockhart fight, with wild allegations and personal assaults raised on each side. Supporters of Lockhart even started a blog devoted to his side, www.friendsofbrentcorrigan.com.

Roy went a step further: in the early months of 2006 he launched a blog under the unfortunate name, www.cobrakillerblog.com. Roy said he created the site because the fight with Kocis had gone public, and he was bitter. His postings to the site, he said, were “to shed light on the difficulties we were having in the lawsuit…just to shed a little light on what was going on.”
⁽⁶⁰⁾

Jason Sechrest, who owns and operates the “Jason Curious” blog and a casting agency for gay porn actors in Southern California, wrote about the public fracture that erupted between Kocis and Lockhart. In initial postings, he seemed to take Kocis’ position, but incidents to follow seemed to push Sechrest and others in the “gay porn establishment” toward Lockhart’s position. A July 2006 incident at Sechrest’s “Cocktails with the Stars” event at Micky’s Bar in West Hollywood seemed to turn several against the reclusive Kocis. Sechrest said “Cobra continues the lies” and clarified that Cobra Video did not hold an event with Brent Corrigan at Micky’s, but instead attempted to crash the weekly “Cocktails with the Stars” event.
⁽⁶¹⁾
Sechrest described a “pathetic cry for attention” by Cobra when one of the two men passed out free copies of a bareback video featuring Lockhart, while another posed as a fan asking for a photo to be taken with Lockhart. “Just before the flash went off, (they) threw up a copy of a Cobra video to make it look like Brent was promoting it. They ran out quickly…as Cobra continues its fork-tongued lies.”
⁽⁶²⁾

Lockhart would later accuse Kocis of stealing passwords for his MySpace account and engaging in instant messaging chats with fans and others, posing as Lockhart, and sullying his reputation. “He would, like, IM all my friends. My brother IM’d him and that’s how my brother found out about my adult work, he sent him a (picture), and he started soliciting sex with my brother. He didn’t know it was my brother. So, after that happened, I just stopped using instant messaging,” Lockhart said.
⁽⁶³⁾

Roy also was playing rough—he reportedly approached the FBI Field Office in San Diego, California on two separate occasions, filing complaints against Kocis and his Cobra Video company, alleging they were employing underage performers. No public disclosure of any FBI action was ever revealed, and no charges were ever brought.
⁽⁶⁴⁾

By August of 2006, gay porn giant Falcon Studios began promoting one of its major releases of the year,
The Velvet Mafia.
The film featured the name of an actor new to the industry, Fox Ryder, but his face was very familiar. Fox Ryder was Sean Lockhart. The battle for the name Brent Corrigan still in full swing, and Lockhart not backing away from the gay porn industry, a savvy Falcon Studios found a way to move Lockhart’s image (under the new Fox Ryder name) onto the DVD box cover. Gay porn industry insider Sechrest said he believed the “scare tactics” of Cobra Video forced Falcon to abandon any ideas of using the Brent Corrigan name. “(But), I think the drama and mystery will only help to sell the movie more. Brent’s fans know what the hell he looks like and he’s on the box cover for God’s sake. And if this isn’t life imitating art, I don’t know what is: in
The Velvet Mafia
, two porn companies are violently vying for the exclusivity of (Lockhart’s) character, Fox Ryder.”
⁽⁶⁵⁾

More troubles for Lockhart

In October 2006, abandoning the new stage name of Fox Ryder given to him by Falcon producers, Lockhart finally launched www.brentcorriganonline.com, described as a members-only site that would allow Lockhart to produce and distribute new adult material. Just a short time later, however, the site went dark when its online payment coordinator, CC Bill, allegedly canceled his billing contract reportedly under pressure from Kocis, and his attorneys determined to maintain control of the Brent Corrigan name.

The billing contract stalled and with no way to create a members-only site, Kocis had successfully stymied LSG Media with their newest venture. Further complicating matters would be internal struggles within LSG Media. The fight centered on who made the decisions about the site and how each of the partners was being paid.

In a March 2007 interview with www.Gaywired.com, Lockhart claimed he had filmed more than twenty scenes for the new website, but was only a thirty percent owner of the overall project. Lockhart explained that he started the company in which he was a part owner in order to have “something to show for continued adult work in the industry.” Lockhart told Gaywired.com that “Grant (Roy) and I want to take pride in producing wholesome adult work where no one is degraded, embarrassed or exploited,” he said. “We pay attention to good pairing and we only produce condom work.”
⁽⁶⁶⁾

Does Cobra Video live on?

In June 2007, less than six months after Kocis’ murder, “Jeffrey” at Cobra Video sent an e-mail blast to Cobra’s fans from the King Cobra e-mail account addressing the murder of Bryan Kocis and a new “transitional period” for the company:

This year we lost Bryan to a senseless crime. Bryan devoted the last six years to developing Cobra Video into what you know it to be today. Bryan kept working and making movies as that is what he loved to do. He had a vision and as devoted Cobra fans, you were loyal to his product.
⁽⁶⁷⁾

With that, the beat seemingly went on uninterrupted at Cobra with fan e-mail noting that “the company and the website will live on” with re-releases of
Take It Like A Bad Boy
and a slightly reworked later version,
Take It Like A Bitch Boy
becoming available within days. “We welcome you back to the website and we invite you to visit us often for news, upcoming sales, and new titles from Cobra Video” the e-mail added. “And don’t forget about our Cobra Models! Fresh new faces are on the horizon!”
⁽⁶⁸⁾

No new Cobra Video titles were created or released after 2007, however, with the company’s websites still listing previously released titles and about a dozen photo shoots of Lockhart (many shot during a trip to Hawaii by Lockhart and Kocis) advertised on the site.
⁽⁶⁹⁾

The publicity surrounding Kocis’ murder apparently did serve to drive some further interest in Cobra Video. Eurocreme USA, a New York City-based retail and wholesale distributor of adult content, announced in June 2007 that it would distribute the “last Cobra Video production by director Brian (sic.) Kocis before his death,”
Take It Like A Bad Boy.
⁽⁷⁰⁾
“We’re happy to put this movie out because we’ve always been fans of Brian’s (sic.) work,” Eurocreme’s sales manager Hugo Harley said. “His movies have always been best-sellers.”
⁽⁷¹⁾

In July 2007, the Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (or AEBN) announced it was becoming the exclusive “video on demand” home for the Cobra vehicle,
Take It Like A Bad Boy,
reported to be Kocis’ twenty-second video overall.
⁽⁷²⁾
AEBN offered the video through its PornTube.com website and noted it had enjoyed “a longtime relationship with Cobra Video” and that the murder of Bryan Kocis “has affected me deeply,” said Chris Baker of AEBN. “I feel honored to have a chance to showcase his last work this way.”
⁽⁷³⁾

Kocis’ murder doesn’t end the controversy

Although the “collaboration” of Lockhart and Kocis had produced some of the best-selling gay videos of their time, it also produced a vicious and very personal fight between them that would prove difficult to reconcile. Despite that reality, Lockhart took the high road upon news of Kocis’ unexpected death in January 2007. In a February 2, 2007 posting on his site, www.brentcorrigan.com, he wrote a brief statement under the heading “Pay your respects to Bryan Kocis.” In it, he reported he had been advised by attorneys not to comment on the matter, but noted, “The settlement documents were signed and all parties were looking forward to moving on to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Please pay your respects to Bryan Kocis, his family and friends. It is time to show them all the love and support you have shown me.”
⁽⁷⁴⁾

Kocis’ death did nothing to quell controversy surrounding the videos he left behind. A fervent Lockhart supporter and blogger operating under the online name DeWayne in San Diego was not letting matters go. In September 2007 (a full nine months after Kocis’ death), DeWayne in San Diego reported on his blog that he had sent a new letter to the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. In the letter, DeWayne raised issue with whether proper 2257 records were even available for the Cobra videos still in distribution and produced between 2001 and 2007.
⁽⁷⁵⁾

Cobra’s online records’ statement indicated the 2257 documents were held by the Pennsylvania State Police, although Pennsylvania authorities repeatedly denied they held the 2257 records at the State Police Barrack at Wyoming, Pennsylvania. For his part, DeWayne believed the records were either destroyed in the blaze at Kocis’ home or they were seized by police.

Wherever the records were, DeWayne clearly wanted authorities to swoop in and stop Cobra from continuing to sell videos, particularly ones featuring Lockhart (even though they were presumably legal, if produced beyond the date Lockhart turned eighteen and was still in the Kocis stable).

As of 2012, the 2257 Compliance Statements still posted online for Cobra Video and its companion site, www.brentcorriganxxx.com, listed 62 Dallas, Suite 238 in Dallas, Pennsylvania as the site where records were held. That address cannot be found on web-based or state-issued paper maps, and no such site exists in Dallas, Pennsylvania. The sites still list “B. Kocis” as the “custodian of records” at his former Midland Drive home (now gone) in Dallas.
⁽⁷⁶⁾

Beyond restating the copyrights Cobra claimed on the videos, the Cobra website noted that “All models appearing on this website, and in our videos, were at least eighteen years of age at the time of production. Proof on file as required by law. Cobra Video LLC complies with Federal Law 18USC2257 and Federal Regulations 28CFR75.”
⁽⁷⁷⁾

The site also noted, “Use of the words ‘boy, boi, boyz, twink’ etc. are popular gay terms and do not in any way, shape or form indicate that the model is under the age of eighteen. This website uses adult(s) models and warrants the use of these materials for adults as a visual fantasy or education in the Privacy (sic.) of their homes.”
⁽⁷⁸⁾

A toll-free number listed on the site is now “out of service.”

The last of the Cobra empire

On January 8, 2008, almost one year after Bryan’s death, his father Michael Kocis, Sr. (as the executor of his estate) filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two men, Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes, for the murder of his son and the burning of his home. The suit sought unspecified monetary damages for funeral, burial, estate, and property damage costs from Cuadra and Kerekes. Whether the Kocis family actually ever expected to receive any compensation was unclear, but the action did represent that the Kocis family was not willing to give up on pursuing civil remedies against the men they believe murdered Bryan, family attorney Conrad Falvello said.
⁽⁷⁹⁾