Judge puts case of lawyer charged in Jennifer Dulos disappearance on trial list
STAMFORD — Kent Mawhinney, one of the two remaining defendants charged in the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, will have all court hearings put off indefinitely after a judge on Tuesday put the case on the trial list.
Stamford Judge John F. Blawie ordered the move during a brief hearing Tuesday after months of continuations in the case. Mawhinney, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, remains free on $246,000 bond.
Blawie said at Tuesday’s hearing that, as Mawhinney awaits his trial to be scheduled, there would be no need to schedule future case hearings unless a new motion is filed or new information arises.
Tuesday’s hearing was the first time Mawhinney appeared in a public hearing since his request to remove a GPS monitoring bracelet so he can referee adult hockey games while free on bond was denied in May.
Since that hearing, however, Blawie approved a motion that allowed Mawhinney to travel to Cape Cod and Florida for “family business.”
Blawie said he granted the motion, which was made on Jan. 6, because Mawhinney “has been compliant with the terms and conditions of his release” since he posted bond over a year ago.
Mawhinney has been free on bond since October 2020 following his arrest on Jan. 7, 2020. He was ordered to wear the GPS monitor as a condition of his release.
Mawhinney was arrested in January 2020 on the same day his former client and longtime friend, Fotis Dulos, was charged with murder and kidnapping in connection with his estranged wife’s death and disappearance. Michelle Troconis, Mawhinney’s co-defendant, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and other charges and is scheduled to be back in court on Feb. 15. She also remains free on $2 million bond.
Arrest warrants detail how investigators believe that Mawhinney attempted to create an alibi for Fotis Dulos the morning of the disappearance.
Mawhinney was also connected with an East Granby gun club where witnesses told investigators they found a “human grave” leading up to the disappearance, according to an arrest warrant. Investigators wrote in the arrest warrant that the hole was later covered up and no remains were found at the site.
Mawhinney briefly eluded state police on Jan. 7, 2020, as they sought to take him into custody, officials said. He was later apprehended at gunpoint during a Tolland traffic stop.
Three weeks later, Fotis Dulos died from a suicide.
Fotis Dulos was believed to have been “lying in wait” for his estranged wife at her New Canaan home after she dropped off their five children at school around 8 a.m. on May 24, 2019, according to an arrest warrant. Investigators
said that Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a “serious physical assault” in the garage of the home. The state’s chief medical examiner determined she suffered wounds that were not survivable without immediate medical attention.
While Jennifer Dulos’ body has not been found, she is presumed dead by investigators and her family.
Investigators wrote in an arrest warrant that Fotis Dulos and Troconis were seen disposing bags in Hartford’s North End following the disappearance. Some of the bags were recovered and found to have Jennifer Dulos’ blood and DNA, the warrant shows.
Through her attorney, Troconis has been mounting an aggressive defense against the charges, claiming that state police were inaccurate in arrest warrants. In a court motions, Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has included video evidence that shows Troconis repeatedly told investigators she had no
involvement in the Jennifer Dulos disappearance.
In a court motion filed in December of last year, Schoenhorn, said a nearly two-hour interview between Mawhinney and state police investigators happened just weeks before his bond was reduced.
At the time his bond was reconsidered, Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo said he had no objections to the reduction or Mawhinney going to visit his ailing father.
Schoenhorn, through
motions, has asked the state to provide any information “pertaining to consideration, rewards or understanding regarding favorable treatment, compensation or reward of any kind in exchange for Mawhinney’s cooperation with the state, the investigation or prosecution of this case.”
During a hearing in Troconis’ case in February, a prosecutor said Mawhinney was likely to be called to testify if the matter went to trial.