Alleged Serial Killer's Trial Postponed Again Due to Lack of Cooperation, Defense Claims

GRANTS, NM – Alleged serial killer, Sean Michael Lannon, has been extradited to New Mexico by the Albuquerque District Court. According to court documents, interviews with police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lannon allegedly killed three people in Cibola County before going on to kill one person in Albuquerque and one in New Jersey.

The Honorable Judge Brent R. Loveless of the Albuquerque District Court ordered Lannon’s extradition from New Jersey where he is serving out a sentence for killing one of the victims in this alleged murder-spree. Lannon arrived in New Mexico on June 15, his next hearing date in Cibola is scheduled for July 24.

Lannon is facing three charges of First-Degree Murder (Will and Deliberate) and five charges of Tampering With Evidence in Cibola County. He is facing one Open Count of Murder in the First Degree and one count of Tampering With Evidence (Highest Crime a Capital, First or Second Degree Felony).

In Bernalillo County, Lannon is facing one Open County of Murder in the First Degree; and one count of Tampering with Evidence (Highest Crime a Capital, First- or Second-Degree Felony) Mid-January 2021 saw a gruesome triple murder occur in the City of Grants. After diligent police work, it was determined that the alleged killer, Sean Lannon – then 47 years old – had fled to his home state of New Jersey. By this point, Lannon had allegedly killed another man in Albuquerque, NM. It was in NJ where Lannon was arrested after killing another person, this time an old mentor of his. NJ police were able to arrest and hold Lannon, where he pleaded guilty to committing murder in New Jersey, he is now being extradited to New Mexico to face justice over the murders he allegedly committed in Grants and Albuquerque.

Mid-January – Murder Spree Begins

Lannon is accused of killing three people in Cibola County, including his ex-wife Jennifer Miller, her then-boyfriend Jesten Mata, and his friend Matthew Miller. According to court documents, these murders took place over the course of one week in the city.

February 24 – The Fourth Victim

Court documents continue to accuse Lannon of other crimes, including dismembering the three people he allegedly killed. Court documents allege that Lannon put his victims in plastic containers and began asking people for use of their storage facilities. Finally, Lannon met a man from Albuquerque named Randal Apostalon, who offered up use of his storage facility. By this point, according to court records, the body parts had been put inside large tote bags.

Lannon and Apostalon arrived at the storage site but were unable to unload the totes they had taken with them. The storage shed was too full, and unable to hold any new items, so the two had to begin looking for a new site to store the body parts. At some point while the two were looking for a new location, Apostalon hinted that he knew what was in the totes.

Court records allege that Lannon struck Apostalone, killing him. Lannon allegedly drove his vehicle to the Albuquerque Sunport, the airport in Albuquerque, with his three victims from Grants and one from Albuquerque hidden inside totes in the trunk.

Lannon, unsure of where to go, left his alleged victims in his vehicle and drove home.

After leaving the vehicle, Lannon went to take a shower. Court documents say that he was able to shower for around five minutes before Albuquerque Police Department went to his home to conduct a welfare check ordered by CYFD. While doing the check, responding officers realized that Lannon had an extraditable warrant out of Cibola County. Lannon was sent to Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico.

March 2 – The Getaway

On March 2 Lannon was released from CCCC, he returned to Albuquerque and drove to the fourth floor of the Sunport’s parking garage where he left his alleged victims.

Lannon went on to board a plane to his hometown of East Greenwich in Gloucester County, New Jersey.

March 5 – The Manhunt

Court documents read, on the morning of March 5, Albuquerque Police Department was called to the Sunport to instigate a foul-smelling car that had been in the parking garage.

Here, police entered the Lannon’s vehicle and discovered the body of Apostalone, covered in a tarp. APD said they found several large tote bags, containing dismembered remains of his alleged earlier Grants victims.

This triggered a multistate manhunt.

March 8 – The Final Murder

Lannon, now in his hometown, drive to the home of his former Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor. Lannon would use a hammer to bludgeon Michael Dabkowski, 66 of NJ, to death.

In court, Lannon said he committed this murder because he was sexually abused by his victim as a child. No evidence was presented to support this claim, and Lannon pleaded guilty to the murder.

Working to escape, Lannon stole Dabkowski’s car and fled New Jersey.

March 10 – Lannon’s Arrest

While driving through St. Louis, Missouri, a police officer running license plates identified the car through the National Crime Information Center and immediately intimated a traffic stop.

St. Louis police were able to arrest Lannon. Due to the inter-state travel involved in the murders, the Federal Bureau of Investigations stepped in to help investigate.

While with the FBI, Lannon allegedly confessed to all of the Grants murders, and said that he had also murdered 11 other people. These allegations were investigated by Cibola’s local law enforcement agencies, police found no evidence that Lannon killed anyone else in Cibola.

Lannon will be eligible for parole for the NJ murder on March 10, 2021. Lannon was sentenced to 35-years in a New Jersey prison.

The Trial

Getting the trial started has been difficult. Since Lannon was first tried in New Jersey, he has been held there. This has created difficulties in getting Lannon on Google Meets for his New Mexico hearings.

His trial arraignment date in New Mexico was set for April 7. Due to a failure to account for the time difference from New Mexico to New Jersey, Lannon was not put on the Google Meets call. The 13th Judicial District rescheduled the arraignment.

When the rescheduled arraignment convened on May 1, Lannon was again a no-show. The court discussed having Lannon extradited to Cibola County but made no decision, rescheduling the arraignment to June 5.

When June 5 came, Lannon was once again a no-show via Google Meets. To address this, District Court Judge Amanda Sanchez Villalobos ordered the next hearing on July 24 to held in person. The court once again discussed extraditing Lannon, but learned that the Albuquerque District Court was going to extradite Lannon and decided to let them file the paperwork.

On June 15, Lannon was extradited to Albuquerque where he will face District Court Judge Brent Loveless for the alleged murder of Apostalone.