HARTFORD, Conn. — Kent Mawhinney, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the disappearance of Connecticut mother Jennifer Farber Dulos, was brought back into custody this week after a judge increased his bond to $1.5 million, according to court records.
Prosecutors asked the judge to increase his bond after he allegedly tampered with his court-ordered ankle monitor, court officials and records said.
Supervisory State’s Attorney Michelle Manning told the judge Mawhinney had tried to cut off his ankle monitor, according to multiple media reports.
Mawhinney was a friend and former lawyer of Fotis Dulos, who was facing murder charges following his estranged wife’s disappearance when he died by suicide in 2020. Investigators allege that Mawhinney helped Dulos by providing an alibi for him at the time of his wife’s disappearance. Farber Dulos, a mother of five from New Canaan, went missing on May 24, 2019.
Mawhinney, who had been released on bond awaiting trial, is now back in custody after appearing in court for a bond hearing in Stamford on Monday morning.
According to court records, the conditions of Mawhinney’s release included his wearing an electronic monitoring device and having weekly face-to-face check-ins with an Intensive Supervision Officer.
Records show that on Sept. 29, Mawhinney reported for a check-in at the Derby Adult Probation Office, where an officer noticed that his GPS monitor had been cut.
Mawhinney allegedly told the officer he was having trouble charging the device, according to court records. The officer reported that there was no evidence of any charging issues with the device.
On Sept. 29, the company Sentinel, which supplies GPS monitors for defendants, reported that they met with Mawhinney and had to give him a new ankle monitor because his had been altered.
“We swapped out his device due to strap tamper,” the report said, according to court records.
A Sentinel employee reported to the court that any issues involving the bracelet were due to it being tampered with.
“Our technician informed me that it was due to strap tamper,” a Sentinel employee reported, according to records. “Both sides of the strap were damaged.”
Mawhinney’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Kestenband, did not immediately return requests for comment. Prosecutor Manning declined to comment on the case.
Mawhinney and Fotis Dulos’ former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, are both awaiting trial in connection to Farber Dulos’ disappearance.
Troconis is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, hindering prosecution, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released from custody on a more than $2 million bond. She also is required to wear a GPS monitor while awaiting trial.
She is scheduled to appear in court next on Oct. 18.
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