'Never Saw It Coming,' Fotis Dulos' Lawyer Says Of His Client’s Stunning Suicide

Fotis Dulos’ head attorney reveals in a new documentary about the Jennifer Dulos case that he was shocked by his client’s suicide.

“I think I’m having a hard time processing it all,” Dulos’ lawyer Norm Pattis told Fox News just days after his client’s death. Their conversation is part of that network's new documentary on the contentious Connecticut case.

“Never saw it coming,” Pattis said of the "stunning" development.

Dulos, 52, was found unresponsive in a car at his Farmington mansion after he neglected to show up for a scheduled emergency hearing in January. A hose was spotted attached to the tailpipe of Dulos’ Chevy Suburban, parked in the home's garage, the New York Post reported. He died days later, after succumbing to the carbon monoxide poisoning sustained during his suicide attempt.

Pattis said he'd talked to Dulos before the attempt of his life and that they had a “difficult conversation.” Pattis told his client that he would likely be incarcerated again, news Dulos didn’t exactly want to hear.

While Pattis has repeatedly claimed Dulos is innocent, a spokesperson for Jennifer's family says otherwise. 

"Fotis is not a victim,” Carrie Luft said in the documentary. “He chose a course of action and as a consequence, these kids are left without either parent."

Dulos was facing murder and kidnapping charges for the disappearance of Jennifer, his estranged wife. She vanished last May amid contentious divorce and child custody proceedings between the two. The couple had five children together. 

Jennifer’s body has not been found, but police have asserted that she is dead and that he estranged husband was responsible. 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, claims 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."

Dulos' former girlfriend Michelle Troconis and his former civil lawyer Kent Douglas Mawhinney have both been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case. 

All charges were dropped against Dulos in March, following his death.

"The priority is still to find Jennifer,” Luft said in the documentary.