Man claims he found knife, bloodied pillow in trash

HARTFORD — A knife found in a Hartford trash can in the days after Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance was traded for $5 worth of crack cocaine, a man who was released from prison this week told the Hartford Courant.

The man, who was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear and trespassing, claimed he found a bloodsoaked pillow in a trash can on Albany Avenue near Garden Street sometime on Memorial Day weekend after Jennifer Dulos disappeared on May 24, the Courant reported.

The man said beneath the pillow he found what he described as a fishing knife that he traded to a guy he only knows as “Fudge” for crack cocaine, the Courant reported.

However, there is no mention of a pillow being found in the list of items police reported in arrest warrants. A police source told Hearst Connecticut Media that without finding the knife, there is no way to know if it’s connected to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance.

New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro declined to comment about the report.

The Hartford man’s story comes a few days after it was revealed that one of the items police found in the trash cans was a bloodstained Vineyard Vines shirt that Jennifer Dulos may have been wearing the morning she vanished.

Police found the shirt on May 31 — one week after the New Canaan mother of five was reported missing — when they discovered a man resembling her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were caught on video in Hartford the night of the disappearance. Police said their cellphone data placed them in the area that night as well.

The video discovery set off a frantic search on May 31 in Hartford, where police said they found at least one bag containing clothing and cleaning supplies with Jennifer Dulos’ blood on them. They also found a FedEx box stuffed in a storm drain where police said Fotis Dulos was spotted. Police said the box contained expired license plates that were once registered to a vehicle belonging to Fotis Dulos.

New Canaan police, citing an exemption in the state’s Freedom of Information Act, denied Hearst Connecticut Media’s request for the videos.

meghan.friedmann @hearstmediact.com