PHILADELPHIA _ Cosmo DiNardo has "confessed to his participation or commission" in the killings of four missing men in exchange for a promise from prosecutors that they would not pursue the death penalty, DiNardo's defense attorney told reporters outside the Bucks County Courthouse late Thursday afternoon.
"In exchange for his confession, Mr. DiNardo was promised by the district attorney that he will spare his life by not invoking the death penalty," said lawyer Paul Lang.
Bucks County District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub planned to hold a news conference later Thursday evening, his office said, after Lang's statement. He has not confirmed the attorney's statement, but the office retweeted a report of it.
Prosecutors had canceled a 3 p.m. news conference Thursday, telling the public to stay tuned for updates, as investigators continued to retrieve human remains Thursday from the Bucks County farm where a massive search was set off this week by the men's disappearance.
Late Wednesday, Weintraub confirmed investigators found remains of multiple bodies, and confirmed that Dean R. Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown, who disappeared Friday, was among the dead. Also missing are Thomas Meo, 21, of Plumstead; Mark R. Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg; and Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, of Newtown. All appeared to have some connection to DiNardo.
"We negotiated this outcome for Cosmo to be very honest, forthright and truthful in what occurred within the last week and a half," Lang said. DiNardo "did give a full confession and he was very forthright and gave all relevant details that he could." He also told the district attorney where the four bodies were.
As to whether DiNardo's parents were involved, Lang said: "I'll leave that for their attorney. ... As far as I know, no."
Lang said he would not say what DiNardo's motive was out of respect for the families involved. "That'll come out in time," he said.
As DiNardo was led out of court Thursday evening, news footage showed he said "I'm sorry" as reporters asked what he would say to the families of the men he confessed to killing.
DiNardo, 20, had been jailed on $5 million bail on a charge of stealing Meo's car and was named a person of interest in the case. At his arraignment Wednesday, prosecutors said he was a "dangerous person."
DiNardo had previously been committed to a mental health facility, had had contact with local police multiple times since 2011, and had been banned from Arcadia University's campus after attending one semester there, according to various sources.
The search for the missing men centered at DiNardo's parents' property in Solebury Township, where investigators combed 90 acres in a dayslong hunt that brought them Wednesday to a 12-foot-deep grave with the remains of multiple bodies inside.
