Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
The trial for accused killers Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz has been set for November.
Bucks County President Judge Jeffrey Finley issued an order Thursday that sets the start date for the trial as Wednesday, November 7. Jury selection in the case against the two 20-year-old cousins is set to begin Monday, October 29.
The judge also set a case status conference for Thursday, April 26 and ordered pre-trial motions to be filed by Friday, May 11.
Any pre-trial motions filed by either side would be litigated in mid-September.
DiNardo and Kratz both face multiple charges of homicide, conspiracy, robbery and related offenses stemming from the summer 2017 killings of Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown; Thomas Meo, 21, of Plumstead Township; and Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg, Montgomery County. DiNardo is also accused of killing Jimi Patrick, 19, of Newtown Township.
All of the young men were lured to the DiNardo family’s large Solebury farm property.
Police found the bodies of Finocchiaro, Meo and Sturgis buried near a field on the farm. Patrick’s body was found in a wooded area on another portion of the property.
DiNardo confessed to his alleged role in crimes and struck a deal with prosecutors that would have him cooperate in exchange for the district attorney’s office not seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors filed aggravating circumstances motions later last year that will open the door for the district attorney’s office to go for a capital punishment sentence if the two are convicted of first-degree murder and at least one aggravating circumstance. District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in fall that the filing was standard and the previously agreed upon deal that would have DiNardo avoiding capital punishment in exchange for cooperation remains in place.
The defense teams for both defendants are currently in the discovery phase, according to court records.
Earlier this month, attorney Niels Eriksen, who is representing Kratz along with attorney Craig Penglase, filed a sealed document with the court.
