November 15, 2019
Source/Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Sean Kratz, of Northeast Philadelphia, was found guilty Friday of first- and second-degree murder in the case of the 2017 killings of Dean Finocchiaro, Mark Sturgis, and Tom Meo.
A Bucks County jury found Sean Kratz guilty Friday of first-degree murder and related charges for his role in the 2017 killings of Dean Finocchiaro, Mark Sturgis and Tom Meo.
Kratz, 22, of Northeast Philadelphia, was accused of shooting Finocchiaro at a Solebury Township farm in July 2017 and playing a role in the other two murders alongside his cousin, Cosmo DiNardo.
DiNardo, of Bensalem, pleaded guilty last May to four counts of first-degree murder, and is currently serving a term of life in prison. He also was charged with Jimi Tar Patrick, the fourth victim in the quadruple homicide, which put bucolic Solebury in the national spotlight for several weeks.
Kratz backed out of a similar plea deal.
Kratz was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder in the case of Finocchiaro, according to WFMZ, and voluntary manslaughter in the cases of Sturgis and Meo. Kratz also was found guilty on three counts of abuse of corpse, along with robbery, conspiracy, weapons possession and theft.
The case's penalty phase begins Monday. Prosecutors have repeatedly asserted they will be seeking the death penalty against Kratz.
Prosecutors claimed DiNardo lured the four men to the Solebury farm by promising to sell them large amounts of marijuana. Three of the victims' bodies were found in a 12-foot-deep grave on the farm, discovered by cadaver dogs. DiNardo later led investigators to the location of the fourth body.
In opening statements last week, prosecutors asserted that Kratz didn't kill the men for a specific reason, bu was just doing it "for fun." The defense attempted to paint Kratz as an "idiot" who could be coerced into participating in "anything," according to WFMZ.
Earlier this year, Investigation Discovery announced a true crime special about the case. The special will premiere in January.
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