Pennsylvania

DiNardo, Kratz Plead Not Guilty to Bucks County Slayings

Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz have been held without bail since they were arrested in July.

Two cousins charged in the deaths of four young men on a Bucks County farm last summer have pleaded not guilty.

Cosmo DiNardo, of Bensalem, and Sean Kratz, of Northeast Philadelphia, appeared at a formal arraignment Thursday to face multiple charges of homicide and abuse of a corpse in the July killings that occurred a few miles from New Hope.

At the time of his arrest, DiNardo’s attorney said his client gave a "full confession.” DiNardo allegedly admitted to authorities that he'd been involved in killing all four men, who were identified as Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown Township; Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg, Montgomery County; Tom Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township; and Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, of Newtown Township.

Mark-Sturgis-Tom-Meo
Bucks County District Attorney's Office
(L-R): Mark Sturgis & Tom Meo
Jimi-Patrick-Dean-Finocchiaro
Newtown Township Police, Middletown Township Police
(L to R), Jimi Patrick, Dean Finocchiaro

His confession, which allegedly included alerting investigators to the location of Patrick's body in a remote part of the 90-acre farm, was given in exchange for an offer from Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintrab that the death penalty not be sought at trial.

Weintrab said after the hearing Wednesday that his office would not press for the death penalty against DiNardo if the defendant cooperates in the case. It remains unclear if that condition applies to Kratz.

Authorities did file paperwork Tuesday that would allow them to seek the death penalty.

Neither cousin spoke during their separate arraignments in Doylestown.

[PHOTOS]Timeline: Murder of Four Young Men in Bucks County, Pennsylvania

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