2 men charged in killings of 4 missing men

DOYLESTOWN — UPDATE: 1:30 p.m.

A man who confessed to killing four Pennsylvania men who disappeared last week has been charged with four counts of homicide and a second man has been accused of participating in three of the slayings.

Prosecutors filed the charges Friday against Cosmo DiNardo and his cousin, Sean Kratz.

DiNardo's lawyer admitted Thursday his client's role in the four slayings. Kratz was arrested later the same day in Philadelphia. Despite the admission, a judge entered a "not guilty" plea for both on Friday.

"I'm relieved to say we brought four young men closer to their loved ones so they can rest in peace," said Matt Weintraub, district attorney for Bucks County.

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DiNardo faces four criminal homicide counts and Kratz three. They both face multiple counts of conspiracy, robbery and abuse of corpses.

Court documents allege the killings happened during drug deals that turned into robberies.

The first victim, Jimi Patrick, was lured to DiNardo's parents' property on July 5, and then shot and killed last Wednesday because he didn't have enough money to buy four pounds of marijuana.

On July 7, Dean Finnochiarro was lured to the same property and killed; later that night, Tom Meo and Mark Sturgis arrived. They too were shot and killed, loaded up by a back hoe with DiNardo at the controls, put into a drum and lit on fire.

Police arrested Kratz just hours after DiNardo's confession.

"Cosmo was spared life in terms of giving all of his relevant information that he possibly could," said Paul Lang, DiNardo’s attorney.

Both cousins are now being held without bail in this case.

All four victims are believed buried on a farm property in Solebury, Pennsylvania, owned by DiNardo's family.

DiNardo's lawyer says his client is remorseful and led investigators to the men's remains.

Kratz's mom, Vanessa, declined to comment on the arrest of her son.

Bail is not an option for either suspect.

They're set to be back in court at the end of the month.

ORIGINAL STORY: 

An admitted drug dealer with a history of mental illness said he killed four young men after he felt cheated or threatened during three transactions and then burned their bodies at his family's farm, a person with firsthand knowledge of his confession said.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Thursday because he was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case against 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo, who was in custody.

DiNardo told authorities that a co-conspirator from Philadelphia was involved in three of the deaths, the person said.

The details were provided after one of DiNardo's lawyers said Thursday that DiNardo had confessed to killing the missing suburban Philadelphia men and told investigators where their bodies were located. DiNardo agreed to plead guilty to four first-degree murder counts, attorney Paul Lang said.

In exchange for DiNardo's cooperation, Lang said, prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.

The Bucks County district attorney didn't comment on the case Thursday night, though his office did tweet news reports of DiNardo's confession. Authorities were expected to release additional information Friday.

The person with knowledge of the confession said one of the men was killed July 5 and the other three were killed July 7.

"Every death was related to a purported drug transaction, and at the end of each one there's a killing," the person said.

DiNardo, 20, then burned the bodies — three of them inside a drum — at his family's farm in Solebury Township, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Philadelphia, the person said.

As a law enforcement official escorted a shackled DiNardo from the courthouse on Thursday, he said "I'm sorry." His parents declined to comment after leaving a government building where he spent several hours with investigators.

Authorities had charged DiNardo earlier this year with having a gun despite an involuntary mental health commitment. In seeking $5 million bail on a stolen car charge this week, prosecutors said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He also suffered a head injury in an ATV accident a year ago.

The victims are 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, 22-year-old Mark Sturgis, 21-year-old Tom Meo and 19-year-old Jimi Taro Patrick. Patrick, who was a year behind DiNardo at a Catholic high school, was last seen Wednesday, while the other three vanished two days later.

Cadaver dogs led investigators this week to the spot on the family farm where they discovered human remains inside a 12 ½-foot-deep common grave. So far, investigators said they have only been able to identify one set of remains — those of Finocchiaro.

Associated Press