DA: Man confesses to killing four at farm

Will be spared death penalty

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A marijuana dealer gave police a grisly account of killing four men on his family’s farm, saying he crushed one of them with a backhoe after shooting him and tried to set three of the bodies on fire in a metal bin with the help of his cousin, according to court papers filed Friday.

Cosmo DiNardo, who graduated from a Catholic prep school two years ago, said he killed a former schoolmate when he arrived with $800 to buy $8,000 worth of pot. DiNardo, who’s charged along with his cousin, said he shot another man in the back as he tried to run away.

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.

The only motive disclosed by investigators was that DiNardo said he wanted to set the victims up when they went to the farm to buy marijuana. One man vanished July 5, and the others vanished two days later.

Three of the slain men were buried at the farm, in Solebury, in an oil tank that had been converted into a cooker. The FBI found them Wednesday after four days of methodical hand-digging and sifting in a spot on the 90-acre farm that dogs had sniffed out.

Authorities might never have found the fourth body unless they worked with DiNardo, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said.

“I don’t know what convinced him [to confess]. I’d like to think he wanted to get these boys home,” Mr. Weintraub said, explaining the surprise plea agreement forged Thursday that led to the final body.

DiNardo told police where to find 19-year-old Loyola University of Maryland student Jimi Taro Patrick, who was a year behind DiNardo at Holy Ghost Prep School near Bensalem, and agreed to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

In exchange, he will be spared the death penalty.

Investigators would still be looking for Mr. Patrick’s body had they not made the agreement with DiNardo, Mr. Weintraub said.

“It was so far away [from the others on the farm] that I started to get sick to my stomach on the ride,” he said.

DiNardo’s history of mental illness includes involuntary commitment, a schizophrenia diagnosis and repeated contacts with police. He also suffered a head injury last year in an ATV accident.

DiNardo is charged with four homicide counts and 20 other crimes, including abuse of a corpse, conspiracy and robbery.

“I’m sorry,” DiNardo said Thursday as he was led into a police van.

His cousin Sean Kratz, 20, faces 20 counts, including three homicide counts.

The other victims were 19year-old Dean Finocchiaro, 22-year-old Mark Sturgis and 21-year-old Tom Meo.