Lawyer arrested in Jennifer Dulos disappearance ‘dug a makeshift grave’ before the mother vanished

Pictured: Kent Mawhinney, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the Jennifer Dulos case

Lawyer Kent Mawhinney allegedly dug a makeshift grave before the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, his arrest warrant suggests.

Mawhinney, 53, was arrested alongside Dulos’ estranged husband Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis on Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

The former civil attorney and ‘close personal friend’ of Dulos was taken into custody when a warrant was issued for his arrest following the mother’s disappearance in Connecticut on May 24.

It has now been alleged that around a week earlier, on May 18, members of the Windsor Rod & Gun Club in East Granby came across a hole two feet wide, six feet long and three feet deep in a restricted area of the grounds.

Jay Lawlor said he uncovered an ‘area of disturbed ground’ while walking through woods with his friend Lee McKay during a hunting trip for his birthday.

He described the hole – which was covered by ‘two barbecue grill grates’, small branches and leaves – as ‘100 per cent a human grave’, the New York Post reported.

Inside the ditch, Lawlor found a blue tarp and two unopened bags of lime. 

According to the warrant, Lawlor ‘shrugged off’ the strange find until he heard that Mawhinney was ‘involved in that Dulos case’. He went back to the site in June and discovered the land was covered ‘as neat as a pin’.

Pictured: Fotis Dulos

Pictured: Michelle Troconis

Fotis Dulos (left) was arrested on Tuesday and charged with murder in Connecticut and Michelle Troconis (right) was charged with conspiracy to commit murder

The family of Jennifer Dulos (above) expressed their gratitude for the arrests in a statement

The family of Jennifer Dulos (above) expressed their gratitude for the arrests in a statement

Mawhinney, who had founded the Windsor Rod & Gun Club but was no longer a member, allegedly asked a member about accessing the property, which is secured by fencing and a logging chain, in March and April. The warrant claims he was then told of a hidden key.

Cellphone records are said to place the lawyer near the site of the hole on March 29 and May 31. 

Dulos, 52, and his ex-girlfriend Troconis, 45, were also arrested by Connecticut State Police on Tuesday. Multiple police cars descended on Dulos’ luxury mansion in Farmington, Connecticut and took him into custody.

Dulos, 52, is charged with murder, felony murder, and kidnapping. Troconis, 45, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.  

The arrests come eight months after the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, who was last seen alive dropping their five kids off at school in May, amid a contentious divorce and custody battle with her husband. Her body has never been found. 

Arrest warrants reviewed by DailyMail.com listed a wealth of physical evidence, including trash bags and zip ties with Jennifer’s DNA. The warrants also reveal why investigators are convinced that Jennifer is dead — including a complete lack of financial and cell phone activity following her disappearance, and extensive blood stains discovered in her Land Rover and home. 

In Mawhinney's arrest warrant, Jay Lawlor claims he and his friend came across a hole which was 'one hundred per cent a human grave' a week before Dulos' disappearance

In Mawhinney’s arrest warrant, Jay Lawlor claims he and his friend came across a hole which was ‘one hundred per cent a human grave’ a week before Dulos’ disappearance

The warrants also say that Mawhinney’s name appears on ‘alibi scripts’ written by Dulos and Troconis, detailing their activities on the day of Jennifer’s disappearance.

Asked by a reporter if he thought there was enough evidence to convict him, Dulos shook his head and smirked as he was being led from the state trooper barracks. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dulos’ attorney Norm Pattis vehemently denied the charged against his client and vowed to mount a vigorous defense.

‘We categorically deny that Mr Dulos had any involvement in the disappearance of his wife, and we defy the state to prove that she is actually dead,’ he said. Pattis added of the evidence in the arrest warrant: ‘If this is all the state’s got we wonder why it bothered.’

Dulos, 52, is charged with murder, felony murder, and kidnapping

Troconis is seen being led from the state trooper barracks in Bridgeport after processing

Dulos, 52, (left) is charged with murder, felony murder, and kidnapping. His girlfriend Michelle Troconis, 45, (right) is charged with conspiracy to commit murder 

Dulos was seen being driven away in the front seat of a police car after his arrest. State police say they usually transport prisoners in the front because their cars don't have cages

Dulos was seen being driven away in the front seat of a police car after his arrest. State police say they usually transport prisoners in the front because their cars don’t have cages

Dulos and Troconis had previously been charged with evidence tampering and obstruction in Jennifer’s disappearance. Dulos’ criminal attorney has previously proposed that Mawhinney could provide an alibi that cleared him of wrongdoing.

In the arrest warrants, investigators allege that:

  • Four zip ties were found with Jennifer’s DNA, suggesting she was held against her will before she died — forming the basis of the kidnapping charge
  • Trash bags, gloves and other items were recovered with DNA and fingerprints that matched Jennifer, Dulos and Troconis in various combinations
  • Blood stains were found in Jennifer’s home and on her Land Rover, in amounts that suggested she could not have survived without medical attention
  • Jennifer’s bank accounts and phone showed no activity after she disappeared the morning on May 24, and hospitals have no record of treating her
  • Troconis said Dulos took her to a ‘creepy area’ to throw garbage in a dumpster 
  • Dulos and Troconis wrote out ‘alibi lists’ that detailed their movements on May 24
  • The alibi lists did not include the trip where the duo dropped trash around town
  • Mawhinney’s name appeared on alibi lists, and he gave conflicting statements 
  • Troconis initially claimed Mawhinney gave Dulos an alibi for the murder
  • Dulos was $4.5 million dollars in debt and had maxed out several credit lines
  • He was also fighting a $2.5 million lawsuit from Jennifer’s wealthy mother
  • Investigators say there may have been a financial motive for the alleged murder 

Police have insinuated in charging documents that Dulos and Troconis disposed of garbage bags containing traces of Jennifer’s DNA the night that she disappeared. 

They deny wrongdoing in the case and Dulos’ attorney vows to fight the murder charge.

Mawhinney represented Fotis Dulos in the $2.5 million lawsuits filed by his mother-in-law. He was involved in his own contentious divorce at the same time as Dulos was.

In August, Mawhinney was charged with violating the terms of a protective order by using Fotis Dulos to contact his own estranged wife in an attempt to arrange a meeting with her.

Mawhinney’s wife told police she believed Dulos was working with her estranged husband ‘to get rid of her,’ according an August arrest warrant. 

Dulos briefly met with Mawhinney’s wife in West Hartford on May 19, according to the warrant, and then contacted her on May 20 and May 21 — three days before Jennifer vanished. 

Mawhinney has previously declined to tell reporters whether he was at Dulos’ Farmington home on May 24, the day Jennifer was reported missing.

Fotis in his recent interview

Jennifer has not been seen since May

Fotis Dulos (left) has previously been charged with evidence tampering in his ex-wife Jennifer’s (right) disappearance. Now he is charged with murder after police said he killed her

Fotis Dulos is led by police in Connecticut after being arrested in the murder of his wife

Fotis Dulos is led by police in Connecticut after being arrested in the murder of his wife

Asked by a reporter if he thought there was enough evidence to convict him, Dulos shook his head and smirked as he was being led from the state trooper barracks

Asked by a reporter if he thought there was enough evidence to convict him, Dulos shook his head and smirked as he was being led from the state trooper barracks

Connecticut State Police officers lead Fotis Dulos, center, into a car outside the State Police barracks Tuesday in Bridgeport after he was arrested at his home in Farmington

Connecticut State Police officers lead Fotis Dulos, center, into a car outside the State Police barracks Tuesday in Bridgeport after he was arrested at his home in Farmington

Female troopers lead Troconis out from processing followed by an investigator wearing a purple tie for domestic violence awareness

Female troopers lead Troconis out from processing followed by an investigator wearing a purple tie for domestic violence awareness

Troconis is seen being led from the state trooper barracks in Bridgeport after processing

Troconis is seen being led from the state trooper barracks in Bridgeport after processing

A portion of the arrest warrant lists physical evidence gathered in the case

A portion of the arrest warrant lists physical evidence gathered in the case

On Tuesday, Mawhinney’s attorney said that he had spoken with him that morning, but that he didn’t know where his client was located. The attorney said he urges all of his clients to surrender when warrants are issued for their arrest. 

The family of Jennifer Dulos expressed their gratitude for the arrests in a statement released by close friend Carrie Luft. 

‘Above all we thank the Connecticut State Police and the New Canaan Police Department, as well as the assisting local departments, for their tireless commitment and diligent, painstaking work that have led to these arrests,’ the family said.

‘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 added.

‘We believe the arrest warrants will speak for themselves, and we ask that you please respect our privacy during this time. Thank you,’ the statement concluded.

Connecticut State Police troopers effected the arrest of Dulos on Tuesday. The state police said that a press conference would be held at Troop G in Bridgeport later Tuesday afternoon.

Video footage from WTIC-TV at Dulos’ home shows him being led away by troopers with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Police take Fotis Dulos into custody at his Connecticut home on Tuesday

Police take Fotis Dulos into custody at his Connecticut home on Tuesday

Aerial footage shows Dulos being taken into custody by Connecticut state troopers

Aerial footage shows Dulos being taken into custody by Connecticut state troopers

Dulos in mugshot from June arrest for evidence tampering

Troconis in mugshot from June arrest for evidence tampering

Dulos and Troconis are seen in mugshots from their June arrest on charges of evidence tampering. Police said they disposed of evidence with Jennifer’s blood

Blood evidence listed in the warrants tells of a trail of horror in her New Canaan home

Blood evidence listed in the warrants tells of a trail of horror in her New Canaan home

He was driven away in the front seat of a state police cruiser. The state police said that prisoners typically ride in the front, because most of their vehicles do not have cages. 

An arrest warrant later revealed the array of evidence police have compiled in the case.

Police say they have surveillance video showing Fotis Dulos in Hartford disposing bags of items containing Jennifer Dulos’ blood; traffic and school bus camera footage of him driving a pickup truck to New Canaan on the morning she disappeared; surveillance video of him getting the truck washed and detailed days after she vanished; and evidence that Jennifer Dulos’ DNA was found on the truck seat.

State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr. said in court last year that Jennifer Dulos’ blood was found mixed with Fotis Dulos’ DNA on the kitchen sink faucet of her home in New Canaan.

‘I’m not surprised that the state decided to bring the charge,’ Dulos’ attorney Pattis said on Tuesday. ‘I haven’t seen the warrant. I’ll be surprised if they can win it. Mr. Dulos contends he was not involved and I don’t think the evidence will show that he was.’ 

So far the only law enforcement comment on Dulos’ arrest came in the form of tweet from the police department in New Canaan, where Jennifer disappeared.

‘Justice!’ read the one-word tweet. 

Dulos' attorney Norm Pattis (above) confirmed that Dulos was being charged with murder

Dulos’ attorney Norm Pattis (above) confirmed that Dulos was being charged with murder

Dulos’ attorney said that he looked forward to fighting the murder charge in open court following months of speculation in the press. 

‘In a paradoxical way we welcome this fight because we think that we will win it,’ said the attorney, Pattis.

‘Now we won’t have to speculate about what it looks like any longer,’ he said. 

Dulos and Troconis are expected to face arraignment on Wednesday in Stamford. 

Dulos is being held in lieu of a $6 million bail. Bail for both Troconis and Mawhinney has been set at $2 million. 

Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, currently has custody of her daughter’s five children and is caring for them in her Upper East Side apartment on Fifth Avenue.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk