HARTFORD, Conn. _ Police said Fotis Dulos was listed in critical condition Tuesday afternoon after authorities found him "in medical distress" at his Farmington home. Sources said Dulos attempted to take his own life.
Dulos, accused of killing estranged wife Jennifer Farber Dulos, was transported to UConn Health in Farmington Tuesday afternoon from his Jefferson Crossing home. Medical personnel engaged in efforts to save his life after police went to the home at about noon for a well-being check after he failed to show up for a court hearing, Farmington police Lt. Timothy McKenzie said.
It appears that Dulos' attempt to take his life took place just moments after he learned authorities were initiating steps to revoke his bond because it had been secured by wildly overvalued real estate.
While at the home, McKenzie said police looked through a window and saw Dulos sitting in his vehicle with "obvious signs of medical distress."
McKenzie said Dulos is being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning at UConn Health. A source said Dulos was expected to be taken by helicopter to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. At about 3 p.m., police stopped traffic at the entrance to UConn Health so a Life Star helicopter could land. An ambulance, state police cruisers and a fire engine pulled up near the helicopter and a stretcher, covered with a white sheet, was pushed toward the aircraft.
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.
A source told the Courant that during efforts to revive Dulos on Tuesday, a faint pulse was detected while he was en route to the hospital. By then, there were already widespread reports of his death, including notification to the family.
Dulos' attorney, Norm Pattis, confirmed that Dulos was taken to the hospital.
"I am told Mr. Dulos is en route to the hospital with a pulse," Pattis said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him."
A source said Dulos was believed to have died, but a faint pulse was detected after 30 minutes of CPR by first responders. At that point, he was rushed to UConn Health, where the source said that by early afternoon, Dulos remained unconscious, was unable to breathe on his own and was on life support.
A Superior Court judge was expected to hold an emergency bond hearing for Dulos at noon Tuesday in Stamford to discuss the security on the $6 million bond Dulos posted following his Jan. 7 arrest on the murder charges. Sources said Dulos' bond was likely going to be revoked and he would be sent to jail.
Dulos, 52, had previously been arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with Farber Dulos' disappearance on May 24. Dulos' former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, and his friend, Kent Mawhinney, 54, both face charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
Authorities were taking steps to revoke Dulos' bond on Tuesday.
State insurance regulators determined there were problems with the real estate valuations and transmitted the information to Palmetto Surety, the South Carolina insurer that underwrote the bond. Specifically, the bond was secured by six pieces of real estate � two of which it had been determined were subject to foreclosure and a third was found to have been substantially overvalued.
Early Tuesday, Palmetto instructed its local lawyer, A. Ryan McGuigan, to move in court to revoke the bond. McGuigan said he notified State's Attorney Richard Colangelo at about 8:30 a.m. of the impending revocation and that Colangelo notified Pattis at about 9 a.m.
McGuigan said he and a private bondsman arrived at the Dulos home in Farmington at about 11:30 a.m. to serve notice that they would be formally moving in court later in the morning to pull the bond. McGuigan said he encountered a state of confusion.
Two Farmington patrol cars had already arrived and they were quickly joined by dozens of police officers and emergency medical personnel.
The first responders located Dulos in the garage of his home. McGuigan said Dulos, who appeared unresponsive, was moved to the back yard from the garage, which appears to have been filled with smoke or exhaust. Emergency medical personnel immediately began efforts at resuscitation, which continued for an extended period of time, two sources said.
It was believed initially by the first responders that Dulos had died. But after at least a half hour of efforts at resuscitation, medical personnel detective a faint pulse, one of the sources said.
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, investigators said they found surveillance footage 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.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Gary White ordered strict home confinement for Dulos after questions surfaced that he meddled with a memorial for Farber Dulos set up near the Farmington home they once shared. At the time of her disappearance, Dulos and Farber Dulos were embroiled in a contentious divorce and custody battle. 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 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.
