2nd Man Charged In Solebury Killings Rejects Plea Deal

Sean Kratz, one of two men charged in connection with a killing spree at a Solebury Township farm last summer, rejected a plea deal during a Wednesday afternoon pretrial hearing. He is charged with three counts of criminal homicide.

The deal that was rejected would have given him a 59 to 118 year jail sentence for the deaths of three of the four victims, Action News reports. Prosecutors will now seek the death penalty against Kratz, 21, multiple sources are reporting.

His cousin, Cosmo Dinardo, also charged in connection with the deaths of the four young men, pleaded guilty earlier in the day to four counts of first degree murder. DiNardo, 21, of Bensalem will spend his life in jail in connection with the murders. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison.

DiNardo's guilty plea was made in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. He had previously confessed to his role in the four killings.

Authorities say DiNardo killed the four victims in three separate shootings, all of which took place on DiNardo's family farm on Lower York Road in Solebury. Kratz was involved with three of the shootings, prosecutors allege.

DiNardo has been charged with homicide 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.

Attorneys representing the families of Finocchiaro, Meo, and Patrick issued a joint statement following the DiNardo's guilty plea Wednesday morning.

“The families of Dean A. Finocchiaro, Thomas C. Meo and Jimi T. Patrick, while grieving, have satisfaction in knowing that Cosmo DiNardo will be spending his life in jail for the mayhem and murder which he perpetrated on three innocent young men, and, by extension, upon their families. He will be punished for his cowardly behavior, which is necessary retribution for the evil which he and his accomplice, Sean Kratz, committed," a statement from Thomas R. Kline, Robert J. Mongeluzzi, and Carin A. O’Donnell said.

Kline represents the family of Finocchiaro; Mongeluzzi, the family of Meo, and O’Donnell the family of Patrick.

Cosmo DiNardo

Sean Kratz

Investigators say Patrick was killed first on July 5. On July 7, authorities allege DiNardo and Krantz killed Finocchiaro, Meo and Sturgis.

DiNardo had previously confessed to the homicides in exchange for being spared the death penalty, according to authorities with the Bucks County District Attorney's office.

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.

RELATED: Investigators Lay Out Gruesome Chain Of Events In Solebury Slayings

The disappearances resulted in a massive search effort at the DiNardo farm and the subsequent discovery of human remains there. (See timeline here.)

Images via Bucks DA