A man accused of killing a New Jersey man, he says he sexually abused him in childhood, and that he is a person interested in the death of his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico, claims to be responsible for 16 deaths in all , prosecutors said.
Sean Lannon, 47, said he was responsible for the murders in New Jersey and New Mexico and claimed to have killed “11 other individuals,” NJ.com said, quoting Alec Gutierrez, assistant prosecutor in Gloucester County, at a detention hearing on Friday -market.
“He admitted to killing a total of 16 people … 15 being in New Mexico and one in the state of New Jersey,” said Gutierrez. “As far as I know, the FBI is assisting New Mexico in its investigation.”
Authorities claim the admission came on a phone call to a family member who told Gloucester County investigators that Lannon expressed remorse.
Lannon was arrested in St. Louis on Wednesday, driving a stolen car from New Jersey’s Michael Dabkowski. Lannon is now in custody in New Jersey, accused of breaking into Dabkowski’s house and beating him with a hammer on Monday, according to a sworn statement.
Lannon is also a person interested in the death of his wife and three other people in New Mexico. Authorities say a vehicle was discovered last week in a garage at Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico’s largest airport, containing four bodies.
The bodies were identified as Jennifer Lannon, 39; Matthew Miller, 21; Jesten Mata, 40; and Randal Apostalon, 60. Sean Lannon lived 80 miles away in Grants, New Mexico.
Gutierrez claimed that Lannon admitted that he had attracted several victims to a home in New Mexico and spun off some.
In addition to the five deaths already described by investigators, the authorities had not spoken before any other murder in which Lannon was suspected. He was charged only for the murder in New Jersey and was not charged in New Mexico.
Public defender Frank Unger contested the probable cause of the murder charge in New Jersey, arguing that Lannon entered the house of Dabkowski, 66, in East Greenwich Township with permission and that the acts that followed amounted, at worst, to a manslaughter for passionate provocation, NJ.com reported.
Unger claimed that Lannon had been abused and went to his home to retrieve photos because he did not want anyone to “have more control over me”.
Dabkowski guided Lannon and his twin brother through a Big Brothers program in the 1980s, NJ.com said. Lannon told investigators that Dabkowski sexually abused him and that he went to the man’s house to retrieve sexually explicit photos. Unger said Dabkowski “documented these sexual assaults, these rapes, taking pictures of himself with Mr. Lannon in sexually compromised positions”.
Unger said Lannon retrieved two hammers from Dabkowski’s garage and gave them to the victim, saying, “You are going to need them. I do not want to hurt you. “
“I would suggest that this fact alone illustrates that it was not a murder on purpose. He didn’t even bring a gun home, ”he said, further claiming that Dabkowski attacked his client and was killed.
Unger also contested prosecutors’ comments about the New Mexico murders, saying that Lannon had not been charged in those cases. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Kramer told prosecutors to limit her presentation to information relevant to the New Jersey case, but allowed limited references to New Mexico cases.
Gutierrez said the victims of New Mexico were attracted to a home and argued that the idea of Lannon being invited to Dabkowski’s home “should be looked through the lens of at least three previous New Mexico incidents.”
“These individuals, admittedly, were attracted to the residence and subsequently murdered,” he said.
Unger defended the pre-trial release, saying his client had no previous convictions and was an honorable discharge veteran of the army. Although born in Massachusetts, Lannon spent most of his youth in Gloucester County before being sent to Germany. He has a family in southern New Jersey, including his mother and sister, and could remain locally under electronic monitoring if released, Unger said.
Gutierrez said Lannon took a false name to avoid being detected when he returned to the east coast and was also arrested in New Mexico several weeks ago for not showing up and spent a week in prison.
Gutierrez claimed that Lannon admitted the dismemberment of the victims and the efforts to hide evidence and “is a significant danger to the community, based on these statements”.
The judge agreed. Lannon remains behind bars.