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Fotis Dulos' Bond Hearing To Go On Despite His Suicide Attempt, While Lawyer Feels He 'Let Him Down’
Fotis Dulos is remains in critical condition and is being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after police found him unresponsive at his Connecticut mansion.
A bail hearing for Fotis Dulos, the man accused of killing his estranged wife Jennifer Farber Dulos back in May, is moving forward despite the fact that Dulos is hospitalized in critical condition following a suicide attempt Tuesday.
Dulos was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for an emergency hearing related to his $6 million bond but he never showed up. When police went to his home, they found him unresponsive in his garage. One of Dulos' lawyers, Rich Rochlin, told NBC News that he'd attempted to kill himself.
Dulos has been listed in critical condition at the Bronx’s Jacobi Medical Center and is being treated for what authorities have described as carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Associated Press.
Norm Pattis, Dulos’ most vocal attorney, told NBC Connecticut that Dulos will be placed in a hyperbaric chamber for oxygen treatment, a tactic often used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning. An anonymous source told the outlet that Dulos is currently in intensive care.
A judge had been expected to decide Tuesday whether to revoke Dulos’ $6 million bond and put him back behind bars, according to the New York Post. His bond’s insurer, the Palmetto Surety Company, raised concerns over the bond’s collateral and are seeking to have the bond revoked. A copy of their motion, obtained by a News12 reporter, reveals that the company's risk analyst discovered "imperfections in the collateral" that Dulos had provided as as security for the bond. According to the motion, two of Dulos' properties being used as collateral are currently in foreclosure.
After news of the possible bond revocation, well known bond agency Ira Judelson said they are ready to back Dulos if needed.
“I’m prepared to as long as we get everything we need to get it in place,” Judelson told The Post.
The bond hearing is expected to take place Wednesday afternoon.
Pattis wouldn't speculate on whether the prospect of having his bond revoked led to Dulos' suicide attempt, but he told NBC Connecticut, “the events speak for themselves.”
"Obviously, the potential for a bond revocation was devastating news to him, but throughout, he has been a fighter and resolute,” Pattis said. “In our review of the discovery, we very much liked our options for trial and we very much liked our possibility of success, so this development comes as stunning news to me.”
Pattis, who was out of town and couldn’t make it to Tuesday’s emergency hearing, added, “I feel that I let him down, that he trusted me to be his good shepherd through the valley of the shadow of death and perhaps he reached [out] and I didn't hear what he needed. I feel a sense of responsibility for his welfare.”
Pattis also said that anyone gloating at the suicide attempt of an accused killer should feel ashamed.
“We have the presumption of innocence in this country for a reason and all the folks who harped on Mr. Dulos can obviously take some grim satisfaction in today’s event but my message to every single one of them is shame on you,” Pattis told NBC Connecticut.
Last week, Dulos was placed under strict house arrest after taking items from a memorial dedicated to his missing wife, which was erected on the edge of his property. Pattis told the media that the makeshift memorial was set up to taunt his client.
Dulos isn't the only person facing charges in Jennifer's disappearance: his (possibly former) girlfriend Michelle Troconis and his former civil lawyer Kent Douglas Mawhinney have both been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case.
Jennifer vanished May 24 amid a heated custody battle with Dulos. In court papers filed in the proceedings, Jennifer said she feared retaliation from her estranged husband for filing for divorce.
An arrest warrant issued by investigators alleged that Dulos was “lying in wait” for Jennifer the day she vanished and that “the crime and clean-up are believed to have occurred” shortly after. A Connecticut State Police arrest warrant, obtained by Oxygen.com, asserts that – although Jennifer’s body was never found – she likely suffered “non-survivable” injuries in her garage, which "likely include some combination of traumatic, blunt-force injuries such as bludgeoning/beating, and/or sharp-force injuries such as a stabbing/slashing."
