VERNON -- Kent Mawhinney-the third suspect charged in the Dulos case -was in the middle of a contentious divorce with his estranged wife and he was also charged with violating a protective order that she placed on him in 2019.
Now his wife’s divorce attorney, Zena Zelotes, is revealing new details about what he said was Fotis Dulos’ “active interest” in the couple’s marriage.
“I think that there are too many coincidences,”Zelotes said.
Zelotes questions whether his client avoided a fate similar to Jennifer Dulos as he describes too many “coincidences,” before Jennifer’s disappearance in May.
Back in April of 2019, a suspicious man was caught on camera lurking around Mawhinney’s wife’s South Windsor home. She reported the incident to police, and while they questioned a man who said he was sent there by Mawhinney to fix the garage door, no arrests were made.
According to court documents- Mawhinney’s estranged wife alleged Fotis Dulos invited her to his Farmington home in May, in an effort to mend the Mawhinney’s strained marriage .
“But this is not a close family friend, this is not a relative, this is not the type of person who you would expect to reach out and try to mend a marriage,” Zelotes said. “There's absolutely no logical reason why Fotis Dulos would be intervening in their marriage unless there’s something more to it.”
“And in these conversations Fotis Dulos is trying to lure my client away, privately and secretly to his home, without the police knowing about it, without the lawyers knowing about it, and I'm not sure she would have come back,” Zelotes said.
According to Mawhinney’s arrest warrant -within that same week - two men found what they described as a “100% human grave” in East Granby at the Windsor Rod and Gun Club - which they said Mawhinney helped establish 12 to 15 years ago.
“Shocked and horrified, I mean again when you look at the timing of it, where Fotis is actively soliciting her both the day before and the day after for her to come to his house, don't tell police that your coming and then this alleged grave site is found approximately 13 miles north from where Fotis lives in Farmington,” Zelotes said. “It’s exceptionally disturbing and I can't help but wonder was that intended for my client.”
Police later searched that piece of land and found a hole in the ground, but no human remains. According to State Police, Mawhinney’s cell phone pinged near that site in March and again on May 31st, just several days after Jennifer Dulos went missing.
Mawhinney has yet to post bond, he is currently still behind bars at the Bridgeport Department of Correction.