An Edwardsville woman accused of two killings in connection with a gruesome Wilkes-Barre torture case has pleaded guilty in Luzerne County Court.
Desiree Linnette, 45, is the third of five suspects to enter a plea in the 2023 torture and murder of Nicole Cuevas-Ingram, whose badly decomposed body was discovered buried in the dirt floor beneath 142 Carlisle St. in early 2024.
Linnette also was one of two suspects charged in the killing of Debra Fox, 69, who formerly owned the Carlisle Street home. She also faced aggravated assault charges in connection with the 2023 beating of Anthony Cook in the same Wilkes-Barre basement.
Her Thursday pleas before county Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. cover all three cases, Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said.
"She entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and is facing life without parole on those cases, in exchange for us not seeking the death penalty," Sanguedolce said.
Linnette will be sentenced at a later date.
The cases
Linnette was among the suspects in the following cases:
● Nicole Cuevas-Ingram was killed in April 2023 after weeks of torture, investigators say. Her remains were discovered on Feb. 28, 2024, in a shallow dirt grave in the basement of the Carlisle Street home.
Evidence revealed Cuevas-Ingram, 38, had been handcuffed to a post and other fixtures, and she was beaten, stabbed, slashed, kicked, stomped and strangled. The torture lasted weeks, the DA said.
Investigation revealed the Michigan woman traveled to Wilkes-Barre in early 2023 with Linnette and Sarai Doyle (Linnette's adult daughter), as well as three minor children.
Cuevas-Ingram made the trip, in part, police say, "to pursue a possible relationship with Linnette."
Instead, things "quickly turned sour" and Cuevas-Ingram was subjected to weeks of torture at Linnette's direction, investigators said. Another suspect, Jason Race, later stomped on her head while wearing black boots, killing her.
Race, 45, of Kingston, pleaded guilty last month.
● Debra Fox, who formerly owned the Carlisle Street home, was beaten and strangled to death on the morning of Jan. 8, 2024, by Linnette and Doyle, investigators say. They allege the pair beat and tortured Fox for months and lived off her Social Security benefits.
Fox's decomposed body, which was missing organs and bones, was found in a wooded area near the North Cross Valley Expressway in March 2024, investigators said.
● Anthony Cook was found badly beaten at 632 Carey Ave., Wilkes-Barre, in July 2023, police said.
Cook told police that Race, Linnette and two drug dealers had held him captive in the basement of 142 Carlisle St. for several hours after accusing him of inappropriately touching the same 8-year-old who claimed to have witnessed Cuevas-Ingram's torture and death.
"Cook actually escaped from the house of horrors and could have become another victim had he not done so," Sanguedolce said Thursday.
The suspects
Charged in Cuevas-Ingram's death were: Faith Beamer, Wilkes-Barre; Desiree Linnette, Edwardsville; Sarai Doyle, Edwardsville; Jason Race, Kingston; and William Wolfe, of Wilkes-Barre.
Each defendant was charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated assault and abuse of corpse.
Linnette and Doyle also were charged in the death of Fox, while Race faced an assault charge in the Cook case.
● Sarai Doyle pleaded guilty in February 2026 to two counts of third-degree murder in the deaths of Cuevas and Fox.
● Jason Race pleaded guilty in March 2026 to first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy in the death of Cuevas. He did not contest an aggravated assault offense for beating Cook.
● Desiree Linnette pleaded guilty today, April 9, 2026, as noted in the deaths of Cuevas-Ingram and Fox and the beating of Cook.
● Faith Beamer and William Wolfe are still awaiting trial in the Cuevas-Ingram case.
Sanguedolce said he could not comment on whether any of those who have pleaded guilty may testify against the other suspects.
"The plea kind of speaks for itself," he said. "We have some other cases remaining, so obviously I don't want to put anything into the public that might jeopardize those cases."
Even with three defendants entering pleas, Sanguedolce said Thursday, it's too soon for prosecutors to breathe a sigh of relief.
"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," he said.
