Two men were charged Friday with multiple counts of criminal homicide and other crimes in connection with the deaths of four young men who went missing last week in suburban Philadelphia, according to the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, district attorney
Cosmo Dinardo, 20, was charged with four counts each of criminal homicide, conspiracy and abuse of a corpse as well as with robbery and a weapons charge, documents show. Sean Kratz, also 20, was charged with three counts each of criminal homicide, conspiracy, robbery and abuse of a corpse as well as a weapons charge, according to documents.
The charges relate to the killings of Jimi Patrick, Thomas Meo, Mark Sturgis and Dean Finocchiaro, who went missing within miles of each other in Bucks County.
All four men were shot and killed and then buried on the sprawling property owned by Dinardo’s parents in Solebury Township that has been at the center of the investigation, according to a statement from the Bucks County district attorney’s office.
Dinardo admitted to “his participation or commission in the murders of the four young men,” his attorney, Paul Lang, said Thursday.
All shot and killed
The four killings took place in three separate incidents, each of which involved using marijuana to lure the men to Dinardo’s property, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Patrick, 19, was shot and killed on July 5, and Dinardo allegedly used a backhoe to dig a 6-foot-deep hole and bury him, the affidavit states.
On July 7, Dinardo allegedly picked up Kratz, and they planned to rob Finocchiaro, the affidavit states. They shot and killed Finocchiaro and then placed him in a metal tank that he referred to as the pig roaster, Dinardo said, according to the criminal complaint.
Shortly after, Dinardo and Kratz allegedly planned to pick up Meo and Sturgis, take them to the large property and then rob them. Dinardo told police that he shot Meo in the back, and as Sturgis started to run away, Dinardo shot Sturgis, killing him.
Dinardo then drove the backhoe over Meo and “basically crushes him,” Kratz told police, according to the complaint. Dinardo allegedly used the backhoe to lift their bodies up and put them in the metal tank with Finocchiaro’s body, according to the complaint.
Dinardo allegedly poured gasoline into the tank and lit it, the complaint says. Dinardo and Kratz returned to the property the next afternoon and used the backhoe to dig a hole and bury Finocchiaro, Meo and Sturgis, the complaint says.
Investigators found the bodies of Finocchiaro, Meo and Sturgis in a 12½-foot-deep grave Wednesday, according to the complaint. Patrick’s body was found in a separate grave late Thursday.
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