Cosmo DiNardo murdered four men for no apparent reason: ID investigates

Mugshots of Sean Katz and Cosmo DiNardo
Sean Katz (left) and Cosmo DiNardo murdered four young men on DiNardo’s parent’s farm in Pennsylvania. Pic credit: Bucks County Sheriff’s Office

This week on Investigation Discovery, The Lost Boys of Bucks County looks at the chilling murder of four young men at a farm in Solebury Township in Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

In the first week of July in 2017, Dean Finocchiaro, age 19; Thomas Meo, 21; Jimi T. Patrick, 19; and Mark Sturgis, 22, were all reported missing by their families.

A few days later, Cosmo DiNardo, then aged 20, confessed to police officers that he had murdered and buried all four men at his parent’s farm. He was assisted in three of the murders by his second cousin, Sean Katz.

DiNardo was picked up by police when he attempted to sell Meo’s car. When the police then tracked Finocchiario’s cellphone to the farm, DiNardo agreed to give a full confession.

DiNardo had lured all the men to the farm with the promise of being able to buy marijuana. The first victim was Jimi Patrick, who came to the farm on July 5. After it became clear Patrick didn’t have enough money to purchase the agreed amount of drugs, DiNardo shot him dead.

The second victim, Dean Finocchiaro, was shot two days later by both DiNardo and Katz, in what DiNardo described as a robbery.

Mark Sturgis and Thomas Meo were killed a few hours later when they also turned up to buy marijuana. Meo was still alive after being shot, and as DiNardo had run out of bullets, he ran over him with a backhoe. He buried Sturgis, Meo, and Finocchiaro in the same 12-foot deep grave.

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Cosmo DiNardo couldn’t explain why he killed the four men

A motive for the killings has never been adequately determined.

Towards the end of his confession, DiNardo broke down in tears, “I don’t know why I did this s**t man,” he blubbed. “I threw my life away for nothing. My life’s done,” he added, “for nothing.”

Sean Katz claimed he shot Finocchiaro because he was afraid of DiNardo, who had apparently threatened his family.

On May 16, 2016, Cosmo DiNardo entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences.

In November 2019, Sean Kratz was finally found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Finocchiaro; he was also found guilty of manslaughter in the case of Sturgis and Meo. He was sentenced to life in prison.

More from Investigation Discovery

Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on ID.

Catherine Mehaffey-Shelton shot her ex-lover Gary Taylor in the back in a real-life case of fatal attraction; despite being injured, he managed to escape. Mehaffey-Shelton’s husband, George Tedesco, had previously been killed in mysterious circumstances.

Sara Williamson Raras was engaged in a brutal custody and divorce battle with her husband Lorenzo when she was found stabbed to death in her home. Her killer would turn out to be her mother-in-law Emilia Raras; the 64-year-old grandmother was allegedly angered at Sara’s perceived disrespect.

The Lost Boys of Bucks County airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.

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Jason
Jason
3 years ago

Just finished the documentary. Cosmo was one cold blooded killer. I think that when he killed the first person he got a taste of the power trip and wanted more. Killing is a power trip for most of these nut cakes. Cosmo talked about running the guy over as he laid paralyzed with a back ho. Chilling

Bonnie Akridge
Bonnie Akridge
3 years ago
Reply to  Jason

What’s worse is there were two of them involved. I believe a cousin. And yes, the poor kid who saw that backhoe coming at him knowing he could not get out of its way haunts me.

Bonnie Akridge
Bonnie Akridge
3 years ago

This was huge news up here and yeah Philly is high crime, but this here was in peaceful bucolic farm country north of the city. I go to New Hope all the time for shopping and dining. Who knew these nutjobs were lurking literally just 3 miles down the road.

Michael Lee Earhart
Michael Lee Earhart
2 years ago

I feel so sad for the parents, a parents worst nightmare!

Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago

On July 10, DiNardo was arrested for an unrelated weapons charge.[5] 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]

Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago

From WikIpedia: On July 10, DiNardo was arrested for an unrelated weapons charge.[5] 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]

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