The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Husband’s truck in town day wife disappeared, but he wasn’t driving
NEW CANAAN — A black Ford Raptor belonging to Fotis Dulos was spotted in town the day his estranged wife was reported missing — but he was not the man behind the wheel.
The driver of the vehicle was an employee of Fotis Dulos’ real estate development company, the Fore Group, and was working at a New Canaan home on May 24 when Jennifer Dulos disappeared. Neighbors of the Sturbridge Hill Road home said they were woken up by loud banging sounds coming from the property the day after the disappearance.
Attorney Lindy Urso, who is representing the man whose identity Hearst Connecticut Media is withholding, said police questioned his client about using the company vehicle and ruled him out as a suspect in the case.
“If my client was using that vehicle, it was in connection with work for sure,” Urso said Thursday. “The police have questioned him and he’s been fully cooperative. And they have confirmed that he’s not a suspect.”
Urso said his client voluntarily gave his phone to police and he is in the process of getting it back.
“He’s obviously not happy about being drawn into this mess, but he’s hoping to put it behind him and move on,” he said.
Urso said the man no longer works for the Fore Group, which now lists only Fotis Dulos as an employee on the company website.
Fotis Dulos,
51, and his girlfriend, Michelle
Troconis, 44, are both free on bail while charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
Troconis and her lawyer have met with investigators at least twice since she posted bail on June 3, including visiting the Jefferson Crossing property she shared with Fotis Dulos.
Norm Pattis, the high-profile and controversial attorney hired last week to represent Fotis Dulos, told a Connecticut radio station on Thursday that Troconis has passed a polygraph test and has an alibi for the day Jennifer Dulos disappeared.
“My understanding is the result of her speaking to the police has ruled her out as a participant in any foul play in New Canaan,” Pattis told WPLR’s Chaz and AJ. “And my understanding is she’s taken a polygraph exam on the question of whether she had any knowledge of any foul play or disposal of evidence, and she’s satisfied police in that polygraph exam and she provided an alibi.”
Pattis said Troconis’ cooperation has helped Fotis Dulos.
“I think she’s not given them anything of value,” he said. “What she’s given us is tremendous things of value and that is she wasn’t aware of any foul play.”
A message seeking comment was left with Troconis’ lawyer Thursday.
Hours after the Ford Raptor was seen in New Canaan, police said security video captured Fotis Dulos and Troconis in the truck in Hartford. Around the time Jennifer Dulos was reported missing, Fotis Dulos was seen throwing garbage bags into more than 30 trash bins in a fourmile span in Hartford about 7:15 p.m. on May 24, according to arrest warrants. Police said Troconis was seen in the passenger seat and both of their cellphones placed them in the area at that time. Garbage bags that were recovered contained Jennifer Dulos’ blood, the warrants said.
Members of the State Police search-and-rescue team have been using dogs trained to detect human remains to search a Hartford garbage dump for bags that had already been hauled away.
After spending 10 nights at the Bridgeport Correctional Center, Fotis Dulos was released Tuesday when he paid $37,150 for a $500,000 bond and turned in his passports.
Fotis Dulos is required to wear an electronic GPS monitoring device, is prohibited from contacting his five children or members of Jennifer Dulos’ family. He also cannot leave the state without permission.
Since Fotis Dulos has been released on bail and is back home, the media has been clamoring this week to cover his every move — from the grocery store, to a morning jog and a visit to a Hartford probation office.
The media remains perched each day at the corner of the private road Fotis Dulos built and where he lives.
Fore Group built the Jefferson Crossing development of seven homes on lots ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 acres. The homes are valued at $1.4 million to as much as $5.25 million.
Farmington police Lt. Patrick Buckley said the department has increased patrols in the neighborhood because Jefferson Crossing residents have been concerned about trespassers on the private road. A lawyer representing the homeowners’ association sent a letter to news organizations warning them to keep out of the neighborhood.
Fotis Dulos’ neighbors have not responded to messages seeking comment or have declined to comment on the case and media attention surrounding it. Residents of the surrounding neighborhood — dotted with spacious homes on large, lush properties — have also been reticent.
Fotis Dulos owns 4 Jefferson Crossing, where he has been living with Troconis and her daughter. Jennifer Dulos moved out of the house with her five children when she filed for divorce in 2017 and the property was soon put up for sale.
Two years later, the more than 13,000-square-foot mansion remains on the market for $4.4 million.
The attention the house has gained in recent weeks has been a double-edged sword, according to Rob Giuffria, managing broker for the West Hartford-based Tea Leaf Realty that is listing the home.
One one hand, buyers could be turned off by the connection to the case and the sordid details that have been publicized, he said.
“But there is also an argument that the house is getting wider exposure,” he said.
The biggest challenge, Giuffria said, is not related to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance or the criminal charges pending against her husband. The asking price for the home is just too much, he said.
“The market for $2 million homes has been soft in the past few years,” he said. “But maybe the notoriety will help.”
The property, as well as others developed by the Fore Group, have been a focus of numerous searches in recent weeks.
Investigators were seen leaving the property with two boxes of evidence on June 5 after executing an emergency search warrant.
The search came hours after investigators combed through a metal dumpster outside a New Canaan home also being developed by the Fore Group. Neighbors of that home said they were woken up by the loud sounds of metal banging coming from the property in the predawn hours the morning after Jennifer Dulos went missing.
State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo announced Tuesday there is new evidence that he said shows Fotis Dulos’ DNA was discovered mixed with his estranged wife’s blood on the faucet of a kitchen sink in her home. A judge, however, denied Colangelo’s request to increase Fotis Dulos’ bond based on the new evidence.
On Wednesday, the Connecticut State Police dive team searched a pond on Old Farms Road in Avon, where Jennifer Dulos claimed in divorce documents her husband pushed their children to “dangerous” limits while trying to mold them into world-class water skiers.