‘We lost a much loved and lovely man to a form of mass hysteria’: Fotis Dulos’ family releases statement
The Farmington, Conn., man who was charged with killing Jennifer Dulos, his estranged wife, reportedly died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
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The family of Fotis Dulos released a statement Monday that criticizes the state of Connecticut for pursuing and harassing him “relentlessly and with no mercy,” the media for publishing “sensationalized headlines,” and the world for being “too quick to call him a monster.”
Dulos, the Farmington, Conn., man who was charged with killing Jennifer Dulos, his estranged wife, died on Thursday night, two days after an attempted suicide in his Farmington home, police said.
In the statement, his family wrote that anyone who knew Dulos knew he was not a killer, and that they’re devastated Dulos “found himself in a dead-end where he saw taking his own life as the only way to be granted peace.”
Authorities said Dulos left behind a suicide note saying he would not spend more time in jail for something he didn’t do, and asking the state to stop harassing his friends.
Farmington police said in a statement that his body will be taken to the Manhattan medical examiner to determine the cause and manner of his death.
Norm Pattis, Dulos’ attorney, said in a press statement that Dulos’ family decided to donate his organs so that “he will live on in some form in the assistance that he can provide to others in their own individual struggles.”
Police said the suicide investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact the Farmington Police Department at 860-675-2400.
Below, read the full statement released by Fotis Dulos’s family on Monday:
Suicide – the last word anyone who knew Fotis would associate with him. Caring and nurturing father, son, brother, and uncle, achiever, hard worker, fighter, loyal friend, accomplished sportsman, book worm, a great cook, unparalleled host. This was Fotis. He would walk into a room and immediately light it up. He was the man everyone wanted to befriend.
Fotis was a loving man much loved by those who actually knew him.
We, the family of this great man, feel let down by the State that pursued and harassed him and us relentlessly and with no mercy, without ever giving him or us a chance to speak our truth and to share, with a world that was too quick to call him a monster, our story. We feel devastated that a man, only 52 years of age, found himself in a dead-end where he saw taking his own life as the only way to be granted peace. We are enraged with the Media that used him to make sensationalistic headlines, thus manipulating public opinion; the Media abandoned the presumption of innocence, seeming heedless of the effect its reporting would have on the children in this case. We are shocked at how Law Enforcement obsessively focused with speculation and circumstantial evidence on an innocent man and turned their back on finding the real perpetrator of this tragedy, who is now at large, still a threat to public safety. Words are not enough to describe our thoughts, emotions, and sorrow.
Will the State now investigate the circumstances that led to this horrible end? A family court system lacking accountability? A family court system bleeding the estate of Gloria Farber, while destroying a loving man’s relationship with his children? We are not alone in wondering how great wealth can be abused to destroy a family.
We call the Judiciary System, in the name of justice, to publicly release the family relations study in the family case; Fotis had no motive to kill. We demand nothing less than the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
We urge the State to recalibrate their investigation and work towards solving this tragic mystery. We urge the Media to understand their destructive role in this turn of events.
We call the public to pause and reflect after truly spending time reading what paltry evidence was brought against Fotis. What has become of the spirit of fair play, of the presumption of innocence? What crazy lust inspires the haters?
We had contemplated burying Fotis in Farmington but fear desecration of his grave. We will remove his remains to Greece and bid farewell to a nation at war with its ideals.
We live in times of instant gratification and a world thirsty for bread and circuses, where reflection and the pursuit of truth are massacred in the name of fast consumption, scandal, and sensationalism. Fotis was the victim of this sickening zeitgeist.
We ask that you pray for his five children and our family. We ask that you pause and reflect on how it is possible that, in today’s United States of America, a man sought justice and peace by hooking up a pipe on his exhaust and walking into his car to meet his death surrounded by pictures of his five children.
We pray that God grant us strength to forgive everyone responsible for this sickening farce.
Are we bitter? Yes. We lost a much loved and lovely man to a form of mass hysteria. Fotis was no killer. Now he is dead. The case involving Jennifer’s disappearance has not ended. In some respects it now begins anew.
The search for Jennifer Dulos, who has been missing since May 24, 2019, is still underway. Police have created a website in efforts to locate her and anyone with information is urged to submit a tip by calling 203-594-3544.
Counseling is available via the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255.
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