Ex-cop describes signs of blood at Dulos home
STAMFORD — A retired Connecticut State Police sergeant on Tuesday returned to the stand where he again testified for hours in the Michelle Troconis trial, describing a crime scene that was covered in trace amounts of suspected blood in the wake of Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance in 2019.
Troconis was living with Fotis Dulos when police said he killed his estranged wife and disposed of her body in May 2019. Fotis Dulos died by suicide in January 2020 while facing murder and other charges.
Troconis, 49, is accused of trying to create an alibi for him the morning of the crime and, later that evening, riding as a passenger in a truck when police said he was seen on surveillance videos dumping trash bags in Hartford that were found to contain Jennifer Dulos’ bloody clothes. Police also believe she helped him clean a pickup truck belonging to one of his employees that was suspected to have been used in the crime.
Troconis has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence and one count of second-degree hindering prosecution. She and her family have been adamant that she had nothing to do with Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance.
Connecticut State Police Sgt. Matthew Reilly, who was responsible for collecting evidence for the investigation, returned to the stand on Tuesday after beginning his testimony on Friday.
On Tuesday, Reilly walked the jury through dozens of pictures depicting various blood-like smudges and stains found throughout the Welles Lane home.
The pictures showed various stains across the floor of the home’s threebay garage, on a Range Rover that was parked inside the garage and on two garbage bins there as well. Many of the stains were no more than small dots of suspected blood, while others stretched several millimeters long. Some photos showed smudges of suspected blood that Reilly described as having “swipe marks through it,” in what he said is believed to have been an attempted clean-up.
Other apparent bloodstains from the garage showed footprints in it, while one displayed a fingerprint “that appeared to be like a textured glove” on the inside of one of the home’s garage doors, Reilly testified.
Reilly said investigators used a “presumptive test” to determine that many of the stains were in fact blood. Those tests, he noted, do not prove the samples found belonged to Jennifer Dulos, or even, in fact, human blood.
In addition to dozens of alleged blood stains, Reilly also detailed how investigators recovered at least four fragments of paper towels that had “bloodlike stains” on them. He said those fragments were seized as evidence and sent to the state lab for further testing. Reilly did not say what the results of those tests showed.
Inside Jennifer Dulos’ home, investigators found more traces of suspected blood, Reilly testifed. The traces were found primarily around a kitchen island, located a few feet from the door to the garage.
Reilly said two bloodlike substances were found on the kitchen island’s sink — one was on the sink’s handle, while the other was farther up on the faucet. He said they also found a blood-like stain on the corner of the island, as well as on the handle of a cabinet located beneath the sink. Inside the cabinet were multiple cleaning supplies, including latex gloves and trash bags that Reilly said were seized as evidence.
Reilly told jurors that after processing the scene, he and his team shifted their focus to Jennifer Dulos’ Chevolet Suburban, which was found abandoned on Latham Road just outside Waveny Park.
Investigators found multiple suspected blood stains on the exterior of the car, according to Reilly, specifically along the passenger side running boards and in the SUV’s rear below the trunk. Inside the car, Reilly said they found more bloodlike stains on the steering wheel.
A test later conducted at Connecticut State Police’s Troop G barracks in Bridgeport about a month after Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance found what Reilly called possible “latent blood” in the rear of the vehicle. Reilly noted, however, that the test used reactions to anything containing iron, so it isn’t used as a conclusive measure.
“We utilize it as a search tool,” Reilly testified. He said the test alerts police to the possible presence of blood undetectable to the naked eye, and allows for further, more conclusive testing of the area.
Reilly’s testimony on the blood-like substances found at Jennifer Dulos’ home and in her abandoned SUV came despite multiple objections from Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn.
The trial opened Tuesday with attorneys resuming arguments started on Friday over whether to allow testimony on evidence regarding the presumptive blood tests taken from the Welles Lane home as well as the nonpresumptive test conducted on the Chevy Suburban.
Schoenhorn argued that the testimony would create a “false impression” for the jury that there was an undeniable presence of human blood. He called the so-called evidence “as erroneous as false testimony.”
“The sole purpose is prejudicial,” Schoenhorn said.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Manning argued the state would not present the presumptive tests as “a conclusory test.” She said the tests are just meant to provide the jurors with additional context into the larger investigation.
“Just because something is inconclusive, it does not mean that it’s not admissible,” Manning contended.
In the first two days of the case last week, the state showed the jury evidence law enforcement collected when Jennifer Dulos went missing in May 2019. Prosecutors displayed body camera footage taken from New Canaan police officers when first investigating the missing persons case. They also questioned investigators who collected evidence, mainly from the garage of her Welles Lane home, where police said they found blood-like substances.
On Friday, retired Connecticut State Police Sgt. Matthew Reilly was telling Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Manning about a suspected bloodstain police found on a roll of paper towels in the home’s kitchen when Schoenhorn objected. Judge Kevin Randolph excused the jury for the day to hear from attorneys on the issue.