Fotis Dulos, a Connecticut man charged with murder earlier this month in the disappearance of his estranged wife, died Thursday, two days after he was found unresponsive at his home from an apparent suicide attempt, according to his attorney Norm Pattis and reports by ABC News. He was 52.
Dulos apparently tried to commit suicide Tuesday while he was out on bail, reports said.
Dulos was initially pronounced dead that day by multiple news agencies, citing officials on the scene.
Moments later, however, emergency crews reported that Dulos had a faint pulse and was rushed to nearby UConn Health hospital in Farmington.
Reports said Dulos did not appear in court as planned Tuesday for an emergency hearing regarding his bond, which was about to be revoked, meaning Dulos would have had to return to jail.
Police were sent to his home about noon to check on him, The Hartford Courant reported.
Farmington police Lt. Timothy McKenzie said officers observed Dulos through a window of the home, sitting inside his vehicle and appearing to be “in medical distress.”
A short time later, police and paramedics were seen in aerial footage administering CPR in the driveway.
An ambulance transported him to the hospital, where Dulos was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, reports said.
He was later flown by helicopter to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, reports said.
He survived for two more days but was unconscious, unable to breathe on his own and on life support, according to reports.
Dulos was arrested Jan. 7 in connection with the death of his wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, despite authorities being unable to find her body since she went missing on May 24, 2019.
She would have been 51 years old.
The Dulos’ five children have been living with Jennifer’s mother, according to reports.
Reports said the Farber family was informed earlier that Dulos was dead.
Dulos had been free on a $6 million bond since Jan. 9 while awaiting trial, reports said.
Credit: Mark Mirko
Credit: Mark Mirko
Dulos' arrest capped months of police searches for his wife, who was last seen dropping off her children at a school in New Canaan.
Authorities searched woods, ponds, trash plants and houses from New Canaan to Farmington but were never able to find any trace of the 51-year-old Farber Dulos other than a blood-stained shirt — found in a Hartford trash can — they believe she was wearing the last time she was seen alive.
Who is Fotis Dulos?
Dulos, a Farmington luxury homebuilder, has been arrested twice and charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with the disappearance of Farber Dulos. He has been free on two separate $500,000 bonds.
Dulos has maintained he had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance, and Pattis has suggested a variety of theories of what happened to her — from a “Gone Girl” scenario where she faked her own death and is still alive to a "revenge suicide” theory speculating that she killed herself and made it look like Fotis Dulos was involved to keep their children away from him.
The couple had been going through a bitter divorce since June 2017 with a judge severely limiting Dulos' access to his five children over the last year.
Dulos was first arrested in early June. Police in court documents said surveillance video from the Albany Avenue area in Hartford showed Dulos dumping two black trash bags into garbage cans on that street. The cameras also showed him putting a FedEx package into a storm drain right in front of Michelle Troconis, his girlfriend at the time, police said.
The girlfriend
Troconis, who was referred to as the “Argentinian paramour” in court papers by Farber Dulos' divorce attorney, also has been arrested twice on tampering with evidence charges. She is free on a $500,000 bond and a $150,000 bond, respectively.
Troconis has told state police in multiple interviews that she doesn't know where Farber Dulos' body is located.
The bond after her second arrest in September was lower because she has cooperated with state police detectives. She recently also moved her remaining belongings from the Farmington home she shared with Dulos. She now lives in Avon.
— This is a developing story. Please return to AJC.com for updates. Information provided by Tribune News Service was used to supplement this report.
About the Author
