Deceased/Not Found CT - Jennifer Dulos, 50, New Canaan, 24 May 2019 *ARRESTS* #51

[jakat]

Schoenhorn thinks this helps his client?

For a taste of freedom (and let's hope not a chance to park in a garage), KM is finally coming clean. If he's admitting they had a plan and that they met up the night before, IMO he's given LE all kinds of valuable information. Timeline. Plan. Purchases.

MT won't need Legos where she's going.

JMO

One can only hope this pushes MT into a corner and she starts talking...

JMO

 

[Megnut]

KM's admission pretty much confirms the other allegations against him.

FD threw his life away. And KM was right behind him.

Men who had everything.

The pit of domestic violence seems to have no bottom.

JMO

 

[Seattle1]

@Seattle1 sbm. Thank you very much for posting the actual language of the warrant.
A few more words can make a huge, Huge, Huge difference. TYVM.

{{{{Makes note to self: Read actual warrant when available. Annoyed w self Shoulda looked for it in media thread. Goes off to read at Seattle1 helpful link.}}}
ETA: Interesting analysis in article and a from a great source.

I'm also recalling another reference where due to certain statutory provisions, what is documented on the death certificate might arguably be more important than what is found on autopsy. For example, under Texas law, a “death certificate certified by the state registrar is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the record”(1). “Prima facie” evidence is evidence, if not rebutted, that is sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact.

Not to mention there is usually no certifying an autopsy report or that the cause of death on autopsy is inadmissible as hearsay.

(1) Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann., Section 191.052 (Vernon 2005).

 

[Tink56]

And, from the Stamford Advocate by Lisa Backus...more detail...(Snark intended)

Attorney: ‘Jailhouse informant’ could be seeking deal in Jennifer Dulos case
[..]
"Attorney Jon Schoenhorn, representing co-defendant Michelle Troconis in the case, said the prosecution has turned over evidence that includes a video of a nearly two-hour interview state police had with Mawhinney on Aug. 31.

Schoenhorn told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday the video showed Mawhinney discussing with state police investigators conversations he apparently had with Troconis and Fotis Dulos around the time Jennifer Dulos vanished."

[..]
In the interview, Mawhinney revealed potentially incriminating evidence against Fotis Dulos and Troconis, Schoenhorn said. However, Schoenhorn said he has doubts about the validity of Mawhinney’s statements.
“I’m looking forward to the ability to cross-examine him during a trial,” said Schoenhorn, who has maintained his client’s innocence.

In the video, Schoenhorn said Mawhinney also denied knowing about a large hole described by witnesses, according to an arrest warrant, as a “human grave” found at a gun club he was associated with in the days leading up to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance. After the witnesses reported the hole, state police investigated the area and found no signs of Jennifer Dulos.

[..]
In his motion filed Monday in state Superior Court in Stamford, Schoenhorn is seeking information “pertaining to consideration, rewards or understanding regarding favorable treatment, compensation or reward of any kind in exchange for Mawhinney’s cooperation with the state, the investigation or prosecution of this case.”

Referring to Mawhinney as a “jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn is also seeking “all reports or communications detailing efforts by law enforcement to document or substantiate anything that Mawhinney alleged during his interview on or after Aug. 31, 2020.”

“Any and all other information that documents preferential treatment, consideration or favors or otherwise demonstration that Mawhinney’s statements are ‘inherently suspect’ as a jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn stated in his motion.

Of course, KM's lawyer and Attorney Colangelo aren't speaking to the press. That's JS's forte.

 

[Megnut]

And, from the Stamford Advocate by Lisa Backus...more detail...(Snark intended)

Attorney: ‘Jailhouse informant’ could be seeking deal in Jennifer Dulos case
[..]
"Attorney Jon Schoenhorn, representing co-defendant Michelle Troconis in the case, said the prosecution has turned over evidence that includes a video of a nearly two-hour interview state police had with Mawhinney on Aug. 31.

Schoenhorn told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday the video showed Mawhinney discussing with state police investigators conversations he apparently had with Troconis and Fotis Dulos around the time Jennifer Dulos vanished."

[..]
In the interview, Mawhinney revealed potentially incriminating evidence against Fotis Dulos and Troconis, Schoenhorn said. However, Schoenhorn said he has doubts about the validity of Mawhinney’s statements.
“I’m looking forward to the ability to cross-examine him during a trial,” said Schoenhorn, who has maintained his client’s innocence.

In the video, Schoenhorn said Mawhinney also denied knowing about a large hole described by witnesses, according to an arrest warrant, as a “human grave” found at a gun club he was associated with in the days leading up to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance. After the witnesses reported the hole, state police investigated the area and found no signs of Jennifer Dulos.

[..]
In his motion filed Monday in state Superior Court in Stamford, Schoenhorn is seeking information “pertaining to consideration, rewards or understanding regarding favorable treatment, compensation or reward of any kind in exchange for Mawhinney’s cooperation with the state, the investigation or prosecution of this case.”

Referring to Mawhinney as a “jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn is also seeking “all reports or communications detailing efforts by law enforcement to document or substantiate anything that Mawhinney alleged during his interview on or after Aug. 31, 2020.”

“Any and all other information that documents preferential treatment, consideration or favors or otherwise demonstration that Mawhinney’s statements are ‘inherently suspect’ as a jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn stated in his motion.

Of course, KM's lawyer and Attorney Colangelo aren't speaking to the press. That's JS's forte.

Well, maybe KM couldn't remember the hole at the Gun Club but his phone did. Hmmmmm. Did he have his phone and the key or did he share those with his friend?

Sickening the time spent planning such terror. And executing.

JMO

 

[citygirl]

And, from the Stamford Advocate by Lisa Backus...more detail...(Snark intended)

Attorney: ‘Jailhouse informant’ could be seeking deal in Jennifer Dulos case
[..]
"Attorney Jon Schoenhorn, representing co-defendant Michelle Troconis in the case, said the prosecution has turned over evidence that includes a video of a nearly two-hour interview state police had with Mawhinney on Aug. 31.

Schoenhorn told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday the video showed Mawhinney discussing with state police investigators conversations he apparently had with Troconis and Fotis Dulos around the time Jennifer Dulos vanished."

[..]
In the interview, Mawhinney revealed potentially incriminating evidence against Fotis Dulos and Troconis, Schoenhorn said. However, Schoenhorn said he has doubts about the validity of Mawhinney’s statements.
“I’m looking forward to the ability to cross-examine him during a trial,” said Schoenhorn, who has maintained his client’s innocence.

In the video, Schoenhorn said Mawhinney also denied knowing about a large hole described by witnesses, according to an arrest warrant, as a “human grave” found at a gun club he was associated with in the days leading up to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance. After the witnesses reported the hole, state police investigated the area and found no signs of Jennifer Dulos.

[..]
In his motion filed Monday in state Superior Court in Stamford, Schoenhorn is seeking information “pertaining to consideration, rewards or understanding regarding favorable treatment, compensation or reward of any kind in exchange for Mawhinney’s cooperation with the state, the investigation or prosecution of this case.”

Referring to Mawhinney as a “jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn is also seeking “all reports or communications detailing efforts by law enforcement to document or substantiate anything that Mawhinney alleged during his interview on or after Aug. 31, 2020.”

“Any and all other information that documents preferential treatment, consideration or favors or otherwise demonstration that Mawhinney’s statements are ‘inherently suspect’ as a jailhouse informant,” Schoenhorn stated in his motion.

Of course, KM's lawyer and Attorney Colangelo aren't speaking to the press. That's JS's forte.

I just love JS.
He is the gift that keeps on giving.
MOO.

 

[Tink56]

The Patch also has an article about the KM interview:
Is Kent Mawhinney Seeking Plea Deal In Jennifer Dulos Case?

Attorney Schoenhorn, however, would not comment to the Patch. I guess he's selective with whom he speaks.

"Patch reached out to Lee Gold and Jeremy Donnelly, Mawhinney's attorneys, for comment but did not receive a reply. Schoenhorn did not offer a comment after he was reached by Patch; he filed the motion with Stamford Superior Court on Monday."

 

[sleuth66]

Well, maybe KM couldn't remember the hole at the Gun Club but his phone did. Hmmmmm. Did he have his phone and the key or did he share those with his friend?

Sickening the time spent planning such terror. And executing.

JMO

So this is likely the rumored plea deal reported in February in that short window between FDs suicide and when COVID hit. Plea deal offer reported per KM court appearance on 2/14, then he motioned his attorney to the mystery note in his pocket in his court appearance on 2/20. KM must have decided to flip once FD was dead.

No coincidence that KMs divorce was granted this week. That likely had to happen before they can move to the plea involving the other charges.

If KM doesn’t know anything about the grave, why was he (or his phone) pinging there the night that FD and MT were first arrested, after they found the Albany Ave trash?
Had he given FD the key to the club? And then panicked and went there to check when he saw they were arrested? Because someone must have dug (and filled in) that grave and the timing with regard to KMs STBX/JD and the KM phone ping at 11pm on 5/31 means that location was involved in some way.
If not FD/MT and KM really didn’t know about it, that would mean an additional person involved in the mix- KM could have suggested it as a remote location, etc. hmm.

Some remaining questions: So if FD/MT told KM about the plot to kill JD just the night before (5/23), and asked him for an alibi, what would they have done if he said no? And the plot/agreement was likely underway before that, when FD tried to meet up with KM STBX earlier the week before. So the plan was probably already well formed or underway prior to the 23rd. Something pretty compelling must have made KM agree to the alibi, there’s pretty big risk there if there isn’t a reward of some sort. But FD had failed to lure STBX the week before, so the story must be a little more complex. This all fits with dinner party movements of KM and FD that night, going to get more meat for the party. Will be interesting to see the guest list from the party.

I am sure JS isn’t the only one looking forward to the cross examination of KM. I wonder what MT has on KM.
This piece of the puzzle is more confirmatory than providing new insights (besides the Tyvek suit in the Farmington woods, and what photo LE showed to KM). But maybe it will jog things along and shift MT from Instagram posing to taking this a little more seriously.

Regardless of how this fits in, MT is losing degrees of freedom, literally, by the day.

Kent Mawhinney to consider state plea offer in spousal rape case | fox61.com

Fotis Dulos plotted to kill his attorney's wife in exchange for an alibi, she claims | Daily Mail Online

 

[Seattle1]

The Patch also has an article about the KM interview:
Is Kent Mawhinney Seeking Plea Deal In Jennifer Dulos Case?

Attorney Schoenhorn, however, would not comment to the Patch. I guess he's selective with home he speaks.

"Patch reached out to Lee Gold and Jeremy Donnelly, Mawhinney's attorneys, for comment but did not receive a reply. Schoenhorn did not offer a comment after he was reached by Patch; he filed the motion with Stamford Superior Court on Monday."

We know Attorney Schoenhorn is conveniently selective!! And I'm just waiting for him to leak the video to his favorite media personality.

MOO

 

[Tink56]

We know Attorney Schoenhor is conveniently selective!! And I'm just waiting for him to leak the video to his favorite media personality.

MOO

Lol....me, too.

 

[sleuth66]

Was it just a few weeks ago that JS brazenly proclaimed “why are they withholding it?”

JS should be careful what he asks for. Looks like KM decided to stop withholding.
Let’s pit an unfinished, unvetted psych report of a man who has since killed himself while facing murder charges, and JDs unfinished novel, against a confession from KM, who broken as he is, still has a legal background, implicating MT. Wonder which one a jury is going to lean on? Bring it on.

More $ for JS in all of this of course. It will take more than Instagram soy mama’s and invocations of saints to defend MT against the mounting wall of evidence, and JSs increasing flailing only affirms how weak her case is.

Colangelo has said that his team learned a lot from the Navin case and is using those lessons in this case. Navin’s girlfriend Jennifer Valiente got 8 years in a plea deal there, and a landscaping company found his parents bodies wrapped in a tarp in a woodpile a few months later. So perhaps in this case the plea deal is going to KM, and MT is left holding the bag...

‘Why are they withholding it?’: Attorney in Jennifer Dulos case wants psych report

 

[Megnut]

Was it just a few weeks ago that JS brazenly proclaimed “why are they withholding it?”

JS should be careful what he asks for. Looks like KM decided to stop withholding.
Let’s pit an unfinished, unvetted psych report of a man who has since killed himself while facing murder charges, and JDs unfinished novel, against a confession from KM, who broken as he is, still has a legal background, implicating MT. Wonder which one a jury is going to lean on? Bring it on.

More $ for JS in all of this of course. It will take more than Instagram soy mama’s and invocations of saints to defend MT against the mounting wall of evidence, and JSs increasing flailing only affirms how weak her case is.

Colangelo has said that his team learned a lot from the Navin case and is using those lessons in this case. Navin’s girlfriend Jennifer Valiente got 8 years in a plea deal there, and a landscaping company found his parents bodies wrapped in a tarp in a woodpile a few months later. So perhaps in this case the plea deal is going to KM, and MT is left holding the bag...

‘Why are they withholding it?’: Attorney in Jennifer Dulos case wants psych report

Additionally, with whatever new information they've gained from KM, they'll be able to find independently corroborating data to back it up, do even if JS impeached KM's character, the facts will stand. IMO not only does KM know what MT's role was, he knows when she knew.

I'm ready for the world to know her secrets.

JMO

 

[sleuth66]

Here's an excerpt from Wiki on the Helle Crafts murder in 1986 (a/k/a the wood-chipper murder)

“A prosecution for homicide requires an official determination of the death of the alleged victim; typically this is done by identification of a body – which was not available in this case. With the help of a forensic dentist, the tooth crown found on the water's edge was positively matched to Helle's dental records. On this evidence, the Connecticut State Medical Examiner's Office issued a death certificate on January 13, 1987; Richard was immediately arrested.”


I recall the PC judge said there was no death certificate issued by the ME in the Dulos case. Why not?

Usually probate can't be opened in CT without a death certificate. There may be no precedent for a PC judge to make a determination of death. MOO

Murder of Helle Crafts - Wikipedia

The Crafts case actually had substantially more evidence than in the case of JD, both in terms of the body [parts] and receipts showing her husband had rented a wood chipper. The ME also used a pig as a surrogate to show that the evidence of marks on the found tissues at Lake Zoar matched those of the pig surrogate using the woodchipper, supporting the fact that she was dead.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but perhaps some receipts for items in the Albany Ave trash will turn up, or additional leads (from KM? I know we are all looking his way now...) will lead to additional evidence.
LE seems to repeatedly insist they haven’t given up and that they think they’ll find the body eventually, but that doesn’t lend heft to the decision to issue a death certificate.

Hate him or not, JS is technically correct that declaring JD legally dead will reduce his options for defending MT. For example the Gone Girl defense would be weakened substantially wouldn’t it.
Slowly, very slowly, with perhaps an unprecedented number of hiccups and barriers, this case is pulling together and honing in.

Crafts case, referred to in early JD article a few weeks after she went missing:

“Near the shoreline of the lake, authorities melted snow and found 56 bone chips, a tooth, part of a finger, part of a toe, a fingernail, more than 2,000 dyed hairs and the metal crown of a tooth. With the help of Helle Crafts’ hairdresser, dentist and other experts, the items were identified as part of Helle Crafts’ body, Lee said.”
Experts: Homicides without a body are difficult to prove

 

[sds71]

Shannon Miller(NBCCT)

Probate Court Judge Evelyn Daly set a status conference date of February 10th, 2021 for the motion to declare that Jennifer is deceased. A hearing on the issue will be set at a later date.

 

[MsJosie]

IF KM turned on FD and MT, I hope that Jennifer is found. I want to see her family have some closure even though the will have trials ahead of them. I am not happy Km would get some deal but if he will tell where Jennifer is, I can go along with it.

As for MT....I hope KM is far from her and her family. I would be worried they might go after KM to keep MT out of jail. Also I still am very concerned since she did not want to and did not show up and for the last hearing, that she still may skip the country. From reading here, I am glad the Judge said MT had to appear at the next hearing. With that, MT is given a choice to show or flee. I don’t believe for one minute she has a monitor on anymore.

 

[oviedo]

Shannon Miller(NBCCT)

Probate Court Judge Evelyn Daly set a status conference date of February 10th, 2021 for the motion to declare that Jennifer is deceased. A hearing on the issue will be set at a later date.

Thank you for the update on her probate. I hope we find out what exactly happened to her soon
JMO

 

[pernickety]

I'm also recalling another reference where due to certain statutory provisions, what is documented on the death certificate might arguably be more important than what is found on autopsy. For example, under Texas law, a “death certificate certified by the state registrar is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the record”(1). “Prima facie” evidence is evidence, if not rebutted, that is sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact.

Not to mention there is usually no certifying an autopsy report or that the cause of death on autopsy is inadmissible as hearsay.

(1) Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann., Section 191.052 (Vernon 2005).

And the administrator or custodian of the 401k requires a certified copy of the death certificate before they can release it.

 

[pernickety]

The Crafts case actually had substantially more evidence than in the case of JD, both in terms of the body [parts] and receipts showing her husband had rented a wood chipper. The ME also used a pig as a surrogate to show that the evidence of marks on the found tissues at Lake Zoar matched those of the pig surrogate using the woodchipper, supporting the fact that she was dead.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but perhaps some receipts for items in the Albany Ave trash will turn up, or additional leads (from KM? I know we are all looking his way now...) will lead to additional evidence.
LE seems to repeatedly insist they haven’t given up and that they think they’ll find the body eventually, but that doesn’t lend heft to the decision to issue a death certificate.

Hate him or not, JS is technically correct that declaring JD legally dead will reduce his options for defending MT. For example the Gone Girl defense would be weakened substantially wouldn’t it.
Slowly, very slowly, with perhaps an unprecedented number of hiccups and barriers, this case is pulling together and honing in.

Crafts case, referred to in early JD article a few weeks after she went missing:

“Near the shoreline of the lake, authorities melted snow and found 56 bone chips, a tooth, part of a finger, part of a toe, a fingernail, more than 2,000 dyed hairs and the metal crown of a tooth. With the help of Helle Crafts’ hairdresser, dentist and other experts, the items were identified as part of Helle Crafts’ body, Lee said.”
Experts: Homicides without a body are difficult to prove

LE also recovered parts of JFD's body--her blood on her clothing she was wearing just before her disappearance. And FD is on camera footage shown disposing of those items in Htfd. Richard Crafts not actually shown at site of disposal of Helle's remains (though witness saw the woodchipper by the lake in a snowstorm, and RC rented a woodchipper). FD also shown on camera footage near scene of crime. JFD's blood also found on vehicle seat FD ordered disposed of. In both cases murder weapons not found.

 

[pernickety]

Shannon Miller(NBCCT)

Probate Court Judge Evelyn Daly set a status conference date of February 10th, 2021 for the motion to declare that Jennifer is deceased. A hearing on the issue will be set at a later date.

So the arrest warrant says that the ME says---- That's hearsay, isn't it? From what I've read (on IRS site) the custodian of the 401k has to have a certified copy of the death certificate. So the judge would be right IMO to require the same. B/c 401ks come under federal ERISA law, not a state PC. Maybe by the time of the Feb hearing, there'll be a death certificate from the ME, based on new evidence from KM.

 

[carolmaria]

More $ for JS in all of this of course. It will take more than Instagram soy mama’s and invocations of saints to defend MT against the mounting wall of evidence, and JSs increasing flailing only affirms how weak her case is.

EXACTLY
This manic attempt to distract & game the system is backfiring big time. Put together with JS’s recklessness (opening Pandora’s box) = problematic duo (+ flying monkeys).

Bowman measured and astute in comparison. Oh well.

Not enough coffee yet!

MOO