ALBUQUERQUE, NM (AP) – On Friday, authorities charged a man already charged with beaten death in New Jersey with murder and other charges in New Mexico for the murder of his ex-wife and two of his friends who were attracted by their death a period of weeks before they were dismembered and their remains stuffed into plastic containers.
An affidavit of arrest warrant for Sean Lannon, 47, details the terrible weeks following the shooting death of his ex-wife Jennifer Lannon, 39, in the home the couple shared with his three children in the city of Grants, about 80 miles (130 miles) west of Albuquerque.
Lannon told investigators during an interview after his arrest in the New Jersey case that he found Jennifer and Jesten Mata, 40, together at home. He claimed the two had an affair and had given drugs to the children to put them to sleep. He said that after leaving Mata, Jennifer began to get scared because she believed the children were dead.
According to the affidavit, Lannon claimed Jennifer tried to overdose on heroin, saying she could not live without the children. He still had a pulse, so he said he shot him in the head. He told authorities he planned to commit suicide, but then overheard one of the children screaming and laying down his gun.
Lannon told investigators he put Jennifer’s body and bedding in a container and placed it in the back garden.
It would be a week before he could lure Mata home and kill him, he told investigators. According to authorities, Lannon claimed Mata had shown him a sexually explicit photo. It was a week before Matthew Miller, 21, arrived and was also shot in the back of the head. Lannon had also accused Miller of selling drugs to his ex-wife and Mata.
Judicial records alleged that Lannon tried to hide the murders by telling police and others that the three friends had fled with a bag full of drugs. The affidavit says Lannon used several plastic containers to hide the bodies and other objects and unknowingly helped them move the bins along with their belongings in Albuquerque in mid-February.
Lannon told police he used hand saws and knives to dismember Miller and Mata to put them in the bins. Judicial records also indicate that the carpets and land had been removed from the Lannons’ house in Grants.
The remains of Jennifer Lannon, Mata and Miller they were found in early March inside a van in an Albuquerque airport garage. The body of the truck owner, Randal Apostalon, was also discovered.
Lannon told investigators he killed the 60-year-old Albuquerque man on Feb. 24 after asking for more money to help move the containers to another location. Apostalon was known to offer money travel and often engaged in strange jobs.
Authorities have also been examining Sean Lannon’s claims that he killed 11 more people in New Mexico, but police have said there is no record of missing people in the area or other police reports indicating there are potential casualties. .
Authorities said in court documents that Lannon acknowledged the additional killings in a phone call to a relative.
Lannon remains detained in New Jersey on charges arising from the death of Michael Dabkowski there. New Mexico authorities have not yet filed extradition documents and a lawyer has yet to be appointed.
According to an affidavit, Lannon is accused of breaking into the 66-year-old New Jersey home in South Philadelphia and killing him with a hammer. Lannon told investigators that Dabkowski had sexually abused him as a child and had gone home to retrieve sexually explicit photos.
Prosecutors are investigating the sexual abuse lawsuit and more.
“There are many aspects to the investigation that we are still pursuing,” said Thomas Gilbert, chief detective at the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. “We are conducting a thorough and thorough investigation and everything connected to it.”
Dabkowski’s body was discovered on March 8, three days after the remains were found in New Mexico. Lannon was driving Dabkowski’s car when he was arrested March 10 in St. Louis. Louis, according to authorities, who do not know why he was in Missouri.
Deputy Public Defender Ronald Appleby has declined to comment on the New Jersey charges. A court hearing in this case is scheduled for April 8.
Sean and Jennifer Lannon lived in New Jersey before moving to New Mexico a few years ago, before filing for divorce.
Judicial records related to the couple’s divorce and custody case showed that Sean Lannon received sole custody of the couple’s three children in 2019 and that a protection plan from the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families it included only his mother’s supervised visit for concerns about the potential for abandonment due to prescription drug abuse.
Relatives say Sean Lannon flew to New Jersey in early March with the couple’s three children: 6- and 7-year-old girls and a 4-year-old boy. He left them with relatives, claiming he would look for his ex-wife again. Her family was already worried, saying it wasn’t like she being without her children.