Murder Charge Against Fotis Dulos Is Dropped in Slaying of Estranged Wife After His Suicide
Murder charges against Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Farber Dulos, have been dropped – not because he was found innocent but because he is dead, PEOPLE confirms.
On Tuesday, Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo asked a Stamford Superior Court judge to nolle the charges against Dulos, 52, of Farmington, since he is dead and cannot stand trial, NBC Connecticut reports.
Dulos was pronounced dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on Jan. 30, two days after he was found unresponsive in a running vehicle in his garage with the windows rolled up and a hose attached to the tailpipe, The Hartford Courant reports.
He died by suicide while he was fighting charges that he’d murdered his estranged wife, 50, who disappeared on May 24 after dropping their five children off at school in New Canaan, where she’d moved the family after she and Dulos split up.
In court Tuesday, Dulos’ attorney, Norm Pattis, who has vowed to posthumously clear his client’s name, fought for the right to continue the case, CNN reports.
He told the court that someone else besides Dulos killed Farber Dulos, The Stamford Advocate reports. Dulos, Pattis told the court, was seen on surveillance video disposing of bags the night Farber Dulos vanished because the real killer left her bloody clothing in his yard, The Advocate reports.
“If the case did go to trial, judge, we would have proceeded under the theory — and we have reason to believe that this theory is, in fact, true — that Ms. Dulos came to a violent end at the hands of a third party unrelated to Mr. Dulos,” Pattis said, The Advocate reports.
Still, the judge ended up nolling the charges.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
At a press conference afterward, a disappointed Pattis said, “This was not the ending we anticipated, in the form we hoped,” NBC News reports.
“We hoped fully well to stand in front of you someday with the charges against Mr. Dulos ended by way of an acquittal.”
In an email to PEOPLE, Pattis wrote, “The case of State v. Fotis Dulos ended today. There are pending cases involving Michelle Troconis and Attorney Mawhinney. Out of respect for the fair trial rights of these individuals we will have no further comment on the underlying factual allegations.”
On Jan. 7, Dulos was arrested and charged with his estranged wife’s murder. He was released on a $6 million bond and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
He was due to return to court on Jan. 28, the day he was found unresponsive in his vehicle to determine whether the bond would be revoked or increased.
Troconis, Dulos’ ex-girlfriend, and Kent Mawhinney, Dulos’ friend and civil attorney, are charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Both pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to return to court later this month.
In the meantime, Pattis said he intends to ask Dulos’s estate for the green light to appeal the decision, NBC Connecticut reports.
Requests for comment from Troconis’s attorney and from Mawhinney were not immediately returned.
Source: Read Full Article