Warrant: Fotis Dulos’ SUV parked near estranged wife’s house

NEW CANAAN — Fotis Dulos’ SUV was caught on video parked near his estranged wife’s home around the time she was killed and an unknown “bloodlike” stain was later found inside the vehicle, according to search warrants.

The evidence could support a theory investigators described throughout the more than 450 pages of search warrants that multiple people may have been involved in Jennifer Dulos’ homicide and cleanup of the May 24 crime.

Fotis Dulos, 52, has been charged with murder, felony murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in his estranged wife’s death. His former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. Fotis Dulos’ close friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, 54, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

The search warrants, which were unsealed Wednesday for the first time since the investigation began nearly eight months ago, was the only mention of a residential security camera capturing Fotis Dulos’ black 2015 Chevrolet Suburban in New Canaan.

The Suburban was caught on video parked on Thurton Drive, a quiet cul de sac less than a half-mile long with many new large affluent homes and expansive lawns. The back of the Welles Lane home where Jennifer Dulos lived can be seen through the trees from the wide turn-around at the end of the road.

According to residents in the area, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was in the neighborhood four times to discuss the Suburban and local police were also there twice.

One woman, who did not want to be identified, said New Canaan Police visited her home twice in the days following the incident. She said police originally asked for security footage from 7 p.m. May 23 through the following evening, and then they returned and asked for all of her available footage.

The residents were never told if any of their footage was useful and none of them knew when exactly the Suburban was on their street.

The search warrants also do not reveal the time or day the SUV was parked on Thurton Drive. Search warrants indicate that multiple people were likely involved in the deadly assault. But the presence of the SUV parked on the street could also mean there was an attempt to check out the area in advance of the alleged attack.

According to the documents, police obtained a search warrant on May 30 — six days after Jennifer Dulos vanished — and took 19 swabs, including one that was from a "bloodlike" stain and a WeatherTech floor liner that also had “bloodlike” stains from the SUV. There is no mention in arrest warrants whether the swabs or the stains were blood or connected to Jennifer Dulos.

When police obtained the video, they searched law enforcement databases and discovered Troconis had damaged the Suburban in an accident on Interstate 84 in Tolland on May 17, search warrants said.

The left front quarter panel of the Suburban was dented in the crash, police said in the search warrant. The Suburban parked on Thurton Drive was seen on the video with the same damage, the search warrant said.

The SUV had been brought to a Canton auto body shop on May 28, the search warrant said. The staff called Canton police to report the vehicle was there after seeing news reports about the disappearance, search warrants said. State police went to the auto body shop and seized the vehicle, which was brought to Troop L in Litchfield by May 30, the documents said.

Based on a series of videos obtained by investigators, police believe Fotis Dulos drove an employee’s red Toyota Tacoma to New Canaan the day his wife was killed, according to arrest warrants. The pickup truck was left on Lapham Road near Waveny Park, where police said Fotis Dulos rode a vintage bicycle to his estranged wife’s home, according to arrest warrants.

Police said Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” when his wife returned to her home around 8:05 a.m., after she dropped off their children at a nearby school, the arrest warrants state.

Police obtained video showing Jennifer Dulos’ black 2017 Chevy Suburban — that has a nearly identical appearance as her estranged husband’s SUV — leaving her home at 10:25 a.m. Police believe Fotis Dulos was driving the vehicle and his estranged wife’s body was inside, arrest warrants state.

Police indicated in several search warrants that it was “highly likely that multiple individuals were involved in the crime and the ensuing cleanup.”