New York artist murder suspect found dead in Spa

A man suspected of killing a 33-year-old artist who was found dead at a luxury spa resort in the Hamptons earlier this week confessed to the crime shortly before he shot himself, a local coroner said.

Thomas Gannon, 56, was found dead in his Honesdale, Pennsylvania, home Tuesday evening with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Wayne County Coroner's Office report released Wednesday. Gannon was one of the suspects in the murder of a woman whose body was found Monday in Suffolk County, New York.

Sabina Rosas, a New York artist who was also known as Sabina Khorramdel, was found dead at the Shou Sugi Ban House in Water Mill, New York. Suffolk County police have not confirmed her cause of death, but told local media that police believe she was a “victim of violence.”

Gannon “confessed to committing the murder immediately before taking his own life,” according to a news release from the Wayne County Coroner's Office.

Edward Howell, the county coroner, told the Tri-County Independent, “I confirmed the confession by reading a message the deceased sent to a family member immediately before his death.”

Rosas was co-founder of the online magazine Ruyo Journal, which stressed in a statement on Thursday that her death was caused by violence. The magazine also addressed the attention that Rosas' murder has received in recent days, with some media outlets speculating about the circumstances of her death and her relationship with Gannon.

“We would like to make it clear that no family member or close friend of Sabina has spoken to the media. Any information disseminated from these sources is unverified and should not be relied upon,” the magazine wrote.

Authorities have not confirmed the nature of the relationship between Gannon and Rosas, but the artist's mentor, Elizabeth Phillips, told CBS News that Gannon supported Rosas financially.

“He came here for dinner twice… He had money, and he wanted to help her, and he wanted to be with her all the time,” Phillips told CBS News. She said Gannon gave her “goosebumps.”

In August, Rosas started a GoFundMe to participate in an artist residency in Portugal, to which Gannon donated $1,000. The fundraiser has since been deleted. According to her website, Rosas commuted between Tajikistan and New York. Her work included sound art, intuitive drawing and paintings.