Sean William Lamoureux: Michigan man, 39, sentenced for fatally stabbing Detroit radio DJ John O'Leary, 67
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: In Michigan, a 39-year-old man was given the punishment to spend decades in prison for the murder of a well-known radio DJ in Detroit last year. On Monday, October 17, Sean William Lamoureux received a term of 20 to 40 years in prison for fatally stabbing and killing John O'Leary, 67. According to the court document, Lamoureux pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree homicide in the death of O'Leary last month. Prosecutors agreed to remove additional allegations of open murder and theft in return for a guilty plea. According to the authorities, Lamoureux and the veteran Detroit disc jockey shared a room at the time of the fatal stabbing.
O'Leary was a mainstay on the radio in the Detroit area for almost 40 years and one of the original DJs at WABX. On November 21, 2021, at around 12:30 pm, Highland Park police officers responded to a 911 call regarding a suspected stabbing at a home in the 150 block of Candler Street. First responders found an adult male victim later identified as O'Leary at the back of the house, where he seemed to have suffered "multiple stab wounds." He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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According to Fox 2 Detroit, O'Leary's body was buried under trash in the house's backyard, which included shingles, sheets, and a wheelbarrow. Prosecutors said in the statement that, “It is alleged that Defendant Lamoureux fatally attacked the victim multiple times with a sharp object causing his death.” According to the Detroit Free Press, a number of O'Leary's acquaintances had apparently gotten worried since he had not been heard from for almost a week, was not answering calls, had stopped attending meetings, and had not updated his Facebook profile.
Later, Radio historian Art Vuolo reportedly told Click on Detriot, while discussing about O'Leary, “He was just a guy who loved the music passionately. He was on the ground floor of what they used to call underground radio, progressive rock radio. He was very low-key. He didn’t get in the way, he was not what they call in the business — and believe me I know lots of people that are high maintenance. He was not high maintenance and that’s what made him so popular.”
Meanwhile, according to Law and Crime Online, this was not the first time when Lamoureux was found guilty, his online jail records revealed that he had a long list of charges pending against him. He entered a guilty plea to methamphetamine possession, obstructing a police officer, and second-degree home invasion in February 2010. In 2020, he also entered a guilty plea to one count of larceny inside a building.