💡 Get Philly smart 💡
with BP’s free daily newsletter
Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes — not that we’re counting.
Cosmo Dinardo wrapped the body of Dean Finocchiaro in a blue tarp last Friday night and attempted to drag the victim out of his family’s Bucks County barn until the tarp got stuck on a nail. Instead Dinardo tried a backhoe to move the body. Then, according to a police affidavit, he placed the Finocchiaro’s body in a metal tank he referred to as the “pig roaster,” doused the corpse in gasoline, and lit it ablaze.
While the news this week of the quadruple homicide in Bucks County has come out in spurts, Friday afternoon’s release of the arrest affidavit reveals nearly the entirety of the grisly events that led to the death of four young men. The documents contain details from the Bucks County Police Department’s investigation and an interview with Dinardo, who Thursday confessed to involvement in the slayings of Finocchiaro, Thomas Meo, Jimi Patrick, and Mark Sturgis. It tells the story of rural drug and gun deals gone wrong, and the violent aftermath. While it adds the “how,” there’s no information that points to the “why” — the motive behind the deaths.
These details come from the affidavit and are what the Bucks County Police Department allege to have occurred.
Victim One: Jimi Patrick
The saga began on July 5. That’s when Dinardo told investigators he agreed to sell Patrick four pounds of marijuana for $8,000. Patrick came with $800, and Dinardo told him he could sell him a shotgun for that price instead. Dinardo took Patrick to a remote area of the farm and gave him a shotgun — then shot and killed him with a 22 caliber rifle. Later, Dinardo drove the backhoe back to the location where he shot Patrick, and buried his body in a hole about six feet deep.
Victim Two: Dean Finocchario
Two nights later, on Friday July 7, Dinardo picked up his Northeast Philly cousin Sean Kratz and then Finocchiaro. They drove him to Dinardo’s family property at Lower York Road in Bucks County. Finocchiaro had come to buy drugs; Kratz and Dinardo had planned to rob him. When they made it to the barn, Kratz shot Finocchario in the head. Dinardo shot Finocchiaro while he was on the ground, believing him to already be dead, and then disposed of the body in the aforementioned “pig roaster.”
Victims Three and Four: Thomas Meo and Mark Sturgis
The same night, Dinardo had a drug deal set up with Thomas Meo, who had brought along friend Mark Sturgis. After meeting them at the outdoor shopping mall Peddler’s Village, Dinardo drove them in his truck back to the farm. When they were out and turned their backs, he shot Meo, who fell to the ground screaming. Sturgis started running away, but he shot him, too, with a Smith and Wesson. Dinardo then took the backhoe and drove it over Meo’s body. Kratz told investigators Dinardo “basically crushes him” with it. He used the backhoe to move the bodies and light them on fire in the metal tank.
The waiting began after that. Parents of the victims reported their sons missing on July 8 and July 9. By July 9, investigators first interviewed Dinardo. He said he took Finocchiaro in his car but kicked him out after declining to sell him drugs and then spent the rest of the night fishing.
Police latched onto Dinardo after finding Meo’s Nissan Altima and his diabetes kit on Dinardo’s property. They found the remains of the three bodies Thursday and by the evening had gotten Dinardo to confess.
