Fotis Dulos' family does not believe he killed his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, they say in a statement released Monday regarding the Connecticut man's suicide. Dulos, who was charged with murder after Farber Dulos disappeared May 24, "found himself in a dead-end where he saw taking his own life as the only way to be granted peace," reads the statement, which was obtained by the Hartford Courant. It says the state "pursued and harassed him relentlessly," the media "used him to make sensationalistic headlines, thus manipulating public opinion," and society quickly decided he was a "monster." Dulos died Thursday after police found him suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning inside a vehicle in his garage; he had been free on bond after his arrest Jan. 7 but had just learned that bond might be revoked, sending him back to jail.
The statement calls on investigators to probe Farber Dulos' disappearance and look into the "circumstances that led to this horrible end" for Dulos. It also called out Connecticut's family court system, where Dulos and Farber Dulos had been working through a contentious divorce and custody battle for more than two years before Farber Dulos disappeared; she is presumed dead, though her body has not been found, and authorities say they found Dulos' DNA mixed with Farber Dulos' blood on a faucet in her home, Farber Dulos' DNA on the front seat of Dulos' truck, and other evidence. But the family statement calls the evidence "paltry" and slams authorities for focusing on Dulos rather than "finding the real perpetrator." It also claims the divorce battle was biased toward Farber Dulos and too restrictive of Dulos' time with his five kids. Boston.com has the full statement. (More Fotis Dulos stories.)