WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — New details are emerging Thursday about a homicide and death investigation that centers on a home in Wilkes-Barre.
Five people have been charged this week in connection with the torture and beating death of a Michigan woman inside that home on Carlisle Street.
28/22 News Reporter Andy Mehalshick spoke with the sister of the man who says he was tortured there.
This investigation is being described by police as very active and intense.
On Thursday, 28/22 News talked with a woman who says her brother was also held captive and beaten inside this Carlisle Street home but was able to escape.
The District Attorney says his escape helped lead to arrests in the homicide investigation.
Wilkes-Barre Police and the Luzerne County District Attorney announced on Tuesday that 38-year-old Nicole Cuevas from Saginaw, Michigan was tortured and killed at 142 Carlisle Street in April of 2023.
Her body was found by investigators on February 27 of this year. Police charged five people with her murder.
They are Desiree Linnett, her daughter, Sarai Doyle from Edwardsville, Jason Race and Faith Beamer from Wilkes-Barre, who lived in the house, and William Wolfe, whose address is listed as homeless.
According to court records, Cuevas came to Pennsylvania with Linnette in March of 2023 and moved into the Carlisle Street home with the other four suspects.
At some point, prosecutors say that living arrangements turned sour and Cuevas tried to obtain money from relatives to purchase a bus ticket to return home to Michigan.
On Thursday, 28/22 News spoke with Patricia London who says her brother, Anthony Cook, was also held captive and beaten in that same house after he was accused of sexually molesting a child inside the home.
He escaped on the night of July 27, 2023. Police found him beaten and bloodied on a city street.
He told police about the accusations made against him by people inside the home.
28/22 News was able to obtain a video of the police checking on the welfare of the child at 142 Carlisle Street.
Jason Race and Faith Beamer were charged by police with obstruction when they refused to allow officers into the home.
Those charges were later dropped, but investigators say the assault on Cook was key in the ongoing investigation into the Cuevas homicide.
