Authorities are still investigating claims of a man charged in a New Jersey murder who has said he murdered a total of 16 people in multiple states.
NEW YORK – Authorities are still investigating claims of a man indicted in a New Jersey murder who has said he killed a total of 16 people in multiple states, although a law enforcement official confirmed on Sunday that he is the prime suspect in the murder of found his ex-wife and three others in a car in New Mexico.
Local law enforcement officials in New Mexico and New Jersey are working with federal agents on the veracity of Sean Lannon’s claims, including that he murdered 11 other people, the official said. The official, who was directly aware of the probe, was unable to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Authorities said in court documents that Lannon, 47, made the confession in a phone call to a family member who told investigators he was sorry.
According to the official, investigators are searching missing persons records and other police reports to identify possible victims and determine if he was telling the truth during the confession. Investigators are still reviewing electronic records, communications, surveillance video and financial documents as part of the investigation and are trying to locate additional witnesses in the case, the official said.
Law enforcement officials are also still trying to gather additional information to better understand why he was in St. Louis, where he was arrested on March 10.
The case began on March 5, when the bodies of Lannon’s ex-wife and three other people were found in a car in a parking garage at Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico’s largest airport. It is not clear how they were killed. Police say three of them were reported missing in January from Grants, about 80 miles west of Albuquerque. The victims were identified as Jennifer Lannon, 39; Matthew Miller, 21; Jesten Mata, 40; and Randal Apostalon, 60.
Gilbert Gallegos Jr., Albuquerque police spokesman, said Sunday that of the four bodies found at the airport, one was murdered in Albuquerque “and that’s what our detectives are focused on,” while the other three appeared to have been murdered in the Grants area. from Cibola County.
“Shortly after Mr. Lannon was arrested, our detectives went to St. Louis and interviewed him about the case,” he said. “At the moment we are still looking for evidence, issuing search warrants and talking to a lot of people, but no one has been charged yet.”
On March 8, three days after the remains were found in New Mexico, Michael Dabkowski’s body was discovered after a welfare check at his home in New Jersey, just south of Philadelphia. According to an affidavit, Lannon is accused of breaking in and beating the 66-year-old to death with a hammer. Gloucester County prosecutors announced on March 10 that Lannon was charged with multiple counts of murder, theft, burglary, theft of motor vehicles and weapons.
Prosecutors said during a detention hearing on Friday that he said he murdered the four whose remains were found in a vehicle and “11 other individuals,” NJ.com reported. Lannon has only been charged with death in New Jersey.
Chris Whitman, Jennifer Lannon’s brother, said Sean Lannon told the family in January that Jennifer had “ run away ” with some friends, possibly to Arizona, and Whitman told the AP on Saturday that the story didn’t sound right because “ she was walked away’. a wonderful mother and, simply, it would be unusual not to be with her children. “
Lannon told investigators that Dabkowski sexually assaulted him as a child and that he went to the house to retrieve sexually explicit photos. Dabkowski mentored Lannon and his twin brother through a Big Brothers program in the 1980s, NJ.com reported.
Whitman said the family was unaware of the alleged abuse. He even said he met Dabkowski at one of the Lannon kids’ birthday party a few years ago, and everything seemed fine.
“I knew he was a good friend of Sean’s, and that he was a father figure,” Whitman said. “But we didn’t know anything else outside of that.”