Search warrants connected to the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan mom of five, have been unsealed and offer new details into the case against her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos.
Jennifer has been missing since May 24 and there has been no sign of her since.
Police arrested Fotis Dulos last week and charged him with the kidnapping and murder of Jennifer.
His attorney, Norm Pattis, said the case is "entirely circumstantial" and Fotis Dulos wants to clear his name. Pattis filed a motion to have charges dismissed.
Fotis Dulos' girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and a lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, were also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The arrests came seven months after Jennifer Dulos disappeared after dropping her kids off at school in New Canaan. Fotis Dulos and Troconis both posted bond.
For more on the arrests and to read the warrants, click here.
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The search warrants offer additional information on the specific finds that helped investigators build their case.
A HISTORY OF DOMESTIC CALLS TO POLICE
The warrants lay out a history of domestic calls between Fotis and Jennifer, both to Farmington police and New Canaan police.
- June 2017: Jennifer and Fotis are in the process of a divorce, and Jennifer packaged up her belongings and left with the children. Fotis called Farmington police to report she had stolen his property when she left. Farmington police did not pursue the matter
- June 9, 2017: Fotis calls to report his children missing. Police found all five children “safe and secure.”
- June 21, 2017: Farmington police secure an unregistered gun – a Glock 19 9mm) from Fotis due to a protective order against him.
- August 2, 2017: New Canaan police received a call from Jennifer reporting that while she stayed at a temporary home, Fotis engaged in a verbal argument with her in front of their kids. He allegedly said she was a "bad mother" and made a statement that she "belongs in an insane asylum." Jennifer was upset, cried and called police. No arrests were made.
PREVIOUS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ALLEGATIONS
In a separate incident, the Dulos family babysitter Lauren Almeida reported that while the family was staying in that rental, she heard a commotion outside. When she went to check out the situation, she found Jennifer “visibly upset” and Jennifer told her that Fotis had tried to run her over with a car. The incident was not reported to police.
When Jennifer first went missing, Almeida reported that she witnessed several altercations between Jennifer and Fotis, according to the warrants. She reported that in June 2017, at the Farmington home on Jefferson Crossing, she witnessed Fotis chasing Jennifer through the house. Jennifer ran into a bedroom and slammed the door closed, at which point Fotis started pounding on it, trying to open it. Almeida said that she and one of the children were in the bedroom at the time, and that Fotis appeared to calm down when he realized they were there. The witness also said that Jennifer did not want to report the situation to police because “she was very afraid of her husband and he threatened to take the children permanently to Greece.”
Norm Pattis, Fotis’ attorney, responded to the Almeida’s allegations, calling them “gibberish.”
“I’d like to see a statement under oath to that. Mr. Dulos categorically denies this gibberish. It is insinuations such as this that makes us want a trial sooner rather than later. This has to stop," he wrote in a statement.
WHAT DID AUTHORITIES SEARCH?
The warrants detail searches at eight physical properties, including the New Canaan home of Jennifer Dulos, the Farmington home where Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis were living, multiple properties owned by the Fore Group, Fotis’ company and a storage unit at Avon Self Storage.
Investigators also searched five vehicles connected to the case, including multiple Fore Group vehicles, a car registered to a Fore Group employee’s wife that police believe Fotis was operating the day Jennifer disappeared, and Jennifer’s vehicle.
There are also more than a dozen companies investigators secured search warrants through in their investigation, including cell phone and telephone providers, Google, Apple, OnStar, SiriusXM and WAZE.
Additionally, Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis had their cheeks swabbed, were fingerprinted and photographed at the Farmington home before their initial arrests.
WHAT DID THEY FIND?
Because this is a murder case with no body, authorities must rely heavily on other types of evidence. Some of the findings were detailed in the arrest warrants. Key evidence in the case includes blood and DNA linked to both Jennifer and Fotis Dulos.
The warrant details the apparent bloodstains at the home at 69 Welles Lane. Forensic investigators matched the DNA to Jennifer. Investigators thought the amount of blood was concerning.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was asked to weigh in on the evidence. According to the warrant, "Dr. Gill indicated that based upon the facts of the investigation, the degree of blood loss, as well as other factors, he was prepared to state that Jennifer Dulos had sustained an injury (or multiple injuries) which he would consider 'non-survivable' without medical intervention." He called such an event a "'homicide of violence' to likely include some combination of traumatic, blunt-force injuries such as a bludgeoning/beating, and/or sharp-force injuries such as a stabbing/slashing."
The documents also details surveillance footage that shows a man matching Fotis Dulos’ description driving a Ford Raptor throwing out garbage bags at multiple locations along and around Albany Avenue in Hartford. Investigators would later find Jennifer’s blood and DNA on items found in those bags. Michelle Troconis would later state in an interview that the man dumping the bags was Fotis, and that a woman in the video was her.
Investigators also found Fotis' DNA inside Jennifer's home, despite reports from witnesses that Jennifer never allowed him inside the home. In an interview with investigators, Fotis said she invited him in for dinner and cake after a supervised visit with the children. However, the court-mandated supervisors who oversaw visits with the family stated they never saw Fotis enter the home, and that he was never left unsupervised with his children.
Fotis has denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance, his attorney adding Wednesday, “I am stunned that the police never asked to speak to Mr. Dulos. We may well have been able to persuade them to drop the case altogether. We would have sat for an interview . We’re looking forward to the trial and will press for one as quickly as possible.”
SEARCH CONTINUES FOR JENNIFER DULOS
Police have a dedicated website on the search for Jennifer Dulos. They have set up a tipline at 203-594-3544 as well as a dedicated email address, findjenniferdulos@newcanaanct.gov.
