ALBUQUERQUE, NM (AP) – Authorities Friday charged a man who was already charged with serious death in New Jersey with murder and other charges in New Mexico in the murder of his ex-wife and two of her friends who were sent to their deaths. lured for a period of weeks before they were chopped up and their remains put in plastic bins.
An affidavit of the warrant for Sean Lannon, 47, describes the gruesome weeks that followed the January shooting of his ex-wife Jennifer Lannon, 39, at the home the couple shared with their three children in the town of Grants, approximately 80 miles (80 miles) (130 kilometers) west of Albuquerque.
Lannon told investigators during an interview after his arrest in the New Jersey case that he had found Jennifer and Jesten Mata, 40, together at home. He alleged that the two were having an affair and had given the children drugs to put them to sleep. He said that after Mata left, Jennifer began to panic thinking the kids were dead.
According to the affidavit, Lannon claimed that Jennifer was trying to overdose on heroin, saying she couldn’t live without the kids. She still had a pulse, so he said he shot her in the head. He told authorities he was planning to kill himself, but then heard one of the kids scream and put the gun down.
Lannon told investigators that he put Jennifer’s body and bedding in a container and placed it in the backyard.
It would be a week before he could lure Mata back home and kill him, he told investigators. According to authorities, Lannon claimed that Mata showed him a sexually explicit photo. Another week passed before Matthew Miller, 21, came over and was also shot in the back. Lannon had also accused Miller of selling drugs to his ex-wife and Mata.
According to court records, Lannon tried to cover up the murders by telling the police and others that the three friends had run off with a bag full of drugs. The affidavit says Lannon used several plastic containers to hide the bodies and other items, and friends unwittingly helped him move the bins along with his other belongings to Albuquerque in mid-February.
Lannon told police he used handsaws and knives to chop up Miller and Mata and put them in the containers. According to court records, carpeting and carpeting had also been removed from the Lannons’ home in Grants.
The Remains of Jennifer Lannon, Mata and Miller were found in a pickup truck in a parking garage at Albuquerque airport in early March. It was also discovered that the body of the truck’s owner, Randal Apostalon.
Lannon told investigators he murdered the 60-year-old Albuquerque man on Feb. 24 after asking for more money to move the containers to another place. Apostalon was known for offering rides for money and often took chores.
Authorities have also investigated Sean Lannon’s allegations that he murdered 11 other people in New Mexico, but police have said there are no records of missing persons from the area or other police reports that would indicate potential victims. .
Authorities said in court documents that Lannon acknowledged the additional murders on a phone call to a relative.
Lannon is still in custody in New Jersey on charges of Michael Dabkowski’s death there. Extradition papers have yet to be filed by the New Mexico authorities and an attorney has yet to be appointed.
According to an affidavit, Lannon is accused of breaking into the 66-year-old’s New Jersey home, just south of Philadelphia, and hitting him to death with a hammer. Lannon told investigators that Dabkowski sexually assaulted him as a child and that he went to the house to retrieve sexually explicit photos.
Prosecutors are investigating the sexual abuse claim and more.
“There are many aspects of the investigation that we are still conducting,” said Thomas Gilbert, Chief of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. “We are conducting a full and thorough investigation and everything related to it.”
Dabkowski’s body was discovered March 8, three days after the remains were found in New Mexico. Lannon was driving Dabkowski’s car when he was arrested in St. Louis on March 10, according to authorities, who are not sure why he was in Missouri.
Assistant Deputy Public Defender Ronald Appleby has declined to comment on New Jersey’s allegations. A hearing in that 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.
Court files related to the couple’s divorce and custody case revealed that Sean Lannon was granted exclusive custody of the couple’s three children in 2019 and that a protection plan from the New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families ward only included a visit. of their mother because of concerns about the potential for neglect 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 dropped them off with family, claiming he was going back to find his ex-wife. Her family was already concerned and said it was not for her to be without her children.