Killer confesses to gunning down and burying four missing men
A self-confessed schizophrenic killer has confessed to luring four young men to his family's farm only to gun the down in cold blood and dump the bodies on the property.
Cosmo DiNardo, 20, and Sean Kratz, 20, were accused of shooting and killing three of the men, while Dinardo alone was accused of killing the fourth, according to Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.
After initially being arrested on charges relating to illegal possession of a shotgun and ammunition, DiNardo told authorities the location of Jimi Tar Patrick, Mark Sturgis, Tom Meo and Dean Finocchario in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Cosmo DiNardo admitted to gunning down and burying the four missing men.
While DiNardo was named a person of interest in the disappearances, he was released from custody after he posted a $1 million bail.
Then on Wednesday, authorities arrested DiNardo on charges he tried to sell Meo's 1996 Nissan Maxima a day after he was last seen.
DiNardo's bail was set at $5 million in cash, the highest that Bucks County Magisterial District Judge Maggie Snow has ever set, she said.
DiNardo told authorities the location of Jimi Tar Patrick, Mark Sturgis, Tom Meo and Dean Finocchario in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Shortly after, investigators found three bodies in a common grave under an oil tank on the farm. The fourth body was found buried nearby, prosecutors said.
DA Weintraub said that DiNardo confessed to his role in the murders to avoid the death penalty. He said DiNardo led authorities to the fourth body.
According to an arrest affidavit, DiNardo told police he had agreed to sell marijuana to the men on three occasions at the property.
DiNardo said that on July 5th he had planned to sell Patrick four pounds of marijuana for $8,000. However, the buyer only had $800 when he came to make the exchange, the affidavit said.
"DiNardo offered to sell him a shotgun for that amount," prosecutors said in a statement on Friday.
"They walked to a remote part of the property, where DiNardo said he fatally shot Patrick with a .22 caliber rifle."
The 20-year-old confessed to the murders in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. Source: New York Post
The other three men were fatally shot when they went to the farm on July 7 to buy marijuana from DiNardo, who was joined by Kratz, prosecutors said.
DiNardo was charged with four counts each of criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, three counts of robbery and abuse of a corpse.
Kratz was charged with three counts of criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and robbery.
