Attorney charged in Dulos case gets temporary release to see sick father
STAMFORD — An attorney charged in the Jennifer Dulos case is expected to be released from custody Monday on a reduced bond to visit his sick father in Florida.
Kent Mawhinney, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, has been held at the Cheshire Correctional Institution since his January arrest.
Mawhinney is expected to be brought to state Superior Court in Stamford at 10 a.m. Monday, but will not appear before a judge, court officials said. Mawhinney is expected to post bond and be fitted for a GPS monitoring device before being released.
A Superior Court judge last week granted a request to reduce Mawhinney’s bond from $2 million to $246,000 in cash and real estate.
The conditions of his release require Mawhinney to surrender his passport and he will be tracked by a GPS device. He will also not be able to leave Connecticut without permission from the court, which has already approved his trip to see his father in Florida.
A court filing last week indicated that Mawhinney’s parents were willing to post a property they own in Manchester, valued at $196,000, and $50,000 in cash for his release.
The filing stated that Mawhinney’s 86-year-old father is battling lymphoma and prostate cancer that spread to his spine and ribs.
Mawhinny’s attorneys said in the filing that their client, who practiced law for more than 20 years in Connecticut and has three children living here, is not a flight risk.
Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo did not object to a reduced bond or the trip to Florida, but stipulated that Mawhinney seek the court’s permission before otherwise traveling out of state.
Mawhinney, who allegedly eluded authorities for hours on Jan. 7 before he was taken into custody at gunpoint in Tolland, was one of three people charged in connection with Jennifer Dulos’ death and disappearance.
Jennifer Dulos, who was reported missing the night she vanished on
May 24, 2019, has never been found and is presumed dead based on evidence investigators found in the garage of her New Canaan home, according to arrest warrants in the case.
The state’s chief medical examiner said the 50-year-old mother of five would not have survived the attack without immediate medical attention, the warrants state.
Police accused Mawhinney of trying to create an alibi for Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband the morning she vanished.
Mawhinney was also connected with a gun club where witnesses described finding a “human grave” in the days leading up to the disappearance, according to his arrest warrant. However, the hole was closed up and there were no signs of a body when police investigated the area, the warrant states.
Mawhinney also faces charges of spousal sexual assault, disorderly conduct and second-degree unlawful restraint, as well as violation of a protective order, stemming from incidents involving his estranged wife last year.
He was described by law enforcement after his arrest as a former attorney and close personal friend to Fotis Dulos.
Fotis Dulos died in January from an apparent suicide while facing murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case.
His former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the case. She is free on $2.1 million bond and is being tracked by GPS monitoring.
Police said investigators believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” and attacked his estranged wife in her garage when she returned from dropping off their children at school around 8 a.m. on May 24, 2019.
Fotis Dulos and Troconis were caught on video that night making a series of stops in Hartford, arrest warrants state. The video showed Fotis Dulos dumping bags that were later determined to contain his wife’s blood and clothing, according to his arrest warrant.