Dulos warrants cite years of fear
Documents allege she was afraid for her life
NEW CANAAN — For years, Jennifer Dulos lived in fear of her husband, according to her own statements in divorce documents and information police have obtained since she was killed in May.
Lauren Almeida, the family’s longtime nanny, told police she witnessed some of the alleged domestic abuse, according to search warrants unsealed last week in the New Canaan woman’s homicide.
In the days following Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance, Almeida provided critical information to police as investigators tried to determine what happened inside the Welles Lane home on the morning of May 24.
Almeida pointed to the contentious two-year divorce between Jennifer and Fotis Dulos as a potential cause for the gory scene — bloody footprints and splatter, and signs the 50-year-old mother of five was the victim of a “homicide of violence” — that investigators discovered inside the garage, according to arrest and search warrants in the case.
Fotis Dulos, 52, has been charged with murder, felony murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. Police have also charged his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, and his close friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, as his alleged accomplices.
On the day of the incident,
Almeida became concerned when she could not reach Jennifer Dulos.
“My first thought was that Fotis did something,” Almeida told police, according to arrest warrants.
In the search warrants that were unsealed last week for the first time since the investigation began nearly eight months ago, Almeida supported her theory by describing two instances of alleged domestic abuse that she said occurred in recent years.
There was the time in August
2017 — a few months after Jennifer Dulos left for New Canaan with the children and filed for divorce — when Almeida heard commotion outside a short-term rental home where they were staying on Chichester Road.
Almeida said she found Jennifer Dulos crying in the driveway, saying her estranged husband tried to run her over with their children in the car, according to the search warrants.
Jennifer Dulos told Almeida she had to “jump out of the way” to avoid being hit, the search warrants said.
But Rena Dulos Kyrimi, Fotis Dulos’ sister who was in the car that day, said the incident unfolded differently.
“I was in the car with him and the kids that day,” Dulos Kyrimi said in a phone interview Friday from Greece. “She threw herself in front of the car to stop us from coming near the house. The kids thought it was a joke and were all laughing.”
Jennifer Dulos did not report the incident, but notified New Canaan police later that day when she claimed her husband called her names and degraded her in front of their children, the search warrants said. No arrests were made.
‘It was embarrassing’
In the search warrants, Almeida also recalled another incident that occurred a few months earlier when the couple was still living together in Farmington.
Almeida said she witnessed Jennifer Dulos run into a bedroom, slam the door behind her and kept it shut with her body as her estranged husband tried to get in, according to the search warrant.
Almeida said Fotis Dulos stopped banging on the door when he realized she and one of the children were present, the search warrant said.
Dulos Kyrimi’s daughter, Klelia, said the incident started when Jennifer Dulos came into the home — where a wedding was being held — using “foul language.”
“He didn’t chase her,” Klelia Kyrimi said Friday in a phone interview. “She was going upstairs and he followed her. It was embarrassing. We all didn’t want to see something like that. They went into one of the kid’s rooms to talk and closed the door behind them. We were all wondering what was happening to her. I could hear him trying to calm her down.”
Tensions remained high as Jennifer Dulos left Farmington unannounced with the children for her new home in New Canaan the day after Father’s Day in June 2017. It prompted Fotis Dulos to call police and report his children missing.
Police determined the children were with Jennifer Dulos, who filed for divorce the next day.
‘Controlling and aggressive’ behavior
In the months that followed, the heated divorce proceedings began, including Jennifer Dulos filing an emergency order for custody of the children.
However, Stamford Superior Court Judge Thomas Colin denied the request, saying Jennifer Dulos did not prove “there is an immediate and present risk of physical danger or psychological harm to the parties’ children.”
In his ruling, Colin acknowledged the raw emotions between the couple and that Jennifer Dulos perceived her husband to be “controlling and aggressive.”
Colin encouraged the couple to work together through their attorneys to resolve the custody issues.
“The court is hopeful that once things settle down and cooler heads prevail, these extremely well educated and accomplished parents will be able to reach an agreement,” Colin said.
However, the incident in the New Canaan driveway occurred just days later, prompting Jennifer Dulos to file a contempt of court document on Aug. 9, 2017.
In the document, Jennifer Dulos described the incident and claimed her husband violated the judge’s order by displaying “intimidating and degrading” behavior in front of their children, divorce records show.
Jennifer Dulos also claimed her husband told her she should be “locked away” and “you should be put in an insane asylum,” in front of the children, according to divorce documents.
A judge eventually limited Fotis Dulos’ contact with his children to supervised visits. The last one occurred May 22 — two days before Jennifer Dulos was killed — in his estranged wife’s backyard.
Fotis Dulos was supposed to appear Jan. 9 in Stamford juvenile court where his divorce attorney planned to fight for his client to see his children.
However, the hearing was postponed indefinitely when Fotis Dulos was charged with murder on Jan. 7 and a judge issued a protective order preventing him from contacting his children, Almeida and his estranged wife’s family.
Dulos Kyrimi said she was with her husband and her young granddaughter visiting Fotis Dulos when her brother was arrested this month.
Dulos Kyrimi said the accusations that have been made against her brother are not true.
“They are lies,” she said. “They are presenting a person we don’t know. He’s not a violent person, he’s not an abuser. It’s not in his character. I don’t know where they are getting this, but they don’t have any character to be saying these type of lies.”