Jennifer Dulos' estranged husband charged with murder in her disappearance

Connecticut State Police said in a statement that Fotis Dulos has been taken into custody.

SHARE THIS —

The estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos, a Connecticut woman who has been missing for months, was charged Tuesday in her murder, according to state police.

Fotis Dulos, 52, was arrested and charged with capital murder, murder and kidnapping, according to Connecticut State Police. He is being held on a $6 million bond.

His girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit murder. She is being held on a $2 million bond.

Troconis's attorney, Andrew Bowman, said that his client surrendered herself to authorities and that it was a difficult day.

"But she has always been extremely cooperative, and we'll have to deal with these charges in court," Bowman said.

A Connecticut lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, a close friend of Fotis Dulos', was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is being held on a $2 million bond. Mawhinney's name appeared on alibi scripts written by Fotis Dulos and Troconis, according to an arrest warrant for Troconis.

Norm Pattis, Fotis Dulos' attorney, told reporters that his client was innocent and that Tuesday's warrants were a relief after months of rumors. Police swarmed Dulos' Farmington home earlier Tuesday.

"The state of Connecticut picked this fight," Pattis said. "The state of Connecticut sought a gag order. The state of Connecticut has thrice now driven a dagger into the presumption of innocence and into the heart of Mr. Dulos by accusing him of scandalous crimes."

Jennifer Dulos' family, through a spokeswoman, thanked Connecticut State Police and New Canaan police "for their tireless commitment and diligent, painstaking work that have led to these arrests."

Fotis DulosConnecticut State Police

"Although we are relieved that the wait for these charges is over, for us there is no sense of closure. Nothing can bring Jennifer back. We miss her every day and will forever mourn her loss," the statement said.

"Justice!" the New Canaan Police Department tweeted following news of Fotis Dulos' arrest.

Pattis said he expects his client to post bail during his arraignment. He said he's not sure what new evidence police have against Fotis Dulos, but "my hunch is that it was a long and thorough investigation. I believe they waited until they thought they could make their best shot and let's see what it is."

"We've sat for months waiting and listening to speculation, and now we get to address the proof, and we are confident about our case, and we are confident about our odds," Pattis said. "We said long ago, 'Bring it on.' They did, we're here, and we're ready."

Fotis Dulos and Troconis were arrested in early June and again in September in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos who was last seen in Connecticut on May 24 after dropping her children off at school. Both have pleaded not guilty to various charges.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

Fotis Dulos and Jennifer Dulos, who was 50 when she went missing, had been involved in a drawn-out divorce and custody battle.

Despite police saying they had evidence that proved Fotis Dulos was "lying in wait" at Jennifer Dulos' home the day she disappeared, he told NBC's "Dateline" in September that he did not have anything to do with his wife's disappearance and he believed she was still alive.

Jennifer Dulos in an undated photo.Courtesy Family

Pattis at one point alleged that Jennifer Dulos may have staged her own disappearance, like in the book and the film “Gone Girl.”

But police presented Troconis in August with a bevy of evidence, after she revealed she had not been completely honest with them in previous interviews.

Investigators said that Fotis Dulos, a real estate developer, had taken an employee's red Toyota pickup and that pickup was seen in surveillance footage moving between Farmington and New Canaan, where Jennifer Dulos lived, on the morning she vanished.

Another camera caught the pickup parked 100 feet away from where Jennifer Dulos' 2017 Chevrolet was found later that day, abandoned and with apparent bloodstains.

"Dulos is believed to be operating the victim’s vehicle which is carrying the body of Jennifer Dulos and a number of other items associated with the clean-up which occurred in the garage of the residence," the warrants said. Investigators have previously said that Fotis Dulos' DNA was found mingled with Jennifer Dulos' blood in her house.

Fotis Dulos had returned his employee's pickup and tried to convince the employee to replace the seats and dispose off the old ones. The employee did replace the seats, but he kept the originals, and in June, handed them over to police.

Forensic tests linked a blood-like substance on the passenger seat to Jennifer Dulos' DNA, arrest warrants said.

Troconis admitted in August that she went with Fotis Dulos to have the Toyota washed and detailed, the arrest warrants said. When police asked her why she thought her boyfriend took his employee's truck for the $250 service, she replied, "Well obviously ... all the evidence says because ... you showed me the picture of the blood in the door, it’s because the body of Jennifer at some point was in there.”

She also said she had been lying when she previously said she was with Fotis Dulos on the morning of May 24, and that in fact she did not know where he had been.

Her initial claim was found on the “alibi scripts” in Fotis Dulos' home. Troconis admitted that she and Fotis Dulos had prepared the notes to account for their actions on the day Jennifer Dulos went missing.

The notes omitted "all incriminating behavior." Investigators have previously said that Fotis Dulos and Troconis were seen on surveillance video on May 24 in Hartford stashing items that were later determined to have Jennifer Dulos' blood on them.

Fotis Dulos' court hearings have mostly been brief. In interviews with the news media, he talked about how much he loves and misses his five children, who are in the custody of Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber.

Farber has filed for sole custody of the kids. Fotis Dulos has fought her efforts and recently tried to dissolve his divorce case, arguing it should not proceed since Jennifer Dulos has not been present in the hearings.