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July 2017 Pennsylvania murders

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July 2017 Pennsylvania murders
Top Row: Meo and Finocchiaro;
Bottom Row: Patrick and Sturgis
LocationBucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
DateJuly 5, 2017 – July 7, 2017
Attack type
Shooting, Murder
Deaths4
Victims
  • Dean A. Finocchiaro, age 19
  • Thomas C. Meo, age 21
  • Jimi T. Patrick, age 19
  • Mark R. Sturgis, age 22

Between July 5 and July 7, 2017, four young men were reported missing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. All were subsequently found murdered. The victims were Dean A. Finocchiaro, age 19; Thomas C. Meo, age 21; Jimi T. Patrick, age 19; and Mark R. Sturgis, age 22.

The murders are suspected to have been carried out by cousins Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Michael Kratz, both age 20.[1] The four victims were murdered, in three separate incidents, after DiNardo arranged to sell them marijuana.[2][1]

Murder victims

The disappearances began on July 5, with Patrick being the first of the men to vanish. Two days later, on July 7, Meo, Finocchiaro, and Sturgis were also reported missing. Each of the four men was reported to be murdered the same day he went missing.[3]

  • Dean A. Finocchiaro (December 18, 1997 – July 7, 2017) was last seen around 6:30 PM on July 7,[5] being picked up by an unidentified person, possibly DiNardo or Kratz. His remains were found in a common grave on a Solebury Township farm (owned by DiNardo's parents), along with the remains of Mark Sturgis and Thomas Meo on July 12, 2017. Finocchario's body was the first to be identified.[6] Finocchiaro and DiNardo had a good relationship, with DiNardo saying that they were like cousins.[3] As with Patrick, Finocchiaro had agreed to buy marijuana from DiNardo. This was the first murder in which Kratz was involved; the two men repeatedly shot Finocchiaro. His body was placed in a metal oil tank that had been converted to a pork roaster.[3]
  • Mark R. Sturgis (November 20, 1994 – July 7, 2017) went to meet his friend Thomas C. Meo (January 30, 1996 – July 7, 2017) at around 6:00 PM on July 7. Both men worked for Sturgis' father's construction company. The two did not show up for work and calls to their cellphones went directly to voice mail.[5] DiNardo met with Sturgis and Meo at a church to sell Meo marijuana.[3] Meo and Sturgis were both shot as they exited their truck. When he ran out of ammunition, DiNardo drove over a still-alive Meo with a backhoe, then placed both bodies in a metal tank that also held Finocchiaro's body. DiNardo attempted unsuccessfully to burn the bodies using gasoline.[1] He used the backhoe to bury the tank containing the three bodies.[3]

DiNardo, a drug dealer, confessed to killing the four men; he said he did so because he felt cheated or threatened during drug transactions.[7] The only motive disclosed by investigators was that DiNardo said he wanted to set the victims up when they came to the farm to buy marijuana.[8]

Investigation

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 8, authorities tracked Finocchiaro's cell phone to a 90-acre farm[9] in the Solebury Township owned by DiNardo's parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, who also own a cement and construction company.[10]

While being investigated for the four July 2017 Pennsylvania murders, DiNardo also claimed to be responsible for at least two other killings in the previous five years in Philadelphia.[11] Investigators have yet to verify these claims.[12]

Arrests

Cosmo DiNardo
Born (1997-01-21) January 21, 1997 (age 27)
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Criminal chargeHomicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, abuse of corpse, robbery, possession of instruments of crime
Sean Michael Kratz
Born (1997-02-14) February 14, 1997 (age 27)
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Criminal chargeHomicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, abuse of corpse, robbery, possession of instruments of crime

Second cousins[1] Cosmo DiNardo (born January 21, 1997) and Sean Michael Kratz (born February 14, 1997), both age 20, were charged in the murders.

On July 10, DiNardo was arrested for an unrelated weapons charge.[5] He was not allowed to own a firearm due to his schizophrenia; nevertheless, at least one of the firearms used by the perpetrators belonged to DiNardo's mother.[3][13] Despite 30 run-ins with local police, DiNardo, the son of a wealthy businessman, had, for unexplained reasons, never been convicted of a crime.[14] DiNardo was later released after his father posted 10% of the $1 million bail.[1]

On July 12, DiNardo was arrested and charged for stealing and attempting to sell a car that belonged to Thomas Meo for $500.[15] Suspicion was also raised by the fact that Meo left his insulin in the car, something his family said was unusual for him to do.[15] His bail was set at $5 million. The next day, DiNardo confessed to the murder of the four men. In exchange for his confession, prosecutors stated that they would not seek the death penalty.[1]

The day after his confession, DiNardo was charged with four counts of criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, abuse of corpse, and 12 other charges.

On July 14, Sean Michael Kratz was also charged with three counts of criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, abuse of corpse, and two other charges.[13] Unlike DiNardo, Kratz had a criminal history of burglary, conspiracy, criminal trespassing, theft, receiving stolen property, and criminal mischief.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Levenson, Eric (14 July 2017). "Cousins charged in homicides of four Pennsylvania men". CNN. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  2. ^ McCrone, Brian. "Cosmo DiNardo, Sean Kratz Charged With Allegedly Killing Young Men at Bucks County Farm". NBC Philadelphia. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Two Men Charged With Homicide in Four Solebury Slayings". Bucks County District Attorney's Office. 14 July 2017.
  4. ^ "The Latest: Maryland campus vigil held for 4 missing men". FOX News. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Haag, Matthew (10 July 2017). "Search in Pennsylvania for 4 Missing Men Focuses on a Vast Farm". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  6. ^ Babay, Emily (13 July 2017). "Bucks County missing men: Who they are". Philly. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  7. ^ Gmiter, Tanda (14 July 2017). "Suspect in Pennsylvania slaying of 4 men burned bodies in a drum after drug deals, source said". MLive.
  8. ^ Dale, Maryclaire; Izaguirre, Anthony (14 July 2017). "Grisly details revealed after 2 men charged in killing of missing men in Bucks". Associated Press.
  9. ^ Parker, Graham (2017-07-13). "Man admits to killing four youths who went missing in Pennsylvania". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  10. ^ CNN, Nicole Chavez, Eric Levenson, Anne Woolsey and Emanuella Grinberg. "Lawyer: Man admits involvement in murders of 4 missing men". CNN. Retrieved 2017-07-16. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Holden, Joe. "Sources: Cosmo DiNardo Confesses To 2 Other Killings". Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  12. ^ "Pennsylvania murders: Did pot dealer kill any others?". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  13. ^ a b McCausland, Phil (14 July 2017). "Cosmo Dinardo, Sean Michael Kratz Charged With Killing Four in Pennsylvania". NBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  14. ^ Hurdle, Jon (13 July 2017). "Man Admits to Killings of 4 Missing Men in Pennsylvania, Lawyer Says". New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  15. ^ a b O'Malley, James (13 July 2017). "BREAKING: Cosmo DiNardo defense attorney says client confessed to 'participation in murders of four young men'". Bucks County Courier Times. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
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