A former lawyer for the late, estranged husband of Jennifer Farber Dulos — a Connecticut woman who went missing in 2019 — pleaded guilty on Friday to interfering with law enforcement in the high-profile murder case.
Kent Mawhinney, a friend and former attorney of Fotis Dulos, had initially been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but he instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of interfering with police.
As part of the plea agreement, Mawhinney was sentenced to 11 months behind bars. He’s now out of prison due to the time he’d already served.
Prosecutors say Fotis Dulos, amid a bitter divorce battle, killed his wife at their New Canaan home, then drove away with her body. While he had always maintained his innocence, he died by suicide in 2020 after being charged with her murder.
Farber Dulos, a 50-year-old mother of five, was last seen dropping off her kids at school on May 24, 2019. Arrest records previously released in the case described Mawhinney as having met with Fotis Dulos that same morning. He denied attending the meeting and said he had no contact with Dulos that day, despite phone records showing the contrary.
Mawhinney later changed his story to say he simply couldn’t remember speaking with Dulos, claiming he’d suffered a concussion after falling down some stairs.
Arrest records also suggested that Mawhinney may have been connected to a makeshift grave found on the property of the Windsor Rod & Gun Club a week prior. Police said he had been a member of the club and recently inquired about a key to access the property.
The alleged grave site was described as being 6 feet long and nearly 4 feet deep, with a tarp and two unopened bags of lime nearby. Police searched the site, but no remains were found.
The body of Farber Dulos has never been located, though she was declared legally dead in January of last year.
Outside the courthouse, Mawhinney told reporters he didn’t know what happened to Farber Dulos or have any idea about her whereabouts.
“If I did [know where she was], I’d tell them,” he told the local ABC affiliate WTNH. “I don’t know how they can get closure without that.”
His attorney, Jeffrey Kestenband, reiterated that his client had no involvement in Farber Dulos’ death and pointed out that prosecutors ultimately acknowledged they lacked sufficient evidence to support the original conspiracy charge.
“The state’s acknowledgment is not surprising because Kent was not involved,” Kestenband said. “He has been through a lot since his arrest, and he can now move on with his life.”
Mawhinney’s license to practice law in Connecticut has been suspended since January 2020, online records show.
Last year, Fotis Dulos’ girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, was found guilty of helping him kill his wife and cover up her death. She was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
With News Wire Services
