another twist in the bucks county, pa murders: defense attorney admits leaking evidence

(Bucks County District Attorney's Office)

An attorney representing one of the two cousins accused in the deaths of four young men in Pennsylvania last summer, is now off the case and admits that he leaked evidence to the media.
 
A day after a Bucks County judge granted a request by attorney Craig Penglase to no longer represent Sean Kratz, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has released a letter written by Penglase in which he admits to leaking so-called confession tapes of his client and Kratz’s cousin, Cosmo DiNardo, to the media.
 
The tapes were discussed during court appearances by DiNardo and Kratz last week, but the DA’s Office had refused to publicly release them. Prosecutors said they did not consider the tapes to be public record.
 
Later that evening, however, a local media outlet aired portions of the tapes in which DiNardo could be heard saying “I don’t know why I did this” and calmly admits to murdering Jimi Patrick, Mark Sturgis, and Tom Meo. Kratz could also be heard discussing the death of Dean Finocchiaro, saying “I pulled the gun out. You know, I, I aimed it in the air … Closed my eyes, and fired a shot.”

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All four men were later found buried on a sprawling farm owned by DiNardo’s parents.
 
DiNardo pleaded guilty last week to charges of homicide, conspiracy, robbery and abusing a corpse. He was then sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison. Kratz, meanwhile, surprised prosecutors by decided to reject a plea deal, opting to instead go to trial. Prosecutors said they’ll now seek the death penalty.

Penglase Letter by Mark Remillard on Scribd