A New Mexico man who is sought in connection with the murders of at least five people, including his ex-wife, in two states has been arrested after a nation-wide manhunt.
Sean Lannon, 47, was arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshals in St. Louis after being wanted in connection with a spree of murders in the last week. On Monday, an unidentified man was killed in New Jersey and on Friday four bodies were found in New Mexico, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Lannon, who was considered armed and dangerous while he was on the lam, was apprehended in a stolen 2018 Honda CR-V that is connected with the slaying in Elk Township, New Jersey.
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He has been charged with burglary and possession of a weapon after allegedly breaking into a New Jersey home. Prosecutors, however, said Wednesday that upgraded charges “are forthcoming.”
Authorities say Lannon first came on their radar on Friday, when his ex-wife, Jennifer Lannon, 39, and three men—Matthew Miller, 21, Jesten Mata, 40, and Randal Apostalon, 60—were found inside a car parked on the top level of the Albuquerque International Sunport garage.
Three of them were reported missing in January in Grants, about 80 miles away from Albuquerque. The conditions of the four victims and causes of death weren’t immediately clear. Lannon had been named a person of interest in the New Mexico case.
“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 told the Associated Press on Wednesday, adding that the four were believed to be friends.
Authorities in Grants were initially looking for Jennifer Lannon and Mata to question them about Miller’s disappearance. On Feb. 26, however, police said that Daniel Lemos, 45, was wanted for questioning in the disappearance of all three. Lemos, who Miller’s aunt said was a relative of Miller’s, is currently a fugitive and considered armed and dangerous.
Authorities have not yet disclosed why Lannon may be connected to Lemos or the quadruple homicide. New Mexico court records indicate Lannon filed for divorce from Jennifer in August 2018. The divorce, in which a judge ruled in Sean Lannon’s favor, sought the sole custody of the couple’s three children.
Lannon’s children are safe and not in their father’s custody, police said.
Three days after the New Mexico killings, authorities believe Lannon fled to New Jersey—where he used to live—and forced his way into a home armed with a knife. Investigators say Lannon also knew a 66-year-old man who was killed in his East Greenwich home.
On Tuesday, Gloucester County authorities said that Lannon was wanted in connection with the New Jersey and New Mexico cases—and cautioned that he was considered “armed and dangerous.” The U.S. Marshal’s Service on Tuesday announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
After his arrest on Wednesday, Acting Gloucester County Prosecutor Christine Hoffman said in a statement, “The rapid and successful apprehension of Lannon is the direct result of excellent collaboration between a wide array of local, county, state and federal partners. We are particularly grateful to the U.S. Marshal’s New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force/Camden Division as well as their parallel jurisdictions between New Jersey and Missouri for deploying their resources to rapidly apprehend Lannon, who was clearly a direct threat to the public.”
