HARTFORD, Conn. _ A Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered three new re-arrest warrants for Fotis Dulos, who is charged with killing his estranged wife but is now in "dire condition" in a New York hospital after a suicide attempt.
"His medical condition is dire," Norm Pattis, lawyer for Dulos, told Judge Gary White in Superior Court in Stamford. Pattis agreed to waive extradition proceedings so that Dulos' family can have access to him at the Jacobi Medical Center.
"His family is arriving tonight and we will await word from the physicians on what is reasonable to expect," Pattis said. This will allow time for family members to visit him in the hospital, where Dulos remains under guard by New York police.
If Dulos recovers, he will be extradited to Connecticut. On Wednesday there appeared to be no indication that Dulos' condition had improved since he was revived after a suicide attempt Tuesday morning.
Dulos was due to appear in court Tuesday morning, but instead was discovered in his Farmington garage attempting suicide. His failure to appear in court Tuesday led to the re-arrest warrants being issued on Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, Farmington police resumed their investigation at Dulos' home.
Dulos, who is accused of killing estranged wife Jennifer Farber Dulos, was transported to UConn Health in Farmington on Tuesday afternoon from his Jefferson Crossing home. He was later taken by LifeStar to New York, ending a chaotic day that included police notifying the caretakers of his five children that he had died and drones hovering above his home capturing video of frantic emergency personnel using CPR to try to revive him.
Early Wednesday morning Farmington Police Lt. Timothy McKenzie said investigators returned to Dulos' home at 4 Jefferson Crossing.
Sources said Farmington police are still working to obtain a warrant to search the Jefferson Crossing home, but they have not yet secured one. It is unclear at this point what crime, if any, police would cite in requesting legal authority to search the premises to see if there was a note or other evidence related to the attempted suicide.
Dulos, 52, was supposed to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Tuesday for a hearing on whether the $6 million bond he posted after his Jan. 7 murder arrest was going to be revoked because the South Carolina company that insured the bond was now claiming that the collateral to cover the bond was not sufficient.
Farmington police had been at the house Tuesday and suspended their investigation overnight, he said. Crews returned Wednesday morning and McKenzie said Farmington police borrowed Newington police's mobile command center.
There were police vehicles at the house overnight simply to guard the scene, which is a common practice for ongoing investigations.
McKenzie said early Wednesday morning he could not give any additional information, and that he also has no information about Dulos' medical status.
On Tuesday morning, Farmington police found Dulos inside a car that was running in the garage of his home. The doors were closed and a hose was attached to the tailpipe, sources said. Dulos had apparently gone to the garage after his new girlfriend had left to go to the grocery store. Police say they interviewed a woman at the home, but she was not identified.
Pattis, Dulos' lawyer, spoke to NBC News Tuesday evening.
"Obviously the potential for a bond revocation was devastating news to him, but throughout he has been a fighter and resolute, so this development comes as stunning news to me," Pattis said.
Pattis did not speak with reporters gathered outside Jacobi Medical Center late Tuesday night and earlier in the day had said only that he was aware Dulos was transported to the hospital with a pulse, offering him "thoughts and prayers."
Jennifer Farber Dulos, 51, has not been seen since May 24 when she dropped her children off at school in New Canaan. Dulos, a luxury home builder, and Farber Dulos had been in the middle of a contentious two-year divorce at the time of her disappearance. A probate judge last year granted custody of their five children to their maternal grandmother, Gloria Farber.
In a 35-page arrest warrant affidavit supporting Dulos' murder charge, state police detectives said they found Dulos' DNA on an inside doorknob to the mudroom of Farber Dulos' New Canaan home, along with his DNA and her blood mixed on a faucet in the home.
After tracking Dulos' phone to the North End of Hartford on the day Farber Dulos went missing, investigators said they found surveillance video showing a man they say is Dulos throwing out garbage bags in the area of Albany Avenue, the affidavit said.
In the trash, investigators reported finding a number of items, including zip ties, a bloodstained poncho, a sponge and a bloodstained paper towel with Farber Dulos' DNA on it, the affidavit said.
Last week, White ordered strict home confinement for Dulos after reports surfaced that he meddled with a memorial for Farber Dulos set up near the Farmington home they once shared. White told Dulos that if he violated the conditions of his release again, White would double the bond to $12 million.
Last week's hearing followed the filing of a motion by State's Attorney Richard Colangelo asking a judge to review Dulos' bond after Dulos was seen stopping at the end of a private road leading to his home on Jan. 17 to "get out of his vehicle and remove items from a memorial that was set up," court records show.
"Mr. Dulos is on the edge of what he has the right to do. I would ask that you remove his permission to leave for work and do it in black and white so that he knows what he can do. It shouldn't be that hard, but apparently it is," Colangelo said to White. Pattis acknowledged it was not smart for Dulos to remove items from the memorial. But, he said, the memorial was set up near his home to taunt him.
