The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
As Dulos cremated, lawyers vow to clear name
FARMINGTON — Fotis Dulos has been cremated, but his attorneys are fighting to exonerate him and possibly file malicious prosecution and legal malpractice lawsuits as a way of clearing his name.
Attorney Kevin Smith, a member of his criminal defense team, told Farmington Regional Probate Judge Evelyn Daly during a hearing Tuesday that his client’s interest in his estate should be considered.
Daly appointed attorney Christopher Hug, of the Hartford law firm, Robinson + Cole, as the temporary administrator of the Dulos estate.
When he died from an apparent suicide on Jan. 30, Fotis Dulos was facing murder charges in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, two foreclosure proceedings and $2.5 million in lawsuits filed by his mother-in-law.
Smith said he expects all the criminal charges to be dismissed on March 3 during a proceeding in state Superior Court in Stamford. But he and lead defense attorney Norm Pattis have filed a request for court officials to continue the prosecution with the estate of Fotis Dulos as the defendant as a way of bringing the case to trial.
If the charges are dismissed, he and Pattis will consider filing wrongful death, malicious prosecution and legal malpractice lawsuits to exonerate their client, he said.
“His last instructions were to make sure that his name was cleared and that he was exonerated,” Smith said.
Smith and Pattis want a temporary administrator who won’t be “hostile” to their client’s interests to be appointed.
“We feel as though Mr. Dulos’ interests should be heard,” Smith said.
Dulos was cremated, according to his death certificate that Smith provided to the probate court. The New York Medical Examiner is waiting on toxicology results before determining the cause of death, Pattis said. His sister, Rena, had said the family planned to return him to his native Greece.
Dulos died with about $200,000 in a Fidelity 401K account and he had about $14,000 in a separate personal account, Hug told the court.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear there was a tremendous amount of liquid assets,” Hug said.
As the temporary administrator, Daly said Hug has about 30 days to inventory the assets and debts of Dulos so the court can give what’s left to his five children. The 45-minute proceeding offered details into the life Fotis Dulos was leading in the time leading up to his estranged wife’s disappearance on May 24.
His girlfriend Michelle Troconis, who was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case, wants her gray bath and hand towels back, as well as her juicer, bathroom soap tray, plant and a host of other ordinary items, including a lemon squeezer, a crepe maker and her daughter’s sporting equipment, according to a request filed in the probate case by her her attorney.
She lived with Dulos at the Jefferson Crossing residence for about two years, said her attorney Jon Schoenhorn.
“She hasn’t been allowed to go back to the house by Superior Court order,” Schoenhorn said. “With the unfortunate death, we want to make sure the contents of the house that are hers are not disposed of.”
Madonna, the 16-year-old cat belonging to the mother of Fotis Dulos, went into hiding after his apparent suicide attempt. It took several hours on Sunday to coax the cat out and she has been left with someone who could care for her until an owner could be found, Hug said.
Anna Curry, who Dulos listed as his “best friend” on bond documents, has expressed interest in taking ownership of the cat, Smith said. Curry helped post Dulos’ $6 million bond and remained by his side at a New York hospital until he died.
Attorneys for Fotis Dulos and his mother-in-law, Gloria Farber, have been sparring in court filings over the care of his Jefferson Crossing home since the apparent suicide.
Farber paid off the mortgage to the home in July after her daughter disappeared and then filed foreclosure proceedings against Dulos to take possession of the property.
Her attorney, Richard Weintsein, has been leading the charge in keeping the Jefferson Crossing home preserved with all its contents intact until an inventory of his assets can be completed. Weinstein told the court he paid $2,000 to have the propane tanks filled so the pipes in the 14,000-square-foot home wouldn’t burst in the cold.
The house is now secure, Hug said, with new locks, a newly reset alarm and instructions to Farmington police about who is allowed in the house and on the property.
The Savings Bank of Danbury also started foreclosure proceedings on the Sturbridge Hill Road home in New Canaan that Dulos was trying to sell through his company, Fore Group. His company also owns 80 Mountain Spring Road in Farmington and the property at 585 Deercliff Road in Avon.
Jennifer and Fotis Dulos were involved in a two-year acrimonious divorce when she disappeared on May 24.
The divorce was officially dismissed by the court last week.
Fotis Dulos was also being sued by Farber for what she claimed were $2.5 million in unpaid business loans made to his high-end real estate company.
Arrest warrants said police believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” for his estranged wife at her New Canaan home as she dropped off their children at school.
Around the time she was reported missing that night, police said Fotis Dulos and Troconis were captured on video in Hartford dumping bags of garbage that were later determined to contain Jennifer Dulos’ blood and clothing.
Fotis Dulos, 52, and Troconis, 45, were each charged last year with two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
On Jan. 7, Dulos was also charged with murder, felony murder and firstdegree kidnapping. Troconis and Dulos’ close friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, 54, were also charged that day with conspiracy to commit murder.