The family of homicide victim Nicole Cuevas held a service today at St. Mary’s Cathedral Church in Saginaw, Michigan, according to a Facebook post by Nicole’s brother Paris Scroggins. Nicole’s obituary reads, “Nicole loved to read. Nicole truly loved being with her children and her family and friends. She loved visiting, chatting, and helping family and friends whenever needed.”
Court Date Moved for Suspects
All five suspects in the brutal kidnapping, torture, and murder of Nicole Cuevas are locked up in county jails without bail (Jason Race, Desiree Linnete, Faith Beamer, and Sarai Doyle are in the Luzerne County Jail; William Wolfe is in Lackawanna County Jail, per court documents).
The next action on their court dockets is the preliminary hearing. It was originally set for all five defendants on Friday, May 31, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., in the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
It has been continued, aka rescheduled, to August 2, 2024, Friday, at 9 a.m.
All five individuals arrested for the brutal kidnapping, torture, and murder of Nicole Cuevas are currently locked up in county jails (Jason Race, Desiree Linnete, Faith Beamer, and Sarai Doyle are in the Luzerne County Jail; William Wolfe is in Lackawanna County Jail, per court documents).
The next action on their court dockets is the preliminary hearing, set to take place for all five defendants on Friday, May 31, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., in the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
During a preliminary hearing, a magisterial district judge listens to the evidence from both the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution needs to prove there is good reason to believe a crime was committed and that the accused is likely the person who did it.
The judge determines if there’s enough evidence to believe the accused committed the crime. If the judge thinks there is, the case will move on to the Common Pleas Court. If not, the charges will be dropped.
The accused can choose to waive the preliminary hearing, and the case will go straight to the Common Pleas Court.
Personally, I think since there is so much evidence and most of the defendants have confessed to their roles in the horrific crimes against Nicole Cuevas, I’d guess this bunch would waive the hearing rather than sit through a play-by-play of the horror they so cruelly inflicted on another human being. It seems like only Linnette is trying to say she wasn’t present when the torture and murder took place, per the police affidavit.
Former 142 Carlisle St homeowner Debra Fox, whose suspicious death is still under investigation, pictured next to murder suspect Desiree Linnette. Photo posted to FB in Oct. 2023
This photo shows Debra Jane Fox, 69, who went missing and was later found deceased behind a Wilkes-Barre hotel. She is seated next to murder suspect Desiree Linnette, 43.
This image was posted to Facebook on October 28, 2023. According to Fox’s daughters, Debra Fox left the Carlisle Street home in the summer of 2023. She was staying at a local hotel, possibly with the group of people she had previously lived with at Carlisle Street, including Linnette.
If that date stamp reflects the actual day the photo was taken, we are looking at the face of a woman, Linnette, who already viciously tortured and participated in the murder of a woman who was supposed to be her friend and possible love interest, Nicole Cuevas, 38. That is the face of a woman with a body in the basement.
Linnette was also involved in the false imprisonment and assault on Anthony Cook, age 38, just three months before this.
So far, there is no evidence that Debra Fox participated in the torture or murder of Cuevas. Fox’s PFA against her nephew Jason Race alleged that Fox was kept locked in her room.
The exact date of Debra Fox’s disappearance isn’t clear. In a recent press conference, the Luzerne County D.A. said Fox disappeared in January. In an interview with Fox’s daughters in March 2024, they said they last saw her in November 2023 at a hotel.
“I haven’t seen her since November,” Melissa Fox told WNEP. “I left the hotel, and she was there, and after that, nothing.”
Here is the WNEP news interview with the Fox sisters from March 13, 2024:
Homicide victim Nicole CuevasDebra Fox, deceased former 142 Carlisle St homeowner
A candlelight vigil is planned for Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre in honor of murder victim Nicole Cuevas and former 142 Carlisle Street homeowner Debra Jane Fox, whose body was found behind the Host Inn hotel in Wilkes-Barre. The public is invited to attend.
The D.A. has not yet released a cause and manner of death for Fox.
Mugshot of Jason Race, one of the murder suspects in the Nicole Cuevas homicide.
Back in 2012, Jason Paul Race, one of five people arrested for the horrific torture and murder of Michigan woman Nicole Cuevas at 142 Carlisle Street in Wilkes-Barre, was involved in a sketchy car accident in Plymouth Township.
It’s shocking how quickly this house of people took a vicious turn against another human being. One of them they knew for many years. The other was a newcomer.
The 2012 car accident on Mizdail Road occurred when a Pontiac Aztek with Race, Cook, and a young woman in it was hit by a pickup truck that lost control making a left turn. Both vehicles stopped, but the driver of the pickup took off “when he was confronted by 31-year old Jason Rece [sic].”
The article says the young woman was driving the car, but Race admitted in a later Facebook post that he was actually the person behind the wheel.
From May 27, 2012, Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Penna.
Jason Race posted this on one of his Facebook accounts in November 2012:
“This is to all the people who think u know me why cant u just let the past die to clear things up yes i was the one driving when the azteck got smashed but i was only driving cause she asked me 2 drive.”
Reporter Andy Mehalshik interviews the sister of the man who escaped 142 Carlisle Street; shows footage of police welfare check on ‘house of horrors’.
Previous news reports revealed that a man was held captive and beaten at 142 Carlisle Street but managed to escape in July 2023. (Thank God he escaped!) According to a report by 28/22 News, that man was Anthony Cook.
Officials say Cook’s escape was crucial in advancing the investigation into Nicole Cuevas’ homicide.
Cook, like Cuevas, was reportedly held in the basement and assaulted at the same location, 142 Carlisle Street, after accusations of child molestation were made against him. Per the Citizens Voice, he was beaten by two of the murder suspects, Desiree Linnette and Jason Race, and two individuals described only as “drug dealers.”
Cook escaped through a window on the night of July 27, 2023, and made it to the Turkey Hill at 632 Carey Ave to call 911. When police arrived, they found him “beaten and bloodied,” with injuries to his face.
In an interview with 28/22 News, Patricia London, Cook’s sister, shared disturbing messages she received on her phone. She told Andy Mehalshik that murder suspect Desiree Linnette, who she’d been friends with for more than 15 years, sent her a message saying, “Your brother’s a child molester, he got what he got.” London said she also received a photo of her brother from his ex-girlfriend.
London pointed out the inconsistency in Linnette’s statements: Linnette claimed she wasn’t there [when Cook was held captive and beaten] but Linette also said she’d tried to help him.
“Well if you weren’t there, but then you also tried to help him, which story is correct?” asked London.
Police checked on the child Cook said he was accused of molesting, but Jason Race and Faith Beamer attempted to block the police from seeing the child. For that, they were charged with obstruction. Cook was never charged with any crime related to that allegation.
