Gloucester County, New Jersey - A 47-year-old man who was initially accused of one murder has made a disturbing confession.

The suspect, Sean Lannon, was initially wanted for the murder of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski, who he allegedly beat to death with a hammer in the victim's home in East Greenwich Township, New Jersey.

Lannon later said he was sexually abused by Dabkowski for years. He added that the hammer belonged to the victim, and that Dabkowski attacked first.

But when the Albuquerque Police Department found four dismembered bodies in a vehicle at a local airport on March 5, one of them belonging to Lannon's estranged wife Jennifer, they knew more lives might be in immediate danger and launched a nationwide search for the fleeing suspect.

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Lannon was eventually arrested on March 10, when he was spotted in the vehicle he had stolen from Dabkowski.

An even more disturbing development followed: during a phone call with a relative, Lannon reportedly not only admitted to killing Dabkowski, he also exposed himself as a real serial killer, reportedly confessing to the murder of 15 other people in New Mexico, including that of his wife.

"He admitted to the dismemberment of some of the individuals involved in those homicides. He admitted his efforts in an attempt to conceal evidence, I'll put it, in those homicides. And he admitted to killing a total of 16 people," CNN quoted Gloucester County prosecutor Alec Gutierrez as saying.

The police department in Lannon's hometown of Grants, New Mexico, is investigating the deaths of the three other known victims, but have not yet filed charges.

Police Lt. David Chavez said authorities have no evidence that his claims about 11 other killings are true as they aren’t aware of any homicide reports or missing people.

Nevertheless, the judges agreed that the nature of Lannon "is a danger to the community," and ordered Lannon to be held without bail.