Dan Stamm

‘We Will Heal': Bucks County District Attorney Thanks Public for Support in Wake of Murder of 4 Young Men

“We will heal. I know it.”

District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, who became the face of the search for four young men missing in Bucks County, has thanked his community and beyond for their support and prayers during the difficult search that ended in the discovery of each man’s body on a sprawling farm.

“I know it because of the immeasurable outpouring of support and prayers from all of you – for the boys, for their families, for our first responders and for me,” Weintraub wrote in a post Sunday. “It has touched my heart. Your prayers kept us all going during that first week’s struggle to recover the boys and to investigate their murders.”

Weintraub calls for time for the community to heal in the wake of the deaths of Dean Finocchiaro, Tom Meo, Jimi Patrick and Mark Sturgis and subsequent criminal charges against Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz.

“We live in a community that rallies around its own,” Weintraub said. “I believe in Bucks County’s exceptionalism. When the eyes of the nation were upon us, we rose to meet the challenges thrust upon us, and we shone.”

Though Weintraub was the man in front of the camera updating the search and announcing the deaths, he acknowledges the hard work hundreds of others in finding the bodies.

“I forever will be grateful to have worked with the hundreds of men and women who dedicated themselves to this recovery effort and the concurrent search for the truth of what happened on that Solebury farm,” Weintraub said. “They are too numerous to mention individually, but it is important to let you know that they included people from not only local and state police and the FBI, but from the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA), public works, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, as well as many businesses, churches and individual citizens. I wish I could name them all here, but suffice it to say we are truly blessed to be a part of this community.”

The outpouring of public support isn’t lost on Weintraub.

“Many of you have been gracious and generous in your praise of how we handled this terrible tragedy,” Weintraub said. “Unfortunately, I can’t personally answer each of your calls, letters, emails or notes posted on our websites. I wish I could. But this doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate your support and the faith that you put in law enforcement every day. We do. I have relayed that outpouring of support to as many of the men and women who assisted in this recovery and investigation as I could, and I will continue to do so.”

The bodies were discovered on a farm owned by the family of DiNardo. The 20-year-old confessed to the killings and helped lead investigators to Patrick’s body as part of a deal where prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty, prosecutors said. Kratz was later charged in taking part in three of the killings.

“Now, with Mark, Tom, Dean and Jimi returned to their families, and with the major part of this criminal investigation completed, we in law enforcement have returned to the normality of keeping you safe every day,” Weintraub said. “But you all know, now more than ever, that we are here for you when you need us.”

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