Prosecutors say a man suspected in the deaths of four people in New Mexico and one in New Jersey has claimed to be responsible for 11 more killings.
Chief of Detectives Thomas Gilbert, of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey, said 47-year-old Sean Lannon told detectives he had killed 11 “drug dealers” around Grants.
“He not only acknowledged that he had done the total of five but indicated he had done a number of other homicides,” Gilbert said. “The authorities now have to explore the veracity of his claim.”
Grants Police Lt. David Chavez said they have no indications that Lannon’s claims are true. He said there are no other recent missing persons cases or homicides that they are aware of.
“Is it possible? Sure it’s possible. Is it probable? No, probably not,” Chavez said, adding that they will look into the matter.
Lannon is currently suspected in the deaths of his ex-wife Jennifer Lannon, 39, Matthew Miller, 21, Jesten Mata, 40, and Randal Apostalon, 60.
The four were found in Apostalon’s truck – some of them dismembered – on March 5 when security guards noticed a “foul odor” in a parking garage at the Albuquerque International Sunport. Charges have yet to be filed in the case.
The admissions — which Gilbert said happened in an interview with detectives in Missouri — came out during a pretrial detention hearing for Lannon in New Jersey.
Prosecutors there are trying to keep Lannon behind bars in the homicide of Michael Dabkowski, 66, who was found beaten to death at his East Greenwich home on March 9.
Lannon is charged with an open count of murder, burglary, possession of a weapon and motor vehicle theft in Dabkowski’s death.
Authorities say Lannon and his three children hopped a flight from the Sunport to New Jersey the day before the bodies were found in the parking garage.
Over the next few days, prosecutors say Lannon killed Dabkowski and stole his car, which he was found in March 10 in St. Louis, Missouri.
During the hearing, Gilbert said Lannon’s defense counsel claimed he had been sexually abused by Dabkowski as a child and had gone to the man’s home to “retrieve photographs.” He said the defense counsel claimed that led to a confrontation that ended with Lannon killing Dabkowski.
Gilbert said Sean and Jennifer Lannon grew up in that part of New Jersey and knew Dabkowski, who had “at times afforded a helping hand” to Sean Lannon before the couple moved to the Grants area.
Chavez, of the Grants Police Department, said they are still looking for 45-year-old Daniel Lemos for questioning in the deaths of Miller, Mata and Jennifer Lannon.
The three were all from Grants and knew one another, but he said they aren’t sure how Apostalon fits in.
Grants police had been looking for Miller, Mata and Jennifer Lannon since last month and, on Feb. 26, said Lemos – a relative of Miller’s who knew all three – was wanted for questioning.
