In January 2021, Jennifer Lannon, a 39-year-old White woman, was reported missing from her home in Grants, New Mexico, along with two of her friends, Jesten Mata, 40, and Matthew Miller, 21. Her ex-husband, Sean Lannon, told family members that she had run off, a story her brother found suspicious. The search for the three friends ended in a grim discovery two months later.
On March 5, 2021, security at the Albuquerque International Sunport investigated a foul odor coming from a pickup
truck parked on the top floor of a garage. Inside, police found the bodies of Jennifer Lannon, Mata, and Miller, as well as the body of Randal Apostalon, a 60-year-old Albuquerque man. Investigators determined that the remains of some of the victims had been dismembered and placed into plastic bins inside the truck.
The investigation quickly focused on Sean Lannon, who had fled New Mexico after abandoning the truck. On March 8, he broke into the home of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski in East Greenwich, New Jersey, and beat him to death with a hammer. Two days later, on March 10, police arrested Lannon in St. Louis, Missouri, while he was driving Dabkowski's stolen car. During questioning, Lannon confessed to the killings in both states. He also claimed to have killed 11 other people in New Mexico, though authorities have not been able to corroborate these additional claims.
According to Lannon’s confession, he killed Jennifer in January at their home in Grants after an argument. He said he then lured Mata and Miller to the house over the next two weeks and killed them as well. Lannon told police he dismembered the bodies of Mata and Miller with saws and knives to fit them into containers. In mid-February, he moved the bins to Albuquerque, where he met Randal Apostalon. On February 24, Lannon killed Apostalon with a hammer after Apostalon asked for more money to help move the containers.
In late March 2021, Sean Lannon was charged with murder for the four deaths in New Mexico. He first faced justice in New Jersey, where he pleaded guilty in 2022 to the murder of Michael Dabkowski and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. In May 2024, Lannon pleaded guilty in New Mexico to four counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Jennifer Lannon, Jesten Mata, Matthew Miller, and Randal Apostalon. He was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison, with the sentences to be served consecutively. Under the plea agreement, he will serve his sentence in New Mexico after completing his 35-year term in New Jersey.
