Fotis Dulos, charged with killing Jennifer Dulos, dies after suicide, attorney says

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Friday, January 31, 2020
Fotis Dulos dies days after attempting suicide: Attorney
Fotis Dulos, the Connecticut man charged with murdering his estranged wife, has been declared dead days after attempting suicide.

FARMINGTON, Connecticut -- Fotis Dulos, the Connecticut man charged with murdering his estranged wife, has been declared dead days after attempting suicide, his attorney announced Thursday evening.

Attorney Norm Pattis said 52-year-old Dulos was pronounced dead just after 5:30 p.m.

Dulos was found unresponsive inside his car in the garage of his Farmington home Tuesday, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, after he failed to show up for a previously scheduled bond hearing.

"For those who contest that Fotis Dulos' death reflects a consciousness of guilt, we say no, we say it was more a conscience overborne with the weight of a world that was too busy to listen and that wanted a story more than it wanted the truth," Pattis said.

When police searched his home, they did not find a suicide note or any other evidence of significance, law enforcement sources told ABC News. However, police did find a document in which Dulos reiterates his innocence, the sources said.

It's unclear when that was written.

"Mr. Dulos was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion," Pattis told ABC news. "Now he has been executed. We remain committed to demonstrating he did not murder Jennifer."

In an unusual attempt to clear his name, Dulos' legal team is now petitioning the court to let the trial continue with Dulos' estate as the defendant.

"We're asking to proceed as if he were alive, to vindicate him because he's wrongfully accused and we are seeking the discovery we were supposed to get the other day," Pattis said.

A judge had increased Dulos' bond from $6 million to $6.5 million in the death of Jennifer Dulos after the company that originally posted for him learned that two properties offered as collateral were subject to foreclosure and a third was overvalued by over $300,000.

He is accused of killing the mother of his five children, Jennifer Dulos, whose body has never been found.

"This is a horrific tragedy all around. Please respect the privacy of the families and loved ones involved," said Carrie Luft, a spokeswoman for Jennifer's family.

Dulos has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping charges.

Dulos' ex-girlfriend Michelle Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, who represented Fotis Dulos in a civil matter, were also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen on May 24 driving a 2017 black Chevrolet Suburban shortly after dropping her kids off at school in New Canaan.

Her body has not been found, but Connecticut State Police said there has been no activity on any of her financial accounts since the day before she went missing, no activity on her cellphone, and no one has seen or heard from her.

Fotis and Jennifer Dulos were embroiled in a contentious divorce battle, and state police have alleged in court papers that Fotis Dulos was "lying in wait" for Jennifer Dulos at home and that a violent assault took place in the garage.

Previous court documents revealed that clothing and sponges soaked with Jennifer Dulos' blood were found in trash cans in Hartford, where surveillance cameras captured a male appearing to be Fotis Dulos wearing a baseball cap and disposing of garbage bags in more than 30 different receptacles along a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue.

The children are currently being cared for by Jennifer Dulos' mother, who had been seeking full custody.