1 Bucks County Killer Pleads Guilty, Another Could Face Death Penalty for Murder Spree
Twelve family members of the men killed read emotional, at times angry and other times tearfully grieving, victim impact statements. Their sorrow filled the courtroom for nearly two hours.
By Brian X. McCrone and Alicia Victoria Lozano ••
Cosmo DiNardo, the man responsible for killing four men and burying their bodies on his family’s Bucks County farm last summer, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning. He now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
What to Know
Cosmo DiNardo's guilty plea was made in exchange for avoiding the death penalty
DiNardo lured the men, ages 19 to 22, to his family's 90-acre farm under the guise of making marijuana deals. Each one turned into an ambush
His cousin Sean Kratz is charged in three of the deaths
Cosmo DiNardo received four consecutive life sentences Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to killing four young men and burying their bodies on his family's sprawling suburban Philadelphia farm.
In an unexpected turn, DiNardo's cousin, Sean Kratz, rejected an offer to plead guilty to third-degree murder and related offenses Wednesday. Instead, the state will now pursue first-degree murder and the death penalty.
“Justice is not perfect. Justice has no time limits,” Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said during a press conference. “I’m just as whiplashed as all of you.”
Weintraub added that DiNardo could now testify against his cousin.
The DA expects Kratz's trial to take place no earlier than next year. He spoke directly with Kratz in the moments before the young man officially rejected the offer in court, he said.
“We had a cordial conversation,” Weintraub said. “He was resolute. That’s his right.”
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Four civil cases against the cousins, Dinardo's parents and the family's holdings remain, attorney Tom Kline, who is representing the Finocchiaro, said.
Twelve family members of the men killed -Dean Finocchiaro, Thomas Meo, Mark Sturgis and Jimi Taro Patrick - at times angry and other times tearfully grieving, read emotional victim impact statements before Judge Jeffrey Finley. Their sorrow filled the courtroom for nearly two hours.
“I’m going to ask him to do something, that every day he wakes up in jail, please say a pray for Jimmy’s mother,” Sharon Patrick, Jimi Patrick’s grandmother, said as DiNardo sat with his head down just feet away. “ Please pray for me that I’ll be able to forgive you.”
Others were more blunt.
“You’re the perfect example of starting at the top and working their way down to the gutter,” Mark Potash, Mark Sturgis’s father, told DiNardo. “You brought shame and embarrassment to your family name.”
Thomas Meo’s mother, Melissa Fratanduono, called DiNardo “a f------ piece of s---.”
Before he was sentenced to life, DiNardo apologized to the families in a brief statement.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “If there was anything I could do to take back the things that occurred, I would. I’m so sorry.”
Judge Finley was unmoved.
“Your apology at least from my perspective comes across as false and insincere,” he said.
He said he spent some time in the last week listening to DiNardo’s confession to law enforcement following the heinous slayings.
“The tone of your voice stood out as having such a total and complete disregard to the value of human life,” Finley said. He added that if DiNardo were to ever be released from prison, Finley believes DiNardo would kill again.
“I try to think of something to say to you and to them to make sense of all this, to bring peace to them,” Finley told DiNardo. “Nothing I say will do that.”
Police found the bodies of the missing men after a grueling, five-day search in July 2017. Three were lit on fire and placed in an oil tank converted into a pig roaster. One was buried in the ground.
DiNardo, 21, had lured the men, ages 19 to 22, to his family's 90-acre farm under the guise of making marijuana deals. Each meeting turned into an ambush and then a bloodbath.
SkyForce10/Bucks County DA
Dennis Byrne
Wednesday, July 5nJimi Patrick, from Newtown, Pennsylvania, goes missing. Officials say he was last seen on July 5 at about 6 p.m. He was reported missing the next day after he had no contact with friends and family.
Officials say that on July 5, Patrick drives to the the property owned by family of Cosmo DiNardo to buy $8,000 worth of marijuana. Patrick allegedly did not have enough money for the purchase, and DiNardo took him to a remote part of the property and shot him.
Court documents allege that DiNardo then used a backhoe to dig a hole and bury Patrick in a secluded part of the property.
Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Friday, July 7nMark Sturgis, pictured left, tells his father he is going to meet his friend Thomas Meo, pictured right, of Doylestown in Bucks County. Sturgis leaves his Pennsburg home and was not heard from again.
Bucks County DA
Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Langhorne, also went missing on Friday, July 7. Police say he was last seen around 6:30 p.m. getting into a vehicle.
Officials revealed that on Friday, July 7, Finocchiaro got into a car with DiNardo and his cousin, Sean Kratz to purchase $700 worth of marijuana. The two decided to rob Finocchiaro. Kratz allegedly shot Finocchiaro in the head, and DiNardo shot him a second time. Officials say the cousins then used a backhoe to place the body in a metal tank.
The same night, officials say DiNardo sets up a drug deal with Meo and Sturgis. When Meo and Sturgis arrived at the Solebury farm, officials say DiNardo shot Meo in the back, and then shot Sturgis as he was running away. He and Kratz allegedly used a backhoe to place the bodies in the tank, where Finocchiaro's body was. DiNardo confesses that he and Kratz poured gasoline in the tank and burned the bodies, before using a backhoe to bury Finocchiaro, Sturgis, and Meo's bodies.
NBC10
Saturday, July 8 nCosmo DiNardo allegedly tries to sell Meo's car to a friend in Bensalem. Meo's mother reports him missing after he fails to show up for work and fails to respond to texts from his girlfriend.
NBC10 - Brian X. McCrone
That same day, DiNardo contacted a man named "KBM" around 5:00 p.m. to try and sell Meo's car for $500.
AP/FILE
Sunday, July 9 At 2:10 a.m., Sturgis' vehicle is found in the area of Peddler's Village in Buckingham Township, about 2 miles away from a DiNardo family home on Aquetong Road.
NBC10 - Brian X. McCrone
Just two hours after Sturgis' car was found Sunday morning, Meo's car was discovered inside a garage on the DiNardo property. Authorities found Meo's diabetic supplies were in the car, and his car keys hanging on a wall in the garage.
Monday, July 10nVarious law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, help in the search, focusing on a vast property. The 90-acre farm in New Hope, Solebury Township belongs to the DiNardo family.
Later that day, Bucks County District Attorney Mark Weintraub says he believes "foul play" is involved in the disappearance of the men as information began to surface that all four men were connected.
Police also search another property belonging to the DiNardo family Monday, in Bensalem where Cosmo DiNardo lives.
DiNardo, 20, is arrested Monday his home is searched. He is arrested on an unrelated gun charge and held on $1 million bond.
Bensalem Police, Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Tuesday, July 11nAs the search continues, Weintraub reveals for the first time that DiNardo, whose family owns real estate in the area, is a "person of interest" in the disappearances. Prosecutors also confirm that all four of the young men seem to have a connection to each other and DiNardo.
SkyForce10
Throughout the day on Tuesday, a massive police force searches the DiNardo property in Solebury Township, digging and sifting through dirt. Officials report more than 50 people, including FBI agents and police recruits, are searching for clues.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
That day, DiNardo's father, Antonio DiNardo, posts $100,000 (10 percent of $1 million) bail.
SkyForce10
Wednesday, July 12 nWeintraub says they have found "several pieces of evidence" on the DiNardo property.
Weintraub says, "The search at the scene right up the road is really intensifying." He says he's confident they will find something: "We have been utilizing resources, resources I didn't even know existed."
NBC10
On Wednesday, DiNardo is arrested again for trying to sell Meo's car. Bail is set at $5 million. Weintraub considers DiNardo "to be even more of a flight risk."
Weintraub announces later that day that Meo's diabetic kit, "which he never went anywhere without," was found in his vehicle. The DA says that without the kit, Meo could go into "diabetic shock."
SkyForce10
Thursday, July 13 nIn a midnight news conference, Weintraub announces remains have been found in a 12-1/2 foot hole, a "common grave," on the DiNardo property.
NBC10
In that press conference, authorities identify 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro's remains. They are still working to identify the other remains. "This is a homicide, make no mistake about it," Weintraub said.
NBC10
Thursday, July 13 About 5:45 p.m., Cosmo DiNardo's attorney Paul Lang announced his client admitted in a "full confession" to participation in the murders of four men who disappeared in early July. The confession is part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, Lang said.
Matt Rourke/AP
"I'm sorry," a shackled Cosmo DiNardo said as he left the courthouse in an orange prison uniform.
Katy Zachary
Friday, July 14 nInformation is released around 12:30 p.m. that Sean Kratz, 20, is in custody and charged with allegedly killing the four young men. Kratz was taken into custody from this house on Magee Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia on July 13.
Bucks County District Attorney's Office via AP
Bucks County DA Matthew Weintraub announces charges against DiNardo and Kratz. DiNardo faces four counts each of criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and robbery inflicted injury, as well as a possession of weapon charge. Kratz faces three counts each of criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and robbery inflicted injury, as well as possession of weapon. Both were denied bail. DiNardo is being held in the Bucks County Jail, Kratz in another county's facility. Both have preliminary hearings scheduled for September 7.
Tuesday, July 18 nPhiladelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said his department hoped to interview DiNardo after sources said DiNardo claimed he killed other people in the past in Philly.
NBC10
Sources inform NBC10 later that day that DiNardo told Bucks County detectives that he killed a woman in the basement of a Philadelphia home. Sources say DiNardo also claimed to kill another man, but only offered a nickname for the individual. Authorities say that the dates, times, and locations surrounding DiNardo's haven’t been corroborated.
SkyForce10
Thursday, July 20 nPhiladelphia police joined the search for clues. Bucks County DA Weintraub said various agencies wanted to comb the farm before turning it back over to the DiNardo family.
