Sean Kratz Pretrial Hearings Begin In Solebury Township Killings

A man charged in assisting in the 2017 murders of four men in Solebury Township appeared in court on Monday as his pretrial hearings began.

Sean Kratz, the cousin of Cosmo DiNardo, is charged with three counts of criminal homicide. He rejected a plea deal in 2018 which would have landed him a jail sentence of 59 to 118 years, authorities said. Prosecutors will now seek the death penalty against Kratz, 22, multiple sources reported.

Court documents show that Kratz's actual trial was originally slated to begin on Monday, April 15, but was delayed, and pretrial hearings commenced instead.

>>Cosmo DiNardo Killings To Be Featured In True Crime TV Show

DiNardo pleaded guilty to four counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to four life terms in prison.

The pair are charged in connection with the deaths of Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, of Newtown; Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown Township; Thomas Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township; and Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg. Kratz, faces homicide charges in the deaths of Meo, Finocchiaro and Sturgis.

Authorities say the cousins lured their acquaintances to a rural Solebury Township property with the promise of selling them marijuana then fatally shot them and buried their bodies. 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 disappearances resulted in a massive search effort at the DiNardo farm and the subsequent discovery of human remains there. (See timeline here.)

After the murders, the pair reportedly went out for a "post-massacre cheeseteak meal."

With reporting from Patch correspondent Kara Seymour