Man charged in NJ slaying, questioned in 4 New Mexico deaths

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This article was published 10/03/2021 (1990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A man considered a person of interest in the deaths of his ex-wife and three other people in New Mexico was charged Wednesday with a separate killing in New Jersey.

Sean Lannon was arrested in St. Louis on Wednesday morning after a manhunt stretching from New Jersey to Missouri. Wednesday afternoon, authorities in Gloucester County, New Jersey, charged the 47-year-old with murder, robbery, burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and other offences in the death of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski.

Dabkowski was killed Monday in his home in East Greenwich, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of Philadelphia. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to the Gloucester County prosecutor’s office. Officers performing a well-being check found Dabkowski’s body, according to the prosecutors office.

On Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office said Lannon was believed to be driving a blue 2018 Honda CRV and had possibly been seen in Camden, in southern New Jersey. Lannon was considered armed and dangerous, and the marshals service had offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Lannon also is a person of interest in the deaths of his ex-wife and three men whose bodies were found last week in a vehicle at the Albuquerque International Sunport garage, police said.

Albuquerque police said three of the people were reported missing since January from Grants, about 80 miles (130 kilometres) west of the city.

Authorities have said that the bodies of Jennifer Lannon, 39, Matthew Miller, 21, Jesten Mata, 40, and Randal Apostalon, 60, were found inside a car parked on the top level of the garage on Friday. The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear.

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

Albuquerque police said Wednesday they will travel to St. Louis to interview Lannon about the New Mexico deaths. It was not clear on Wednesday if Lannon had an attorney.

Grants Police had posted on Facebook last month that they were seeking a different suspect in connection with the disappearances of Jennifer Lannon, Miller and Mata. Authorities did not offer further information about that potential suspect on Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of aspects to this. We’re still finding out information as we’re going forward with this investigation. There are some things we can not release at this time,” Grants police Lt. David Chavez said.

Property records show Lannon’s most recent address is in Grants, with numerous addresses in southern New Jersey prior to 2020. The couple filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey in 2015 and listed personal property assets of roughly $14,000 and liabilities of more than $550,000, including $83,000 in student loan debt. They listed combined monthly income of about $13,000.

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This story originally published March 10, 2021, was corrected March 22, 2021, to show the former couple’s monthly income, not annual income, was about $13,000.

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Porter reported from New York.