The five individuals arrested for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of Michigan mother Nicole Cuevas waived their right to a preliminary hearing this week.
That’s no surprise. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine if there’s enough evidence to bring a defendant to trial. The eyewitness and forensic evidence against them has got to be overwhelming.
Is Debra Fox Confirmed as Murdered?
The last report I’ve seen into the manner and cause of death of Debra Fox, the woman who owned the home at 142 Carlisle Street where where Nicole Cuevas was tortured and murdered, is that her cause and manner of death are both “undetermined.”
Her body was found on March 26, 2024, at the bottom of a steep embankment behind a budget hotel. She’d been staying there with at least one of the murder suspects after she lost her home to unpaid property taxes. (That home had been in her family since the 1940s, per Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds.)
But a recent news report from PAHomepage states that Debra Fox was murdered.
It says, “The longtime owner of the home, 69-year-old Debra Fox, was also murdered.” and “If you have any information about the murder of Debra Fox, contact Wilkes-Barre Police.”
Did that news outlet jump to that conclusion, or do they have access to some new (or inside) information? While it’s not exactly a giant leap to assume Debra Fox didn’t trip and fall down that embankment but was a victim of foul play, news outlets typically stick to the documented facts.
I can’t find any news reports that state Debra Fox’s death certificate has been amended to show the manner of death as homicide. And I haven’t had a chance to request a copy of the coroner’s report to see for myself if there is a change.
The Citizens Voice reported on 1/31/2025 that Debra Fox’s cause and manner of death are undetermined.
The Times Leader didn’t specify homicide, either.
If you know anything about the death of Debra Fox, contact the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. You can call anonymously by phone at 570.208.4200, Extension 4, by sending the Wilkes-Barre Police Department Facebook Page a private message, or using the form at the WBPD website.