Pattis Responds To Gillian Flynn About 'Gone Girl' In Dulos Case

NEW CANAAN, CT — Norm Pattis, the hard-charging attorney representing Fotis Dulos, has responded to author Gillian Flynn concerning the use of her book as a possible blueprint in case of missing New Canaan mother-of-five Jennifer Farber Dulos.

Fotis Dulos, Jennifer Dulos' estranged husband, has been charged in connection with her disappearance, and last week Flynn said the use of the bestselling book as a "hypothetical, sensationalized motive" in the case "sickens" her. Additionally, Jennifer Dulos' family and friends also blasted the theory.

The plot of the book involves a wife who frames her husband by faking her own disappearance/death, and Pattis does not mince words by calling Flynn's statement about the case "ignorant fulminations."

"Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is the best book I've ever read on the misleading nature of circumstantial evidence," Pattis said in a statement to Patch and other media outlets. "She made a fortune in royalties from the book and movie adaptation. Just how her fictional aptitude translates into expertise on an actual criminal case is an even greater mystery, however.

"Candidly, Gillian's ignorant fulminations about the Dulos case play to the very impulses she exploited in her book.

"So here's a message to Gillian. Be gone, girl. There's serious work to be done here. This isn't fiction. It's reality."

Jennifer Dulos has been missing since May 24, and Fotis Dulos, and his ex-friend Michelle Troconis, have been charged with evidence tampering and hindering a prosecution in connection with the disappearance. At the time of her disappearance, Jennifer Dulos and Fotis Dulos were in the midst of a contentious divorce and child custody battle.

Over the past several weeks, New Canaan and state police launched an exhaustive search for Jennifer Dulos, combing over multiple properties, bodies of water and a Hartford garbage facility, but so far have come up empty. Additionally, New Canaan police have received more than 1,000 tips in the case.

According to police, Fotis Dulos and Troconis have been accused of discarding bloody clothing and other items soon after her disappearance, and authorities also believe that Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a violent attack at her home.

Some of the discarded items have tested positive for Jennifer Dulos' blood, and Fotis Dulos' DNA was found mixed with Jennifer Dulos' blood in her New Canaan home, according to prosecutors.

Fotis Dulos and Troconis both have pleaded not guilty in the case.

In the meantime, an international water skiing group released a statement Monday portraying Fotis Dulos as a loving father, contrary to reports that he was hard on his children, and that the kids and Jennifer Dulos feared him, writes WTNH-TV.