July 14, 2017
/ Bucks County District Attorney's Office
These are the four missing men believed to have been killed and buried in Buck County. Clockwise from the top left: Jimi Tar Patrick, Thomas Charles Meo, Dean Andrew Finocchiaro and Mark Richard Sturgis.
A second person of interest in the brutal killings of four men in Bucks County was taken into custody on Thursday night, according to multiple media reports.
Sean M. Kratz, 20, of Northeast Philadelphia, was taken in by authorities late Thursday night along the 800 block of Magee Avenue in Oxford Circle, Philly.com is reporting.
Cosmo DiNardo, 20, of Bensalem, confessed to "committing or participating" in the murder of Mark Sturgis, 22, Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, Tom Meo, 21 and Dean Finocchiaro, 19, all of whom went missing last week, his attorney said Thursday.
So far, only Finocchiaro's body has been identified by the Bucks County District Attorney's office after cadaver dogs detected his remains – along with other human remains – buried in a deep hole on DiNardo's family's farm in Solebury, Bucks County.
#BREAKING: @FOX29philly sources identify 2nd person in custody in #BucksCo slayings as Sean Kratz, 20, of Mayfair.
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) July 14, 2017
The Associated Press reported that DiNardo killed the four men separately after selling them marijuana and burned their bodies on the farm property in a brutal case that has captured national media attention.
The Bucks County District Attorney's office has postponed two press conferences, one scheduled at 11 p.m. Thursday and another 11 a.m Friday pending the confirmation of the information expected to be released. Another press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday in Doylestown.
Kratz has two open criminal cases against him in Philadelphia. Charges include burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and more.
According to court documents, Kratz has listed a home address in Ambler, Montgomery County, as well as in Northeast Philadelphia.
A person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that a co-conspirator was involved in the deaths of three of the men.
Investigators made a break in the case Wednesday when the remains of Finocchiaro, of Middletown, were found in a 12-1/2-foot deep grave on DiNardo's family's farm property, along with other human remains, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub announced at a midnight press conference Thursday.
The identities of the other human remains found on the farm have not been released.
Among the alleged victims, Patrick disappeared last Wednesday, according to authorities, and Sturgis, Meo and Finocchario vanished Friday.
On Wednesday, DiNardo was arrested for the second time in three days after he allegedly tried to sell a car belonging to Meo of Bensalem for $500. He was being held on $5 million cash bail in the car theft case when he reportedly confessed to his role in the killings.
According to a police affidavit, police found Meo's car Sunday on a DiNardo family property in Solebury Township, Bucks County, where the farm is also located. They said the keys and a title were hanging up in a garage. A witness said DiNardo offered to sell him the car on Saturday.
Police have been searching the farmland owned by DiNardo's family in Solebury Township since Sunday. Weintraub has said authorities have found evidence in two different locations, but he did not specify where.
DiNardo first was arrested Monday on an unrelated gun charge. His father posted $100,000 to bail him out Tuesday.
Earlier Wednesday, the prosecutor said other important evidence had been found both at the family farm about 30 miles north of Philadelphia and other properties, but no human remains.
On the last night Meo and Sturgis were seen, a police license plate scanner picked up DiNardo's truck and Meo's car driving just seconds apart. The location was within a couple of miles from where Meo's car was found and where Sturgis' vehicle was discovered, a short distance away.
An attorney for DiNardo's parents, Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, issued a statement Wednesday saying the couple sympathize with the families of the missing men and are cooperating "in every way possible with the investigation."
The DiNardo farm alone covers 90 acres, much of it cornfields. They also own other nearby farm parcels, along with concrete and construction businesses based in Bensalem, about 20 miles away, where the son was arrested at the family home.
At least some of the missing men are friends, but it's unclear how well they knew DiNardo, if at all. Online records suggest he attended the same Catholic high school as Patrick but was a year ahead.
In the February gun charge he still faces, DiNardo is accused of illegally being in possession of a shotgun and ammunition because of a previous involuntary commitment to a mental health institution. An affidavit in that case said he is "known to be suffering from mental illness."
His social media posts suggest an avid interest in hunting, fishing and Air Jordan sneakers, which he appeared to sell online. He had enrolled in a nearby college at one point as a commuter student, with hopes of studying abroad in Italy, according to an article on the college website. He had a few other brushes with the law since turning 18 over traffic violations and other minor infractions.
