A lawyer for a Connecticut man who took his own life amid Jennifer Dulos’ murder investigation says his client is innocent.
On Tuesday, Stamford Superior Court Judge Gary White dropped murders charges against Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of Jennifer, who was accused of kidnapping and killing her.
Authorities found Dulos inside his Chevrolet Suburban last month, parked in a garage at his Farmington home with a hose attached to the vehicle’s exhaust pipe. First responders rushed Dulos to the hospital but he eventually passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Dulos defense attorney Norm Pattis said during a Tuesday court hearing someone else likely killed Jennifer Dulos without her estranged husband’s knowledge.
“If Ms. Dulos is, in fact, dead, we have reason to believe she met her end at the hand of a third party unrelated to Mr. Dulos and without his knowledge,” Pattis told reporters, according to the Stamford Advocate. “Obviously, we were working on the development of that evidence to present at trial in September, but there will be no trial.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Jennifer was last seen on the morning of May 24, 2019, dropping her children off at the New Canaan Country School in the prominent New Canaan community.
Police later found her vehicle, a black 2017 Chevrolet Suburban, parked off of Lapham Road.
Prosecutors accused Fotis Dulos of “lying in wait” for Jennifer to come home on May 24, when security footage captured her walking into her home at around 8:30 a.m.
A 35-page arrest warrant indicated that Dulos is also accused of bounding Jennifer with zip ties to restrain her before killing her. Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner James R. Gill stated that Jennifer Dulos probably endured a “non-survivable” injury which likely included stabbing and blunt force trauma.
“It is reasonable that Jennifer Dulos was alive at the time the zip ties were attached to restrain her movements and to prevent her escape,” the warrant read.
Pattis reportedly claimed that the only evidence prosecutors have against Dulos is a sighting of his employee’s red pickup truck near Jennifer’s vehicle on May 24. Witnesses said also, however, they saw a man who looked like Dulos also riding a bike in Jennifer’s neighborhood at the time of her disappearance.
Further, authorities previously said they found numerous items of incriminating evidence against Dulos, including:
- Bags of blood-stained clothing and sponges that Dulos allegedly dropped into trash cans at businesses in Connecticut
- Stains of blood on Jennifer’s garage floor
- Blood spatter in numerous areas of Jennifer’s home
- Dulos’ DNA mixed in with Jennifer’s blood on her kitchen faucet
- Obvious attempts to clean up the scene
- Altered Connecticut license plates that belonged to Dulos
- Security footage of Dulos driving his Ford pickup to various locations, dropping trash bags into different public trash receptacles
- Security footage of Dulos’ former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, “leaning out of the passenger seat of the Ford pickup and either placing something on the ground or picking up an item”
White dropped the charges against Fotis Dulos under a nolle law, meaning the state has 13 months to refile charges against Dulos, according to The Hour. If the state fails to refile within 13 months, all charges will remain dropped.
Click here for our previous coverage on Jennifer Dulos
Click here for additional coverage on the Fotis Dulos investigation
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[Feature Photo: Jennifer Dulos/Handout]