DiNardo could still face death penalty in Bucks Co. murders
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (WTXF) - Bucks County prosecutors have filed notices of aggravating circumstances in the murder cases of four young men authorities say were killed by Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz on a farm own by DiNardo's parents this summer.
District Attorney Matthew Weintraub previously struck a deal with Cosmo DiNardo, agreeing not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for information on the whereabouts of one of the victims' remains.
The District Attorney's Office tells FOX 29, filing notices of aggravating circumstances is standard procedure, and the deal with DiNardo remains in place should he plead guilty in each of the four deaths, and agree to four consecutive life sentences.
Weintraub says if DiNardo does not keep his end of the deal, the notices of aggravation allow prosecutors to bring the death penalty back into play
DiNardo and Kratz, both 20, were both held for trial back in September in the deaths of Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, Dean Finocchiaro, 19, Thomas Meo, 21, and Mark Sturgis, 22.
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Investigators say all four of the men were shot dead on a sprawling Solebury Township property owned by DiNardo's parents, and three of them were buried deep in the ground inside an oil drum on the property. The body of Jimi Taro Patrick was found on a different part of the property.
Bucks County District Attorney Weintraub says making the deal with DiNardo not to pursue the death penalty helped lead them to Jimi Taro Patrick's body.
Additional charges against both men include conspiracy, robbery, abuse of a corpse, and possession of an instrument of crime.