Prison For South Jersey Man Accused Of Killing 5 People In 2 States: Officials

Editor's note: This story was updated in January 2023 to fix an incomplete sentence.

GREENWICH TOWNSHIP, NJ — A South Jersey man accused of killing five people will spend at least three decades in prison for beating his former mentor to death, officials said.

Sean M. Lannon, 48, pleaded guilty to bludgeoning his former Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor Michael Dabkowski, 66, to death in East Greenwich in March 2021. He is also accused of killing his ex-wife and three other people in New Mexico.

A Gloucester County Superior Court judge sentenced Lannon on Wednesday to 35 years in New Jersey State Prison, according to a representative from the Prosecutor's Office. He will be eligible for parole after 30 years served.

Lannon, also of East Greenwich, claimed Dabkowski had sexually abused him as a child and that he had gone to his home to get evidence of the abuse. No evidence was presented in court to support that claim.

Officials say Lannon broke into Dabowski's home on March 8, 2021 and repeatedly struck him in the head with a hammer, causing his death.

Authorities said Lannon then stole Dabkowski's car and drove to New Mexico, where he still faces murder charges. There, they say he killed his ex-wife Jennifer, two of her friends, and a third person. Their bodies were found in a parked car outside an airport in Albuquerque.

Lannon was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 10, 2021. Jennifer Lannon, his ex-wife, had five children. An online fundraiser for the family raised more than $21,000.

Police have said Sean Lannon lured Jennifer and her two friends to their deaths over a period of weeks before they were dismembered and their remains stuffed into plastic bins, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities say the third man agreed to help Lannon move the bins, unaware of what they contained.

Two district attorneys' offices in New Mexico told NJ Advance Media they seek to extradite Lannon to face the charges against him there.