Investigators Lay Out Gruesome Chain Of Events In Solebury Slayings

Authorities have filed homicide charges against two men they say lured their acquaintances to a rural Bucks County property with the promise of selling them marijuana then fatally shot them and buried their bodies.

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, of Bensalem, who has already confessed to his role in the four killings, faces four counts of criminal homicide and related charges. DiNardo's cousin, Sean Michael Kratz, 20, of Philadelphia faces three counts of criminal homicide and related charges.

Police said DiNardo killed the victims in three separate shootings, all of which took place on DiNardo's family farm on Lower York Road in Solebury. Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, of Newtown Township was killed first on July 5, authorities said.

Authorities allege on July 7 DiNardo and Krantz killed Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown Township; Thomas Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township; and Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg. Those shootings also happened on the Solebury property.

The charges come after a massive search effort at the DiNardo farm and the subsequent discovery of human remains there as early as Wednesday. See timeline here.

Authorities say DiNardo buried Patrick in a single grave on his parents' land in Solebury and buried the other three victims in a 12-foot-deep common grave on the same property.

The slayings were connected to three separate drug transactions, the District Attorney's office said.

It began on July 5, when DiNardo told investigators he picked up Patrick at his Newtown home and took him to the property in Solebury after he agreed to sell him four pounds of marijuana for $8,000.

When Patrick had only $800, DiNardo took him to a remote part of the property, where he fatally shot him with a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said. DiNardo then used a backhoe that was on the property, dug a 6-foot hole and buried him, authorities allege.

Patrick's body was located in the grave late Thursday, the District Attorney's office confirmed.

Two days later, on July 7, DiNardo allegedly agreed to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana to Finocchiaro for about $700. DiNardo first picked up Kratz and drove to Finocchiaro's home in Middletown Township.

The pair agreed ahead of time that they would rob Finocchiaro, DiNardo told investigators.

Kratz, armed with a .357 handgun belonging to DiNardo's mother, drove with DiNardo and Finocchiaro to the Solebury property, where Kratz shot Finocchiaro in the head, the affidavit said. Kratz disputes that and says he did not pull the trigger.

DiNardo then took the gun and shot Finocchiaro a second time as he lay on the ground, the affidavit of probable cause said. He then wrapped Finocchiaro in a blue tarp and placed in him a metal tank that he referred to as a "pig roaster," the affidavit said.

Later that same day, DiNardo met Meo and Sturgis at a church parking lot in Peddlers Village after setting up a meeting for a marijuana deal.

Meo and Sturgis followed him to the Solebury property in Meo's Nissan Maxima, and after parking on Aquetong Road, they got into DiNardo's truck. The three drove to the Lower York Road property where Kratz was waiting, the affidavit said.

"When they turn their backs on me, I shot Tom in the back," DiNardo said, according to charging documents. Meo lay screaming on the ground as he shot Sturgis, who was trying to flee. But DiNardo ran out of ammunition at the point, he told investigators, so he used the backhoe and "basically crushes" Meo, Kratz told investigators.

DiNardo then allegedly used the backhoe to lift both bodies into a metal tank where he already had put Finocchiaro's body. He poured gasoline in the tank and lit it, then Kratz and DiNardo left the farm, the affidavit said.

DiNardo and Kratz returned to the property Saturday and, using the backhoe, dug a 12.5-foot hole to bury the tank containing the bodies, authorities said. Finocchiaro's remains were found Wednesday. The remains of the others have since been located.

Both men are being held without bail.

DiNardo on Thursday confessed to having a role in the deaths in exchange for being spared from the death penalty, his lawyer said publicly.

Watch: Bodies Of 4 Missing PA Men Found, 2 Charged

Photos: Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz, provided by Bucks County District Attorney's Office