The suspect, Sean Lannon, is accused of beating Michael Dabkowski to death with a hammer in the victim’s home in East Greenwich Township, New Jersey, along with robbery and burglary. Lannon was arrested as a refugee in Missouri earlier this month.
Gloucester County prosecutor Alec Gutierrez told a court in a probable case that Lannon admitted during the police interrogation after reading his rights that he had killed Dabkowski as well as 15 people in New Mexico, including his estranged wife Jennifer .
“In this statement from Mirandized, the accused did acknowledge the cases in New Mexico that would be murders in New Mexico,” Gutierrez said. “He acknowledged that some of the individuals involved in the killings were dismembered. He admitted that he tried to hide evidence, I will hide it in those murders. And he admitted that he killed a total of 16 people. ‘
The Albuquerque Police Department has earlier admitted that he is going to interrogate Lannon in connection with four dead bodies found on March 5 at local airport property, one of which was Jennifer Lannon.
Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told CNN on Friday night: “The Albuquerque Police Department is focused on its investigation into the death of Randal Apostalon, who was allegedly killed in Albuquerque. Our detectives are following up on several investigative clues and will also additional interviews and warrants. ”
Police in Lannon’s hometown of Grants, New Mexico, are investigating the deaths of the three other victims, but have not filed any complaints.
Lannon attended the Friday hearing remotely but did not testify and was not asked to plead guilty.
His public defender, Frank Unger, objected to the inclusion of information about the New Mexico confessions in the trial, but does not dispute that Lannon made the statements. Unger argued that there could be a self-defense claim in the murder of Dabowski in New Jersey, as Lannon told police he had been a victim of sexual abuse by Dabkowski for years. Lannon said the hammer used to kill Dabkowski belonged to the victim, and that Dabkowski first attacked.
Judge Mary Beth Kramer said the nature of Lannon’s charges and the fact that he was arrested as a refugee made him a serious flight risk. “I think he’s a danger to the community,” Kramer said, ordering Lannon to be detained without bail.