Complex sentence: Contrary to public perception, Dillon, unlike so many other headline chasers involved at the time, never confessed or admitted to the crime but rather offered up another man as a likely suspect, a friend of his named Jeff Connors.
Split into simpler sentences: Contrary to public perception, Dillon, unlike so many other headline chasers involved at the time, was not a Confessing Sam. He never confessed or admitted to the crime but rather offered up another man as a likely suspect, a friend of his named Jeff Connors.