A friend of the Connecticut woman who vanished last month said she had been “afraid for her life” since filing for divorce in 2017.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband, Fotis, 51, and his girlfriend, 44-year-old Michelle Troconis, have been arrested on suspicion of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in connection with 50-year-old mother of five’s disappearance.
According to the New York Post, her friend decided to share the contents of an email Dulos sent in the summer of 2017, amid a custody battle that prompted the involvement of a court-appointed guardian.
“I tell myself to breathe easier, even in times of conflict and uncertainty,” Dulos reportedly wrote.
In reality, her friend said she was a “nervous wreck” during this period.
“She knew how enraged he was that she took this step,” the unnamed source continued.
According to the friend, the victim told her that Fotis Dulos “was verbally abusive and maniacal and implied that he was physically abusive, too.”
Dulos was renting a home in New Canaan at the time of her disappearance on May 24 and was last known to have dropped her children off at school.
Hours later, she had reportedly been absent from multiple appointments and was reported missing. Upon investigation, police reportedly found blood evidence of a “serious physical assault” in the garage of the residence.
Police say evidence including dozens of stops in the area to dispose of bags containing bloody items led to the charges against Fotis Dulos and Troconis, the woman with whom he’d allegedly been having an affair for the final year of his marriage.
The pair have pleaded not guilty and were released after posting bail — but their romantic relationship has reportedly ended.
As for a defense, attorneys for Fotis Dulos say his estranged wife might have faked her own death in an effort to live out a narrative like the one found in the 2012 novel “Gone Girl.”
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[Featured image: Jennifer Dulos, handout]
