The non-profit religiously-affiliated mental health clinic where I am a patient is shutting down in a few weeks for "financial reasons." The clinic's directors have offered no referrals or other support. I can't find a prescribing psychiatrist who accepts Medicare. I'm thinking about buying a gun, or more than one.
8
The Washington Post reported that the father owns a construction business and the mother owns a trucking business. There is speculation among the locals that the mass grave burial site, 12.5 feet deep, contains the remains of others not victims of this mass murder. There is also speculation that the family is an active participant in organized crime. Would the NYT please track down these rumors and report the evidence which either disproves or supports them? An organized crime scenario would be very different than a single shooter.
15
Yes, for all his mental challenges Jr seems just a bit too proficient operating that backhoe.
7
He volunteered info in exchange for his life. If ever a case merited the Death Penalty, this is it. What on earth does society gain keeping him alive for what could be another 50 years?
6
Mental deficiencies. But America allows him not just to own guns, but sell them too.
We are all crazy to keep this insanity going.
We are all crazy to keep this insanity going.
38
Writes the Times, "Officials gave no indication of a motive for the killings, but Mr. DiNardo, who suffered from mental illness, has had multiple run-ins with the local police, and an acquaintance said he had talked about killing people."
Oh, I think we sorta know the motive: Cosmo seeks fame. And not just 15 minutes of it.
Oh, I think we sorta know the motive: Cosmo seeks fame. And not just 15 minutes of it.
3
Its been reported that two of the deceased were involved in a transaction over a quarter-pound of marijuana. The dealer/killer ran guns, pot, whatever else- but these kids came to this lunatic to buy a little pot. The motive for the killing is allegedly robbery/revenge for feeling cheated.
Folks, this is over a measly QUARTER POUND of pot, which costs like 1,200. Dead over a little pot..and why? If this isn't an argument for full recreational legalization I don't know what is. Why should these kids be subject to ending up in a transaction with a psychopathic murderer just because they want to get a little high with their friends. The drug game is shady and dangerous and getting pot out of it ASAP will fill tax coffers, deprive criminal enterprises of funds, and- in this case-...save....actual...lives...
Folks, this is over a measly QUARTER POUND of pot, which costs like 1,200. Dead over a little pot..and why? If this isn't an argument for full recreational legalization I don't know what is. Why should these kids be subject to ending up in a transaction with a psychopathic murderer just because they want to get a little high with their friends. The drug game is shady and dangerous and getting pot out of it ASAP will fill tax coffers, deprive criminal enterprises of funds, and- in this case-...save....actual...lives...
15
Here comes all the pathetic mental ill excuses. Yep a drug dealing mentally ill man admits to killing for men over drug transactions who was mentally competent enough to burn and bury the bodies! You see every time a white person commits acts of murder the obvious excuses reign supreme. Yet had the face of the killer were a black man who murdered these 4 white men over drug transactions the news media would have had a field day, the comment sections would break the internet and white America would blame Barack Obama and Black Lives Matter protesters calling for the heads of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson at the same time!
The hypocrisy is absolutely bananas but as always it's to be expected!
The hypocrisy is absolutely bananas but as always it's to be expected!
23
Another mentally unstable person who, thanks to our 2nd Amendment patriots, had easy access to firearms. For shame.
44
I, too, feel great sadness when I hear about these young men and their lives taken. I am at a loss.
This now admitted killer had --- 30 --- contacts with one police department over six years. That is NOT normal. THAT is a very well known person to local authorities. That also means whoever called the police all 30 times is also very aware of DiNardo's behaviors. Many people, including law enforcement and around him, were very aware.
This admitted killer also had a gun incident through which authorities learned he had a mental illness. So it was no secret that this person was potentially dangerous. So how are we here now? How was he able to possess a firearm. How was he able to lure four people to his property and dump them in a mass grave (where other bodies could also be??) --- and no one noticed a thing that could have stopped or prevented it?
Why were the Feb. 9 gun charges dropped? Why was he in a position to take the lives of these young men?
People were very aware of him and his issues - so none of this adds up.
This now admitted killer had --- 30 --- contacts with one police department over six years. That is NOT normal. THAT is a very well known person to local authorities. That also means whoever called the police all 30 times is also very aware of DiNardo's behaviors. Many people, including law enforcement and around him, were very aware.
This admitted killer also had a gun incident through which authorities learned he had a mental illness. So it was no secret that this person was potentially dangerous. So how are we here now? How was he able to possess a firearm. How was he able to lure four people to his property and dump them in a mass grave (where other bodies could also be??) --- and no one noticed a thing that could have stopped or prevented it?
Why were the Feb. 9 gun charges dropped? Why was he in a position to take the lives of these young men?
People were very aware of him and his issues - so none of this adds up.
29
Let's see what we have here.
He was known to suffer from mental illness and had been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.
He was arrested on a gun charge after shooting a shotgun. He told the police he had been committed. The charges were dropped.
His father bailed him out of jail after he had been arrested again on the gun charge.
He had told friends he wanted to kill people.
He sold guns.
Do I have all that right?
Is anyone going to take responsibility for allowing a violent, mentally disturbed man to obtain and use guns?
Dad? Police?
Four young men are dead because of the insanity that is guns in the USA.
He was known to suffer from mental illness and had been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.
He was arrested on a gun charge after shooting a shotgun. He told the police he had been committed. The charges were dropped.
His father bailed him out of jail after he had been arrested again on the gun charge.
He had told friends he wanted to kill people.
He sold guns.
Do I have all that right?
Is anyone going to take responsibility for allowing a violent, mentally disturbed man to obtain and use guns?
Dad? Police?
Four young men are dead because of the insanity that is guns in the USA.
59
This horror story is a redux of the John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer atrocities of many years ago. That the suspect spoke recently of “weird things like killing people and having people killed” should have been a huge red flag and immediately reported to the authorities. This might have saved these four young men from an untimely fate.
13
"Thie right to be slaughtered by a mentally imbalanced male with a gun fetish shall not be infringed"
2nd Amendment Insanity is an important American free-dumb
2nd Amendment Insanity is an important American free-dumb
79
"He also said Mr. DiNardo sold guns." All praise to the Court and to #45%, who made sure Mr. DiNardo would have his purported 2nd Amendment right to have guns, traffic in guns, even when diagnosed mentally ill.
39
This shouldn't have happened. Apparently the young man's parents are financially capable of taking care of their son and providing medical treatment for his claimed mental illness, so what went wrong?
And there are other issues as well. One is DiNardo's ability to obtain a gun legally prohibited to him. Another, the culture of violence we have developed.
I am part of the "sex, drugs, and rock n roll" generation. I saw it as a welcomed release from puritanical values. What I failed to recognize was that I had already had a solid moral upbringing from my parents prior to my teen years. My family wasn't religious, but I knew right from wrong, I was sheltered from violence, there were TV programs I wasn't allowed to watch, words I wasn't allowed to speak, movies I never saw.
As a kid, I believed the "sexual revolution" was an advancement towards enlightenment and peace. I was wrong. Today our children are assaulted with violent images on a daily basis. From a young age they are desensitized to horror.
With all our advances in education, medicine, technology, and wealth, the world has not grown gentler, kinder. We seem to squander all opportunities for good we could offer civilization. We don't seem to have developed as humans. We are a world that doesn't tend to a disturbed human being. Instead we foster an environment where a privileged young man can kill four friends and bury them twelve feet under in his own backyard.
We do not "teach our children well."
And there are other issues as well. One is DiNardo's ability to obtain a gun legally prohibited to him. Another, the culture of violence we have developed.
I am part of the "sex, drugs, and rock n roll" generation. I saw it as a welcomed release from puritanical values. What I failed to recognize was that I had already had a solid moral upbringing from my parents prior to my teen years. My family wasn't religious, but I knew right from wrong, I was sheltered from violence, there were TV programs I wasn't allowed to watch, words I wasn't allowed to speak, movies I never saw.
As a kid, I believed the "sexual revolution" was an advancement towards enlightenment and peace. I was wrong. Today our children are assaulted with violent images on a daily basis. From a young age they are desensitized to horror.
With all our advances in education, medicine, technology, and wealth, the world has not grown gentler, kinder. We seem to squander all opportunities for good we could offer civilization. We don't seem to have developed as humans. We are a world that doesn't tend to a disturbed human being. Instead we foster an environment where a privileged young man can kill four friends and bury them twelve feet under in his own backyard.
We do not "teach our children well."
29
I am upset about the sad situation this ill individual has created for the loved ones of his victims, and for his community. But it is a real stretch to claim, as you do, that he represents an entire generation. I raised a son who played, and still plays, video games that depict violence, and he loves movies, too... but we had many conversations about how to treat our fellow human beings and about the different social values that exist in society, and he turned out very well. He is 32 years old and has a huge, ethnically diverse group of friends, and I've met many of them. They are wonderful, and they attest to the fact that the sixties have led to positive advances in society, in equality, gender and race relations.
11
Thank-you, Lee.
I did not intend to condemn an entire generation and perhaps did not express myself well.
I am struggling to understand how we got from the sixties, which as you allude, was a time in which peace, love, and brotherhood were promoted by our(?) generation. And, although I do not have children of my own, I was a teacher, and I feel like I failed in that mission. I also feel that the open-mindedness that felt like a breath of fresh air in my youth inadvertently led to, or was corrupted into, an era in which images of violence are the norm, in which children, who do not have careful, guided and loving parental supervision, are desensitized to those violent images. I believe that contributes to the instability of some individuals - and that we have to address this and do better as a society.
In so much of our story-telling, violence is quelled by violence. The images are grotesque. There seems to be a million ways to kill another human being - and they are all on film consumed by our youths. I can't help but think that this contributes to a significant portion of the real violence we experience in this country.
Bless you for raising a wonderful son.
I did not intend to condemn an entire generation and perhaps did not express myself well.
I am struggling to understand how we got from the sixties, which as you allude, was a time in which peace, love, and brotherhood were promoted by our(?) generation. And, although I do not have children of my own, I was a teacher, and I feel like I failed in that mission. I also feel that the open-mindedness that felt like a breath of fresh air in my youth inadvertently led to, or was corrupted into, an era in which images of violence are the norm, in which children, who do not have careful, guided and loving parental supervision, are desensitized to those violent images. I believe that contributes to the instability of some individuals - and that we have to address this and do better as a society.
In so much of our story-telling, violence is quelled by violence. The images are grotesque. There seems to be a million ways to kill another human being - and they are all on film consumed by our youths. I can't help but think that this contributes to a significant portion of the real violence we experience in this country.
Bless you for raising a wonderful son.
9
Could not agree more that our culture is saturated with an ideation of violence and an imbalance in which human virtues of generosity and compassion are not held in high regard. One cannot be surprised therefore that the family allowed weapons on their property rather than ban them entirely considering the mental health issues their son has. We are unlikely to create awareness in the minds of people who are so wholly unaware of their ethical (and legal) responsibilities. This is the careless manner in which people seem to be operating and only an argument for why the US should adopt stringent rules limiting guns and ammunition from the general population as most developed nations do. The bar should be set very high if we ever want to stop this rampant and deadly problem.
5
This tragic story, while unusual, is also not outside of the terrible norm in this country. And it highlights how complexly intertwined several policy decisions in our country are. This tragedy intersects mental health care and funding for inpatient and outpatient services, gun control and ATF funding, and limitations and imbalances in the justice system between whites and minorities, and those with and without means.
To anyone who fails to see how individual policy decisions have far reaching and intertwining effects, see this case.
To anyone who fails to see how individual policy decisions have far reaching and intertwining effects, see this case.
23
Our government should be building more infrastructure in our healthcare system to manage the mentally disabled. Cosmo DiNardo should not have been out on the street. The new healthcare bill could strip away funds that would control people like DiNardo. As a taxpayer, I say no. To make our communities safe, invest in state of the art mentally disabled care, so people like DiNardo are not wandering free talking about killing people, then doing it.
My deepest condolences to the families that lost their loved ones.
My deepest condolences to the families that lost their loved ones.
41
I am so saddened by the loss of these four young lives. And after the feeling of sadness, I immediately go to: What could have been done to PREVENT these murders? The first suggestion is one that doesn't get said enough... if you hear someone talking about hurting other people, SAY SOMETHING. We are a society that does not want to get involved, but we need to learn to get over that. SEE SOMETHING. HEAR SOMETHING. SAY SOMETHING. And of course, the other issue is that guns and mental illness should not mix. Until we stand firmer against the NRA (or begin electing more Democrats), that policy doesn't appear to change anytime soon.
31
Why on earth is the defense counsel making statements to the press? Is he proud of the deal he made to admit four murders in exchange for waiving the death penalty, which is seldom carried out in Pennsylvania? I am not sure how he was acting in his client's interest.
4
Dealing drugs is a noble, risk-free, and safe profession where no one is ever harmed and violence is unheard of.
Said no one ever.
Said no one ever.
4
If you don't mind, could you please identify where it says these four victims were dealing drugs? Just identify the paragraph. I am serious. I have read the story twice and did not see it. What I saw was that the killer is mentally ill and should never had had a gun.
16
Where does the article mention drugs?
Pretty certain in mentions guns and the mentally ill buying and selling firearms...
Oh and the President recently okay'd this...
Pretty certain in mentions guns and the mentally ill buying and selling firearms...
Oh and the President recently okay'd this...
20
I haven't read a single article that mentioned drugs. Please don't try to justify something so terrible. This was sick young man and needs to be locked up forever.
6
And didn't our President recently sign an executive order allowing mentally ill people to purchase guns?
68
My deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims: the Finocchiaro, Sturgis, Meo, and Taro families. I cannot imagine the horror to know that your loved one was found in a 12.5 foot deep grave or imagining what the last hours of their life were at the hands of a murderer. Sickening and horrifying one some many levels.
But I can't help but ask of the DiNardos: if your child was talking about hurting people, why did you not have him committed? You had money to post bail. You've had him committed before; why not this time?
It's like we need Public Service Announcements to educate people that when a loved one is talking about KILLING PEOPLE, that's a sign that they need help. They are a danger to others. Call your city or state mental health authorities and get them away from people and any weapons. It's always worse when these things happen.
Remember Aurora; Columbine; Virginia Tech; Sandy Hook.
But I can't help but ask of the DiNardos: if your child was talking about hurting people, why did you not have him committed? You had money to post bail. You've had him committed before; why not this time?
It's like we need Public Service Announcements to educate people that when a loved one is talking about KILLING PEOPLE, that's a sign that they need help. They are a danger to others. Call your city or state mental health authorities and get them away from people and any weapons. It's always worse when these things happen.
Remember Aurora; Columbine; Virginia Tech; Sandy Hook.
59
While not denying that a quadruple homicide is newsworthy, I must ask why this one received 2-3 real-time breaking news alerts while the one reported in the July 12 "The Gang Murders in the Suburbs" piece by Liz Robbins and Nadia T. Rodriguez received retrospective (excellent and heartbreaking) major coverage. Both involved 4 young men in the suburbs allegedly engaged in not-atypical young adult behavior related to marijuana whose lives were unjustly ended too soon. The difference I see, unfortunately, is that the former were white and the latter were Hispanic.
27
"allegedly engaged in not-atypical young adult behavior related to marijuana "
There is no mention of marijuana in this story, and marijuana use has never caused anyone to go on a violent murder spree. I suppose you're simply trying to deflect blame to protect your gun collection.
There is no mention of marijuana in this story, and marijuana use has never caused anyone to go on a violent murder spree. I suppose you're simply trying to deflect blame to protect your gun collection.
1
Unfortunately it's because the "mentally-ill murderer" narrative is what draws more attention. Gang violence happens everyday across the country and people have simply become more desensitized to it.
1
"On Feb. 9, police responded to a report of gunfire in Mr. DiNardo’s neighborhood and found him in his car with a shotgun, and he told the officers that he had been involuntarily committed, Mr. Harran said. He was arrested on a gun charge, which was later dropped. He was legally prohibited from owning a firearm because he had been involuntarily committed.".
How can anyone say, given this story, that our gun laws should not be changed? What a horrifying tale...
How can anyone say, given this story, that our gun laws should not be changed? What a horrifying tale...
85
Of course. But, as of now, we can't seem to win that battle against the NRA. Simply too many Republicans in office.
16
"Mr. DiNardo has had 30 'contacts' with the Bensalem Police Department over the last six years,..."
"Mr. DiNardo’s father posted bail on Tuesday night..."
As a parent of an addict, I know enabling when I see it.
"Mr. DiNardo’s father posted bail on Tuesday night..."
As a parent of an addict, I know enabling when I see it.
86
As a family member of a never-found murder victim, God bless these four families. Finding the body and being able to answer the "why" is, in a perverse way, a gift. God bless these families. The hole in your heart never heals.
God knows how many armed, mentally unstable (and known by the police!) people are roaming the streets just waiting for the right trigger to commit mayhem...
24
Known to the police? Sometimes they are the police.
2
P.S. If marijuana was legal in Pennsylvania, these 4 young men might still be alive today.