Fotis Dulos, Estranged Husband of Missing Conn. Mom, Dead 2 Days After Suicide Attempt
The estranged husband of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Farber Dulos — who is charged with her murder – has died 2 days after attempting suicide, NBC News, the Hartford Courant, and WFSB report.
On January 30, Fotis Dulos, 52, of Farmington, was pronounced dead at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx where he was flown by helicopter Tuesday from the UConn Health in Farmington, where he was initially transported.
His lawyer, Norm Pattis, announced Dulos’ death Thursday evening. Pattis also said Dulos’ family flew in from Greece to try to harvest his organs.
In a statement to ABC, Pattis said, “Mr. Dulos was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. Now he has been executed. We remain committed to demonstrating he did not murder Jennifer.”
Just before noon on Tuesday, officers found the father of five sitting in his running car inside the garage of his Farmington home with “obvious signs of medical distress,” Farmington Police Lt. Tim McKenzie said at a Tuesday press conference.
Documents on Thursday revealed Dulos had left behind a suicide note proclaiming his innocence in the murder of his wife, WFSB reports.
Officers performed CPR on Dulos, who was alone at the residence at the time, said McKenzie.
Dulos had apparently attached a hose to the tailpipe of his vehicle and sat inside with the doors closed while his new girlfriend had gone to the store, sources tell The Hartford Courant.
Officers were sent to his home for a well-being check when Dulos failed to appear for an emergency bond hearing in Stamford Tuesday.
The hearing was scheduled to determine whether the $6 million bond he posted after being arrested on Jan. 7 for the murder of his estranged wife would be revoked, sending him back to jail.
Earlier that morning, Dulos learned that that the company that had initially insured the bond had said the collateral he put up to cover the bond was problematic, The Courant reports.
But later that day, another bail bonds company said it could insure the bond, The Courant reports.
Dulos’ attorney, Norm Pattis, who spoke to him before the suicide attempt, said he was shocked.
“Obviously the potential for a bond revocation was devastating news to him, but throughout he has been a fighter and resolute, so this development comes as stunning news to me,” Pattis told NBC Connecticut.
RELATED: Husband of Missing Mom Jennifer Dulos — Along with His Lawyer and Girlfriend — Charged in Death
Dulos was charged with the murder in the presumed death of his estranged, still-missing wife seven months after the Connecticut mother of five vanished from her New Canaan home after dropping her children off at school.
He pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, court records show.
At the time, she and Dulos were involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle. Police allege that on May 24, Dulos was “lying in wait” and attacked his estranged wife in her garage on the day she died, court documents show.
His girlfriend at the time, Michelle Troconis, and his civil lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to Connecticut State Police. Mawhinney, who does not have an attorney, has pleaded not guilty. Troconis has not yet entered a plea to that charge, court records show.
Fotis and Troconis were charged earlier with evidence tampering in connection with Jennifer’s disappearance. Both pleaded not guilty to that charge as well.
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After the murder charge was filed, Pattis told PEOPLE: “It’s obvious the state police really have no idea what became of Jennifer. This remains an open case in our view.”
Attorneys for Troconis and Dulos did not immediately return PEOPLE’s calls for comment.
