A Bloomfield-based lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos.
State police have arrested local attorney Kent Mawhinney and said they are charging him with conspiracy to commit murder.
Mawhinney represented Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of missing mother Jennifer Dulos, in previous civil cases unrelated to Jennifer's disappearance.
He is described in the arrest warrant for Michelle Troconis, Fotis' girlfriend, as a "practicing attorney and personal friend of Dulos."
State police said in the Troconis arrest warrant Mawhinney's name appeared on what they call the "Alibi Scripts" written by Dulos and Troconis to lay out their planned alibi story.
Troconis told detectives during her three interviews that Mawhinney was present in the offices for Dulos' company, the Fore Group, on the morning of May 24 for a meeting with Dulos. The office is located above the garage of Dulos' Farmington home.
State police detectives interviewed Mawhinney on June 9 and June 25 "to obtain his personal knowledge of the events which transpired in the Fore Group office...and specifically any contact he may have had with Dulos, Troconis, or any other persons on the day of Jennifer's disappearance," the Troconis arrest warrant stated.
Troconis told detectives that on May 24 Mawhinney had directed her to answer an incoming call to Dulos' cellphone, which was sitting on the desk in the Fore Group office.
Read the Mawhinney Arrest Warrant
Mawhinney was arrested twice by South Windsor police in 2019. The first arrest was reported to police on Jan. 21 for which Mawhinney was arrested for sexual assault (spousal/cohabitating relationship), disorderly conduct, and unlawful restraint, South Windsor police said. The second arrest stemmed for a protective order violation that was put in place as a result of the first arrest, police said. He attempted to use a third party to contact the victim, which was a violation of the order, according to police.
A secretary from his law firm told NBC Connecticut that Mawhinney was in court practicing as an attorney as recently as Tuesday morning in Hartford.
Earlier Tuesday, a secretary at Mawhinney's office told NBC Connecticut that he would not be in the office in the afternoon because he was dealing with a family emergency.
State police confirmed Tuesday afternoon just after 3:30 p.m. that Mawhinney had been arrested. They said the court-ordered bond was for $2 million.
Lee Gold represented Mawhinney in those previous charges earlier in 2019. Gold said he expects to represent him on any new charges and was waiting to hear from police.
Three state police cruisers pulled up to Gold's Hartford office and detectives were told Mawhinney was not there.
Gold told NBC Connecticut earlier Tuesday that he did not know where Mawhinney is but said he always advises his clients to turn themselves in when there is a warrant for their arrest.
