Connecticut State Police officers lead Fotis Dulos, center, from the State Police barracks to a waiting car Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, in Bridgeport, Conn., after he was arrested at his home in Farmington. He faces charges he murdered his estranged wife Jennifer Dulos, who went missing in May 2019. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann)
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of a missing mother of five, faces arraignment Wednesday on charges that he killed her amid contentious divorce and child custody proceedings.
Dulos is charged with murder and kidnapping in the apparent death of Jennifer Dulos of New Canaan, who has not been seen since she dropped her children off at school on May 24. State police arrested him Tuesday and ordered him held in lieu of $6 million bail.
Also due for arraignments in Stamford Superior Court are two other defendants — Fotis Dulos’ former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his friend, attorney Kent Mawhinney, who are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
It had been known for months that Fotis Dulos was the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. Another arrest warrant, for evidence tampering, revealed that he was recorded on surveillance video in Hartford, with Troconis riding with him in a pickup truck, disposing of items that later tested positive for Jennifer Dulos’ blood.
Police declined to take any questions from the media at a news conference Tuesday on the arrests.
Norm Pattis, an attorney for Fotis Dulos, said he was not surprised by the arrests but does not believe his client will be convicted. Dulos has denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance.
“What these charges tell us is the state has evidence and doesn’t know what to make of it,” he said. “And what it intends to do is throw as much against the wall and let the jury decide what happened. Our position is that’s not good enough for Fotis Dulos.”
Messages seeking comment were left with Troconis’ attorney and the office of Mawhinney.
The body of Jennifer Dulos has not been found. According to arrest warrants, a medical examiner determined she was killed by “some combination of traumatic, blunt-force injuries such as a bludgeoning/beating, and/or sharp-force injuries such as a stabbing/slashing.” The examiner cited bloodstains at her home, apparent cleanup efforts and blood spatter analysis.
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