HARTFORD, Conn. _ An attorney representing Fotis Dulos, the Farmington man whose wife has been missing for three months, filed a motion in family court Friday seeking a psychiatric evaluation of his mother-in-law to ensure that the five Dulos children are safe.
In a six-page motion attorney Rich Rochlin calls for Judge Donna Heller to order the evaluation because Gloria Farber "has previously been psychiatrically hospitalized" and because Fotis Dulos is aware the family "discussed electric shock therapy as an option."
"This troubling history of mental illness needs to be assessed to ensure that the children can be safely cared for by Ms. Farber," Rochlin wrote.
The five Dulos children have been living with Gloria Farber in New York City since Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared in May. Fotis Dulos has been barred by the court from visiting the children.
Anne C. Dranginis, Gloria Farber's lawyer, said Friday morning she is preparing a response to the motion.
Rochlin also states in his motion that Gloria Farber threatened to kill herself and her husband previously, although he doesn't give a time frame or details on that allegation.
"A court-ordered psychological evaluation of Ms. Farber would be in the minor children's best interest as it would provide this court with relevant and material information that is critical to making a comprehensive and well-informed inquiry into the minor children's present best interests regarding their care and custody," Rochlin said.
Jennifer Farber Dulos has been missing since May 24 and her estranged husband has been charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.
Police have alleged he can be seen on surveillance videos throwing garbage bags that contained items with his wife's blood on them, including a Vineyard Vines shirt she was wearing the day she disappeared, into two trash cans on Albany Avenue in Hartford on the day she went missing.
Dulos is free on a $500,000 bond, but Heller has issued an order preventing him from contacting the couple's five children. The children have been living with Gloria Farber in her New York City apartment _ sometimes under armed guard _ since their mother disappeared.
Gloria Farber went to probate court and obtained temporary guardianship of the children at a closed hearing where Fotis Dulos wasn't present. Rochlin said he has filed a sealed motion in Superior Court to overturn that ruling. A similar motion to award her custody of the children is pending before Heller.
Fotis Dulos has not seen or talked to his children since May 22, two days before Jennifer disappeared, when he attended a barbecue at her house on Welles Avenue in New Canaan. Sources have said Jennifer wasn't present but a court-ordered monitor was there.
Stamford State's Attorney Richard Colangelo referred to the barbecue at a bond hearing when he announced that Fotis Dulos' DNA was found mixed with his wife's blood on a kitchen faucet in the house. Colangelo said that there was no reason for his DNA to be on that faucet since he wasn't allowed in the house during the barbecue.
Jennifer Farber Dulos filed for divorce in June of 2017 and it has been contentious battle from the beginning with allegations back and forth from both parents claiming the other had threatened physical violence against the other.
Jennifer Farber Dulos has had primary custody of the children since January of 2018. They have lived in New Canaan since then and have rarely been allowed to return to Farmington where Dulos lives. He has had sporadic supervised visits with the children since then.
The children have been attending the New Canaan Country School. It was last place that Jennifer Farber Dulos was seen on May 24 when she dropped her children off at school. It is unclear if the children have returned to that school this year.
In his motion Rochlin also questions the strategies of attorney Rueben Midler, Jennifer's attorney, and whether Gloria Farber is just following his lead of "total war" against Dulos.
"This evaluation can also assess Ms. Farber's susceptibility to coercion by her daughter's lawyers concerning a continued strategy of complete and total war against Mr. Dulos, the father of her grandchildren _ a strategy that has previously only served Jennifer's lawyers and nobody else," Rochlin said.
Rochlin said that Farber was paying Midler $69,000 a month as well as paying her daughter's portion of the guardian ad litem fees that are well over $200,000.
Midler recommended Heller hire New York City psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Herman to do a comprehensive report on the family and who should get custody of the children when the divorce was finally over. Herman's report is sealed but snippets of it have been mentioned in court proceedings indicating that it is favorable to Fotis Dulos.
Dulos had a copy of the sealed report in his Farmington home when state police searched it following Jennifer Farber Dulos' disappearance, which her attorney's have said violated the court order. Midler filed a motion seeking to have the guardian Michael Meehan removed from the case just days before she disappeared.
But Rochlin said the judge has seen the Herman report and is aware of its conclusions.
"Her honor is fully aware of its clear and succinct conclusions and recommendations," Rochlin wrote. "Once in receipt of such report, Attorney Midler fought like a lion to prevent such report from coming into evidence, for reasons that are axiomatic."
Rochlin concluded that his client's parental rights have not been terminated and that he is presumed innocent of all criminal charges currently pending against him. He said not even Dulos' family members have been allowed to talk to or see the children despite repeated attempts.
"Ms. Farber has denied the children access to their aunts, uncles, and godchild, a strategy supported by Jennifer's lawyer, Rueben Midler, as evidenced in recent emails from him to the (guardian ad litem) Mr. Meehan," Rochlin said.
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