Bodies of missing men found buried on Bucks County farm

(Updated: July 14, 2017)  

Bodies of at least two young men missing since last week were found buried in a 12.5-foot common grave on a large wooded property in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the evening of July 12.  One of the deceased recovered from that grave near the town of New Hope, has been identified as 19-year-old Dean A. Finocchiaro, who has been missing since July 7, according to Philly.com.  It was originally believed that all four of the young missing men were buried together. As of July 14, only Finocchiaro’s remains have been positively identified.

At a July 12 televised press conference, Philly.com quoted District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub as saying “this is a homicide, make no mistake about it.”  Weintraub went on to say that he just couldn’t say yet how many homicides there are in total; and he promised to reunite the remains of the missing young men with their families.

Arrested after being deemed a person of interest early in the investigation into the missing men is 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo, who is the son of the property owner where the bodies were discovered.  DiNardo has since been charged with stealing and trying to sell a car belonging to one of the missing men, Thomas C. Meo.

A Bensalem man told police DiNardo tried to sell the 1996 Nissan Maxima for $500 on July 8, according to court filings. Early the next morning, it was found at a different DiNardo property on nearby Aquetong Road, and Sturgis’ Nissan was found less than two miles away, near Peddler’s Village. ~ per Philly.com

A diabetic kit belonging to Meo was found in the car.  The suspect’s parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, own the property described as a “sprawling farm” by the Baltimore Sun.  DiNardo is being held on $5 million bail. Prosecutors are considering bringing murder charges against DiNardo.

Finocchiaro disappeared Friday along with Meo, 21, of Plumstead, and Mark R. Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg. Another young man, Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, of Newtown, went missing two days earlier. All appeared to have some connection to DiNardo.  ~ per Philly.com

Weintraub told reporters that the human remains were located on the Bucks County property with the help of cadaver dogs.  At Wednesday’s press conference, Weintraub said “those dogs could smell those poor boys 12-and-a-half-feet below the ground.”  Weintraub added that the excavation process of recovering the bodies is being conducted in a very meticulous manner as to not disturb any evidence.

(Update) In a separate report from Philly.com, DiNardo confessed fully to investigators that he killed all four men and buried their bodies on his parents’ farm.  Three of the bodies are said to be in the one common grave, with a fourth body in a location nearby.  DiNardo is expected to point the investigators directly to the second grave.

DiNardo’s confession was in exchange for prosecutors not pursuing the death penalty against him. In that confession, he also claimed to have had an accomplice in the murders. DiNardo has since been charged with “four counts each of homicide, robbery, abuse of corpse and conspiracy,” according to court records. Also arrested in Northeast Philadelphia and also charged with three of the killings is DiNardo’s cousin and alleged accomplice, 20-year-old Sean Kratz.

In further updated information, CBS Philly released the horrific details on exactly how and why DiNardo and his cousin killed their victims.  The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office reported that on July 5, victim Jimi Patrick agreed to pay DiNardo $8,000 to buy four pounds of marijuana from DiNardo.  But as the deal was going down, Patrick could only produce $800.  As a ruse, DiNardo told Patrick that he’d sell him a shotgun and took Patrick to a remote area of his parents’ property where he shot Patrick and used a backhoe to dig a six foot hole where he buried his victim.

On July 7, the two murderous cousins were to sell more marijuana to victim Finocchiaro but ended up just robbing him.  According to CBS Philly, “DiNardo gave Kratz a Smith and Wesson where he shot Finocchiaro in the head inside a bar on the Solebury Township property.  DiNardo also allegedly shot Finocchiaro but claims he was already dead.”  After killing Finocchiaro, the cousins wrapped his lifeless body in a tarp.  The two then deposited the body inside a large metal tank that DiNardo referred to as a “pig roaster.”

Also on July 7, DiNardo arranged another marijuana sale to victims Meo and Sturgis.  Dinardo met the two at Peddlers Village and then proceeded to the DiNardo family proerty.  When Meo arrived at the farm, DiNardo told investigators that “he shot Meo in the back and then shot Sturgis who was trying to run away,” according to CBS Philly.

“Officials say DiNardo then drove a backhoe over Meo, picked up the bodies of Meo and Sturgis and threw them in the same metal tank as Finocchiaro.   DiNardo allegedly then poured gas on the bodies and lit them on fire,“  according to CBS Philly.

Written by: Ace Staff