The estranged husband of missing Connecticut mother Jennifer Dulos has broken his silence, denying any connection to her disappearance and claiming their bitter custody battle was not motive to harm her.
Fotis Dulos, 51, spoke out for the first time since his wife's disappearance on May 24 in an exclusive interview with NBC New York, claiming that the truth will eventually come out.
"I think that the people that do not know me, they probably look at me as monster,'' he said. "They draw their own conclusions. I've already been convicted in their mind."
Jennifer Dulos, 50, has been missing since she was last seen dropping off her children at school in New Canaan.
Her disappearance came as the couple was in the midst of a two-year custody fight over their kids, which Fotis denied as a motive to harm her.
"That's ludicrous because I never wanted Jennifer out of the way,'' he said. "Even if I could get sole custody, I would still not take it because I would want my children to have a relationship with their mother."
Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, have pleaded not guilty to charges of evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in connection with the case. They are both out on $500,000 bond and are required to wear GPS trackers.
"I seriously pinched myself a couple of times, and I said this cannot be true,'' he said about his initial arrest. "I'm dreaming this. I'm wearing orange and I'm in a cell ... this cannot be true."
Jennifer Dulos' friends and family didn't comment on the interview, nor did Troconis' attorney.
Prosecutor Richard Colangelo told a court that DNA belonging to Fotis Dulos was found mixed with Jennifer Dulos' blood on the faucet of the kitchen sink at her home, which she was renting after splitting from her husband.
Police said that a couple matching the description of Fotis Dulos and Troconis were seen on surveillance video making stops at different trash receptacles in Hartford and discarding items that contained Jennifer Dulos' blood.
Fotis Dulos would not comment to NBC New York about the evidence prosecutors say they have against him.
"I think they should wait and I have faith in the system, in the legal system, in the police and all the agencies that are working on this and hopefully we'll have some answers soon,'' he said.
The couple's five children are living with Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber, in Manhattan. A judge has ordered Fotis to stay away from his children.
"I want to tell them to hang in there, it's a big challenge in our lives, and that things will work out and everything will be alright eventually,'' he said about his children.