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Mom’s blood-stained items tossed by husband, his girlfriend
NORWALK — The estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos and his girlfriend were caught on camera discarding trash bags containing blood of the 50-year-old mother of five who has been missing for more than a week, according to their arrest warrants.
The warrants claim Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis made stops at more than 30 trash receptacles over a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford on the night of Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance. Police searched the trash cans and found garbage bags containing clothes and household items, such as kitchen sponges, that were stained with blood, the warrants said.
State forensic teams determined the blood belonged to Jennifer Dulos, the warrant said.
Fotis Dulos, 51, and Troconis, 44, were arraigned Monday in state Superior Court in Norwalk after being arrested Saturday night on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and firstdegree hindering prosecution.
According to an arrest warrant, a black Ford F-150 Raptor caught on security video was traced to Fotis Dulos. A warrant also revealed Fotis Dulos and Troconis’ cellphones were in the Hartford area when the videos were captured.
One video clip showed a man inserting an item into a storm drain grate near Garden Street. Detectives later searched the area and recovered two Connecticut license plates that had been altered with adhesive and tape, the warrant said. The plate was connected to a canceled registration for a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban belonging to Fotis Dulos.
The arrest warrants confirmed that multiple bloodstains and “suspected” blood splatter were found, along with evidence of an attempted cleanup, in the garage of Jennifer Dulos’ home on Welles Lane in New Canaan.
“Based upon the crime scene processing, investigators came to the consensus that a serious physical assault had occurred at the scene, and Jennifer Dulos was the suspected victim,” the arrest warrant said.
Authorities continued on Monday to search for Jennifer Dulos. The FBI Evidence Recovery Team concentrated its search for hours in a wooded area of Waveny Park near the Merritt Parkway. They placed several evidence markers down in the woods and scanned the area with metal detectors.
The investigators were assisted by police dogs specifically trained to find electronic equipment. One of the handlers said the dogs are trained to smell a chemical found in cellphones.
High bond upheld
As the search continued, Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband and his new flame were arraigned at state Superior Court in Norwalk.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit with cuffs on his arms and legs, Fotis Dulos was escorted into the back entrance of the Norwalk courthouse shortly before 10 a.m. Monday.
Members of the media and the public crowded around the fence as Fotis Dulos was led into the courthouse. He had no reaction as reporters shouted questions as he entered the building.
Troconis arrived a few minutes earlier, wearing the same clothes she had on when she was arrested Saturday night. She kept her head low, avoiding the flash of dozens of cameras, as she was escorted from a New Canaan police cruiser into the Norwalk courthouse.
The two were arraigned separately in front of a packed courtroom that included their relatives. Fotis Dulos came before Judge Stephanie McLaughlin with a bowed head and clenched jaw, and listened as his lawyer Eugene Riccio failed to get his $500,000 bond reduced.
Troconis, a mother and CEO, appeared to blow kisses at family members before receiving the same news.
Both defense lawyers argued their clients have no criminal records and are in good standing in community, but state prosecutor Suzanne Vieux argued the “serious nature” of the allegations warranted the high bond.
In addition to upholding the bonds, McLaughlin ruled the defendants must wear GPS monitoring, turn over their passports and avoid all contact with Jennifer Dulos’ family if they post bond.
Troconis was released after posting bond later Monday afternoon, while Fotis Dulos was transported back to the Bridgeport Correctional Facility where he has been held since his arrest.
Fotis Dulos’ attorney, Eugene Riccio, said his client was likely not going to post bond on Monday.
Neither defendant entered a plea on Monday. Both are scheduled to appear at the Stamford courthouse on June 11.
Additional criminal charges are expected as the investigation continues, police said.
Search for Jennifer Dulos
Jennifer Dulos was last seen dropping off her children at New Canaan Country School on May 24. Her black Chevy Suburban was found later that night on the side of Lapham Road near Waveny Park after she was reported missing.
The search for Dulos has been mostly focused in New Canaan in Waveny Park and in her Welles Lane neighborhood. The police also searched a property owned by her parents in Pound Ridge, N.Y.
The investigation quickly shifted to the Hartford area on Friday with authorities searching the Upper Albany section of the city, focusing on a storm drain outside a bakery and trash bins in the area. A few hours later, they arrived at Fotis Dulos’ Farmington home before escorting him to the state police Troop L barracks in Litchfield, where blood and hair samples were taken.
For most of the weekend,
authorities focused their searches on Dulos’ Jefferson Crossing home in Farmington and a property his company recently developed on Mountain Spring Road in that town.
Jennifer and Fotis Dulos have been involved in a two-year divorce case. In court documents, Jennifer Dulos said she was afraid of her estranged husband and was fearful he would retaliate against her for seeking a divorce.
Two years ago, Jennifer Dulos left the Farmington home with her children and moved to New Canaan before filing for divorce the next day.
In March 2018, the court denied Fotis Dulos access to the children, saying there was “an immediate and present risk of psychological harm to the children if they have unrestricted and unsupervised contact with the defendant, as well as a risk of physical danger.”
The court also said he had a history of lying under oath and had encouraged the children to lie on his behalf.
However, the court reversed its decision and found it in the children’s best interest to implement supervised parenting time.
After the court granted Fotis Dulos supervised visitation this February, he and Jennifer Dulos could not reach an agreement on a schedule. In March, Judge Donna Heller granted Fotis Dulos supervised visitation every other weekend, starting March 30. He was allotted seven hours on Saturdays in Fairfield County and six hours on Sundays in Hartford County, which could take place at the Farmington house. Fotis Dulos was also granted three hours of visitation on Wednesdays in Fairfield County.
However, the judge banned Troconis and her daughter from interacting with the Dulos children.