The lawyer representing the estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos says he is conducting his own investigation into the disappearance of the mother of five.
Dulos, 50, disappeared on May 24 in New Canaan, an affluent area of Connecticut. Since then her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, 51 and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution.
Fotis’ lawyer Norm Pattis told WPLR, a New Haven radio station, that “Mr. Dulos did not cause his wife to disappear or cause her harm.” He said he hopes the rage directed at his client will be channeled more toward finding answers to what happened to the missing mom.
He said he’s conducting his own investigation into Jennifer’s disappearance, stating that she may have been the victim of foul play but by another source.
He said "there will be hell to pay" if investigators held back certain evidence about his client. Pattis added "the state has wedded itself to the preposition that he is the killer. We are challenging that preposition."
He told WFSB that both Fotis and Troconis have alibis.
Additionally he claimed that Troconis has been ruled out as a suspect in any foul play.
“My understanding is … the police have ruled her out as a participant in any foul play in New Canaan,” he said. “My understanding is she’s taken a polygraph exam on the question of whether she had any knowledge of any foul play or disposal of evidence and she satisfied police in that polygraph exam and she provided an alibi.”
Pattis also claimed, “it’s my understanding that she [Troconis] passed a polygraph saying she didn’t know what was in any of those bags.”
Her lawyer, police, and the district attorney's office have not returned Oxygen.com's request for comment on that claim.
The couple were allegedly seen on video disposing of garbage bags, some of which contained bloody clothing, in more than 30 trash receptacles, but police found blood spatter and evidence of cleanup attempts at Jennifer's New Canaan home, according to the arrest warrants.
Pattis disputes that it was 30 bags and said it was more like two. There may have been 30 stops, he said.
"Right now there is every reason for Mr. Dulos to be a suspect," Pattis told WFSB. "He’s a spouse. There’s a custody dispute. The allegations around the bags are deeply suspicious and I accept that, but proving murder. That’s a long way from that."
After posting bail, Troconis was spotted having a meeting with law enforcement and the state’s attorney at the office of her attorney Andrew Bowman. After Fotis was released he hired Pattis, the same lawyer defending controversial radio show host Alex Jones in his defamation case, the Hartford Courant reports.
Pattis said his client likely won't be speaking to police unless they have an "open mind," he told WPLR.
"Until the State of Connecticut demonstrates an even-handed attitude toward Mr. Dulos, he’s not going to speak to them," Pattis told WFSB.
The mysterious case has drawn a lot of attention and speculation after Jennifer vanished not long after dropping off her kids at New Canaan Country School. Two of her friends reported her missing after she didn't show for appointments and wasn't heard from for about 10 hours.
She filed for divorce from Fotis in 2017. The couple had been married for 13 years and have five children who range in age from 8 to 13. Jennifer moved out after finding out about the affair that her husband was having with Troconis, CNN reports.
She expressed fear of her husband in court paperwork.
“I am afraid of my husband,” she wrote in an affidavit tied to an order of custody filed in June 2017, according to the Stamford Advocate. “I know that filing for divorce and filing this motion will enrage him. I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way.”