Hartford

Attorney for Husband of Missing New Canaan Mom Contemplates ‘Revenge Suicide' Theory

Fotis Dulos said his children are "constantly on my mind" while lawyer Norm Pattis said he is contemplating a "revenge suicide" explanation for Jennifer Dulos' disappearance

The estranged husband of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos was back in court today, fighting for custody of the couple's five children, and made a brief statement outside court. 

“I just want to tell my children that they are constantly on my mind and that I love them and I miss them very much,” Fotis Dulos said outside court on Wednesday.

Fotis Dulos' attorney, Norm Pattis, also spoke outside court about the case.

"You heard us say today in court comments that Jennifer made to Mr. Dulos that give us great concern for her safety and well-being. We are actively contemplating a revenge suicide hypothesis explanation for her disappearance," Pattis said.

Fotis Dulos was already going through a divorce and custody dispute with Jennifer before she disappeared on May 24. On Wednesday, Fotis and his attorney were in Stamford Court for a status conference on the custody case.

Attorneys for Jennifer filed a motion to hold Fotis and his attorneys in criminal contempt, claiming they violated a court order by releasing information about evaluations done on the couple's children. It's information they said was supposed to be sealed.

Pattis said he believes they acted appropriately and filed his own motion to have the evaluations unsealed.

The filing goes on to request that Fotis and his attorneys be barred from divulging information from the custody evaluation to the media. It also asks that Fotis' attorneys be disqualified from representing him in any custody or criminal cases.

Pattis responded by writing in an email, "without commenting on the allegations in the counsel's motion, we contend we acted appropriately in the defense of our client."

Outside court before the status conference on Wednesday, Pattis said they have had no communication with the children.

On Monday, Fotis Dulos' lawyer claimed that Jennifer may have staged her disappearance like a character in the book "Gone Girl," citing a "very dark 500-page plus novel" that she had written.

That prompted a spokesperson for Jennifer's family, Carrie Luft, to dismiss the claim as "false and irresponsible allegations," saying that Jennifer's novel was written well before "Gone Girl" and was not a mystery tome.

"Evidence shows that Jennifer was the victim of a violent attack in her New Canaan home. As of today, she has been missing for a month," her family and friends said in a statement released Monday. "This is not fiction or a movie. This is real life, as experienced every single day by Jennifer’s five young children, her family, and her friends. We are heartbroken. Jennifer is not here to protect her children, and these false and irresponsible allegations hurt the children now and into the future."

Jennifer has been missing for over a month. According to court documents, when police searched her home, they found blood, and investigators believe she was the victim of a serious physical assault. Her disappearance is considered a missing persons case.

City surveillance cameras captured a man police said matched the appearance of Fotis throwing away bags of garbage along Albany Avenue in Hartford the day Jennifer disappeared, according to court documents.

Jennifer, who moved from Farmington to New Canaan after filing for divorce, was last seen while dropping off her children at school in New Canaan on Friday, May 24. Since Jennifer disappeared, her children have been living with her mother.

Investigators have spent the better part of the last month searching for clues related to Jennifer's disappearance at locations all over the state.

As the search for Jennifer continues, police have dedicated a website, FindJenniferDulos.com, and an email address, FindJenniferDulos@newcanaanct.gov, to the investigation. Police have also set up a tipline, 203-594-3544.

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