Man accused of one murder says he killed 16

WOODBURY, N.J.» A man charged with beating to death a New Jersey resident he says sexually abused him as a child now claims he has killed a total of 16 people, including his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico, officials said. Authorities have not corroborated his claim.

Sean Lannon, 47, said he killed the four whose remains were found in a vehicle at an airport and “11 other individuals” in New Mexico, Alec Gutierrez, an assistant prosecutor in Gloucester County, N.J., said Friday, NJ.com reported.

Gutierrez said Lannon had confessed to luring several victims to a home in New Mexico and dismembering some of them.

Authorities said in court documents that Lannon made the admission in a phone call to a relative, who told investigators he expressed remorse. Lannon has been charged only with the death in New Jersey, and his lawyer says his client was provoked. He’s been named a person of interest in the four New Mexico slayings.

Police Lt. David Chavez in Lannon’s hometown of Grants, N.M., said authorities have no indication that his claims about 11 other killings are true and that they aren’t aware of any missing-person or homicide reports that would fit his narrative.

“Is it possible? Sure, it’s possible. Is it probable? No, probably not,” Chavez told the Albuquerque Journal, saying authorities would investigate.

The case began March 5, when the bodies of Lannon’s ex-wife and three other people were found in a vehicle in a parking garage at Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico’s largest airport. It’s not clear how they were killed.

Police say three 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.

Jennifer Lannon, Miller and Mata were friends, and Apostalon lived out of his car and was known to give rides for money, Grants police said. The bodies were found in Apostalon’s car.

On March 8, three days after the remains were found in New Mexico, the body of Michael Dabkowski was discovered in his New Jersey home, just south of Philadelphia, after a welfare check.

Sean Lannon is accused of breaking in and beating the 66-year-old to death with a hammer, according to an affidavit.