A 21-year-old convicted of killing and burying four men in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, last year was handed a life sentence Wednesday, CNN reported. Cosmo DiNardo admitted to killing Thomas Meo, 21, Mark Sturgis, 22, Jimi Patrick, 19, and Dean Finocchiaro, 19.
The grisly murders attracted national attention after the four young men went missing last summer. Their bodies later were found on an expansive farm belonging to DiNardo's family. The young men all reportedly met with DiNardo to buy marijuana when he killed them. DiNardo confessed to luring them to the property, where he shot them.
DiNardo pleaded guilty to four counts of murder, as well as additional counts including abuse of a corpse and conspiracy, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. He was given four life sentences.
"Your Honor, I want the four families to know I am so sorry," he said in court, according to the DA's office. "If there was anything I could do to take back what occurred on those days, I would. I hope that they find some peace in knowing that I'm just genuinely—I can't even come to terms with what occurred. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Judge Jeffrey L. Finley, however, called the apology insincere and false, telling DiNardo he believed "human lives are disposable" and "have no value."
Family members who attended the proceedings had words for DiNardo Wednesday.
"Tom was brutally murdered," Meo's mother, Melissa Fratanduono, said. "He was tortured. My sweet Tom. He was treated like a piece of garbage."
DiNardo's cousin, Sean Kratz, 21, was also charged with murder. Unlike DiNardo, however, Kratz rejected a plea deal. Kratz was expected to go to trial, where prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
"We're undaunted as we continue to seek justice for our four buys, for Dean, for Jimi, for Tom, for Mark," said District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We're going to keep pursuing this case now against Sean Kratz solely."
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