The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Police: Strip searches examined suspects for bruises in Dulos case
STAMFORD — State police say Michelle Troconis and Fotis Dulos needed to be strip searched and photographed in the days after Jennifer Dulos vanished to determine if they were involved in a struggle with the New Canaan mother of five.
In motions filed this week in state Superior Court in Stamford, defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn, representing Troconis, objected to his client being stripped and photographed during a session when state police investigators collected her DNA just days after the May 24 disappearance. Schoenhorn called the strip search and photos "illegal" in a motion to have evidence collected from his client suppressed.
Trooper First Class Christine Jeltema, a spokeswoman for the state police, said Tuesday it is standard procedure for "murder cases or serious
injuries" to seek search warrants to inspect and photograph a person's body while looking for signs such as bruising or scarring.
According to arrest warrants, police believe Fotis Dulos attacked his estranged wife in the garage of her New Canaan home when she returned from dropping off their children at a nearby school around 8 a.m. on May 24.
Police said they found signs Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a “serious physical assault” based on
blood evidence they found in the garage, arrest warrants state.
Schoenhorn said in court papers filed Monday that his client was ordered to remove her clothing and searched while state police at Troop L in Torrington photographed her body. The photos, Schoenhorn claims, were never turned in as evidence.
Schoenhorn is seeking to have several pieces of evidence suppressed, including Troconis’ DNA sample, cellphone records and any of her personal property seized during a search of 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington where she lived with Fotis Dulos.
Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, who is prosecuting the case, declined to address Schoenhorn's motions.
"I am not going to answer any ridiculous allegations in the press," Colangelo said Tuesday. "We'll argue his frivolous motions in court."
Troconis, whose next court appearance has been postponed to April 9 due to the coronavirus outbreak, is free on bond while facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
Fotis Dulos was facing murder, kidnapping, tampering
with evidence and hindering prosecution charges when he died of an apparent suicide on Jan. 30.
His former attorney Kent Mawhinney was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case.
Police believe Troconis and Mawhinney attempted to provide an alibi for Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants. Police also say Troconis was with Fotis Dulos in Hartford that night when he discarded the evidence and also helped him take a pickup truck used in the crime to a car wash, arrest warrants state.