HARTFORD, Conn. — Kent Mawhinney, a critical player in the ongoing case of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Farber Dulos, gave an interview to state police and has been branded in court documents as a "jailhouse informant," court documents say.
Mawhinney's potential role as a cooperating witness could mark a critical turn in unraveling the story of what happened to Farber Dulos, who has been missing for more than 18 months. Authorities believe she was killed by her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, who took his own life in late January.
The revelations about Mawhinney — charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case — were made in a two-page motion filed Monday by attorney Jon Schoenhorn, who represents Dulos' onetime girlfriend Michelle Troconis, who is also charged with conspiracy. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Schoenhorn is seeking more information from prosecutors on an interview Mawhinney did with state police just before he was released from prison on bond this Fall. He refers in the motion to Mawhinney as a "jailhouse informant" and has asked for videotape, detectives notes and any documents that indicate whether he offered a deal in exchange for his testimony.
The motion indicates that Mawhinney was interviewed Aug. 31 by state police detectives at the department's polygraph unit, located at is Middletown headquarters. it is unclear if Mawhinney took a polygraph or if that was simply the location of the interview. Schoenhorn has asked for a copy of a test if it exists.
Mawhinney eventually signed a statement on Sept. 18, according to the motion, and was released from prison on a reduced bond less than a month later. Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo, who is prosecuting the Dulos case, didn't object to Mawhinney being released from prison and his bond reduced from $2 million to $200,000.
Schoenhorn's motion does not outline any specific information about what Mawhinney may have told state police or if he offered any evidence as to where Jennifer Farber Dulos may be buried.
Both Troconis and Mawhinney are facing conspiracy to commit murder charges for their alleged roles in the disappearance of Farber Dulos, who hasn't been seen since returning to her New Canaan home on the morning of May 24, 2019.
Mawhinney was arrested by state troopers in Tolland after allegedly trying to flee on the same day that Dulos was charged with murder. The Courant as reported that Dulos called Mawhinney at his South Windsor law office just before Dulos was arrested.
The arrest warrant for Mawhinney, of South Windsor, outlines allegations that he conspired with Dulos in the disappearance of Farber Dulos, the 51-year-old mother of Dulos' five children, on May 24.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, state police detectives wrote that Mawhinney was present at Dulos' office the day Farber Dulos went missing and his name appeared on detailed notes taken by Dulos and Troconis that investigators called the "Alibi Scripts."
Troconis has told police she remembers seeing Mawhinney at the house that morning even though Dulos wasn't there.
Mawhinney was not cooperative with state police initially telling them that fell down the stairs a few days after Farber Dulos' disappearance. Mawhinney said he hit head and lost part of his memory and also broke his cellphone that he also broke the cellphone he had then so they could not impound it.
There also was the curious "grave" found at an East Granby gun club that Mawhinney used to belong to. A couple of members of the club found what they believed was a freshly dug grave about a week before Farber Dulos disappeared. The two men told state police they saw bags of lime in it.
But when they went back a few weeks later the grave had been filled in When state police dug it up they found nothing.
Fotis Dulos, was arrested last January and charged with murder at that same time Troconis and Mawhinney also were arrested. While Dulos made a $6 million bond and Troconis made a $2.1 million bon, Mawhinney went to prison because he couldn't make his $2 million bond.
Mawhinney's bond was later reduced to $246,000 in cash and a real estate bond. The motion seeking his release said that he wanted to go visit his ailing father in Florida and made no mention of the fact state police had interviewed him for hours just weeks before that.
There was never a bond hearing held; instead, a Stamford judge ordered his release without him ever appearing in court.
Although Fotis Dulos initially made bond, when it appeared the bail was going to be revoked, Dulos tried to take his own life in the garage of the Jefferson Crossing house he once shared with Troconis. He died a few days later in a New York Hospital never regaining consciousness.
Dulos left a suicide note in the vehicle saying that he had nothing to do with Farber Dulos' disappearance but that he couldn't bear going back to prison. The note also exonerated Troconis and Mawhinney.
Farber Dulos has not been seen since she dropped her children off at a private school in New Canaan shortly after 8 a.m. on May 24, 2019. State police have alleged that Dulos "lied in wait" for her in the garage of her New Canaan home and that a violent struggle took place inside the garage.
They have alleged that Dulos then took her body from the house in her Chevrolet Suburban and transferred it to a red Toyota pickup truck he had driven to New Canaan from Farmington and left at a park near her home. He then drove back to Farmington where Troconis later met him at a home owned by his company, The Fore Group, authorities say.
The red pickup truck never left the property until its owner came to get it and give Dulos back his black Ford Raptor that he drove to Albany Avenue later that same night to dispose of the trash bags, according to arrest records.
Schoenhorn said that police have falsely stated "that Ms. Troconis actively assisted co-defendant Dulos in disposing of evidence during six stops along Albany Avenue, when those videos show no such thing."
The Hartford Courant has reported that two days after Dulos allegedly dumped the evidence, a homeless man grabbed the trash bag, opened it and found a bloody pillow and a knife in the bag.
The man told the Courant he kept the knife and sold it for $5 worth of crack cocaine to a man he called "Fudge," who later traded it with another guy for food. The knife and the pillow haven't been found.
