Man held in New Jersey killing charged in New Mexico deaths

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man accused in the beating death of a New Jersey resident he claimed sexually abused him as a child was charged Friday with killing his ex-wife and two others in New Mexico in what investigators call a complicated case spanning multiple states.

The new charges follow numerous interviews and searches of storage units, sheds and a home where Sean Lannon, his ex-wife and their three children lived in the city of Grants, about 80 miles west of

Albuquerque.

The remains of Jennifer Lannon, two of her friends and an Albuquerque man were found earlier this month inside a vehicle at a parking garage at the Albuquerque airport about a month after they were reported missing. Charges in the death of the Albuquerque man have yet to be filed.

Authorities also have been looking into Sean Lannon’s claims that he killed 11 other people in New Mexico, but police have said there were no records of people missing from the area or other police reports that would indicate there are potential victims.

Authorities said in court documents that Lannon, 47, admitted to the additional killings in a phone call to a relative.

An arrest warrant affidavit filed Friday details a case that began in late January when Lannon found his ex-wife, 39, and Jesten Mata, 40, together at home. He told investigators that the pair were having an affair and had given the children drugs to get them to sleep. He said Jennifer began to freak out when she thought they might be dead.

Lannon told investigators that after Mata left, Jennifer tried to overdose on heroin. She still had a pulse so he shot her in the head, according to the affidavit. He said he planned to kill himself but then heard one of the children cry out and put the gun away.

It would be a week before he could lure Mata back to the home and kill him, he told investigators, and another week went by before Miller came over and was also shot. Lannon accused Miller of selling drugs to his ex-wife and Mata.