15 July, 2017
The criminal complaint said DiNardo told authorities the killings began July 5 after he agreed to sell Jim Patrick, 19, the first victim, four pounds of marijuana for $8,000. That excavation yielded the remains of four bodies that Mr. Weintraub said had been identified as the missing men: Jimi Taro Patrick, 19; Dean Finocchiaro, 19; Thomas Meo, 21; and Mark Sturgis, 22.
"I feel relief. I feel so proud of my team and I feel resolved", said Weintraub during a press conference on Friday.
The arrest of Mr. Kratz, who has a history of burglary, theft and related arrests, widened the scope of an already sprawling case that has involved a large-scale hunt for the victims, searches of multiple properties, and excavations on the farm in Solebury Township owned by Mr. DiNardo's parents. He said three of the men's remains - those of Meo, Finocchiaro and Sturgis - were discovered in a 12-foot deep common grave, while Patrick's remains were found in another location on the farm. Also found in the Nissan was Meo's insulin kit for treatment of his diabetes, which the the district attorney said he "never went anywhere without". The admission came in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table, and DiNardo's lawyers did not provide motive or much in the way of details in making the announcement. The other man, Cosmo Dinardo, had a dark, grisly secret, police say.
Patrick and Cosmo DiNardo, whose parents own the farmland, graduated from Holy Ghost Preparatory School a year apart from each other, school spokesman Bill Doherty said. DiNardo sold quarter-pound quantities of marijuana for several thousand dollars and sold handguns to area residents, the person said.
All the men were shot and killed during drug transactions with DiNardo on his family's property in Solebury.
DiNardo faces four criminal homicide counts and Kratz three.
A judge ruled Friday that 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo and 20-year-old Sean Kratz will be jailed separately after prosecutors argued the men were dangers to society.
The four young victims, who went missing last week, were lured to the remote property with promises of buying marijuana, but they were shot and killed, and buried in graves dug by a backhoe, according to the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, district attorney.
According to Philadelphia Inquirer writer Laura McCrystal, Weintraub said that he made a plea deal with DiNardo to find the body of the fourth man who was still missing. He placed Finocchiaro's body in a metal tank, which he referred to as a "pig roaster", according to court records. Here's what we know about their mysterious disappearance and the investigation that has consumed this suburban community and riveted the nation.
At a barn at DiNardo's property, Kratz allegedly shot Finocchiaro in the head, DiNardo said.
DiNardo, 20, pinned one of the deaths on his cousin, who was charged Friday, although the cousin told police that DiNardo shot all four of the victims. Sturgis then started to run, but Dinardo fired at him until he ran out of ammo, court documents say, and Sturgis fell to the ground.
In a separate statement, Kratz largely corroborated DiNardo's story, saying Meo died after DiNardo "basically crushes him" with the backhoe. He also used at least two guns in the slayings, investigators said.
DiNardo was being held on $5 million cash bail before his confession, accused of stealing and attempting to sell a auto belonging to Thomas Meo to a friend for $500.
AP reporter Anthony Izaguirre contributed from Philadelphia.
Finocchiaro was positively identified early Thursday after his remains were found in what Weintraub called a mass grave.
Weintraub says the recovered 1996 Nissan Maxima contained 21-year-old Tom Meo's life-saving diabetic medication.
The county's top prosecutor indicated that Patrick's body was up to a half a mile away from the other men's bodies and described it as "being up on top of the mountain".
