Pennsylvania man to spend life behind bars for his role in ‘house of horrors’ death

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (TCN) -- A man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole plus an additional 25 to 80 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse, and other charges related to the killing of a woman in 2023.

In February 2023, victim Nicole Cuevas, 38, and Desiree Linnette, 45, traveled from their home in Michigan to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Times Leader reports. According to court records obtained by the outlet, Cuevas wanted to return home but was allegedly tortured by several people inside a residence, deemed “a house of horrors” by prosecutors.

Jason Race, 45, killed her by stomping on her head when she tried to escape the house in April 2023. Her body was not found until the following February, buried in a shallow grave in the basement. 

Evidence showed that Cuevas, also referred to as Cuevas-Ingram, had been handcuffed to a post and beaten, stabbed, slashed, stomped, kicked, and strangled over the course of several weeks, WVIA reports.
 
WNEP reports that Jason Race pleaded guilty on March 25 and was sentenced June 2. According to the Times Leader, he received 815 days of credit for time served and as part of the plea agreement he entered in March, he waived his appellate rights.

WVIA reports that five defendants were arraigned in connection with Cuevas’ death in April 2024. 

In April 2026, codefendant Sarai Doyle pleaded guilty to third-degree murder charges and charges associated with the homicide of Debra Fox, who owned the house where Cuevas was found. Authorities say Race was not involved in Fox’s death. WVIA reports Linnette pleaded guilty in April in connection with the deaths of Cuevas and Fox. The Times-Leader reports that others charged in Cuevas’ death are Faith Beamer and William Benjamin Wolf. WVIA reports they are awaiting trial. 

According to WVIA, Doyle is Linnette’s daughter.

According to the Times Leader, Race also pleaded no contest to the assaulting Anthony Cook in the same basement where Cuevas was found. According to Cook, who escaped out of the basement window, he was accused by Race, Linnette, and two unnamed drug dealers of touching an 8-year-old child who had reportedly witnessed them torturing Cuevas, WVIA reports.

Following Linnette’s guilty plea in April, WVIA reports Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said, “Until the last of the defendants’ cases is resolved, both the Wilkes-Barre city police and the District Attorney’s office continue to press on.”

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