Fotis Dulos, accused of kidnapping and murdering his estranged and presumed dead wife, Jennifer Dulos, returned to his upscale Connecticut home on Thursday, following his Tuesday arrest.
According to Eyewitness News 3, with the supposed financial assistance of a family friend, Dulos’ lawyer posted his bond at around noon on Thursday afternoon. The murder suspect had no comment as he left jail.
Dulos’ girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, was also arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. She, too, posted bond and was taken to Stamford Hospital directly after she left jail.
Stamford Police Capt. Diedrich Hohn said Troconis was unable to receive an evaluation for medical treatment while behind bars, which prompted her to go to the hospital upon release. Troconis spent two days and nights at the women’s York Correctional Institution in Niantic.
The Stamford Advocate reports that Dulos posted $400,000 cash on a $6 million bond. Both Dulos and Troconis are required to remain on house arrest until his trial.
Under his new house arrest requirements, Dulos must stay inside his house at all times and will not be allowed to roam around his sprawling Farmington estate, as he did during his previous house arrest conditions.
Dulos defense lawyer, Kevin Smith, spoke briefly to media on Thursday. The attorney said that Dulos was “relieved to be going home.”
“Relieved to be going home, as anyone would be in this circumstance. Also the circumstances we now find ourselves in, but finally able to address this head-on in a courtroom, which we are looking forward to.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a newly-released 35-page arrest warrant indicated that Dulos is accused of bounding Jennifer with zip ties to restrain her before killing her. Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner James R. Gill stated that Jennifer Dulos probably endured a “non-survivable” injury which likely included stabbing and blunt force trauma.
“It is reasonable that Jennifer Dulos was alive at the time the zip ties were attached to restrain her movements and to prevent her escape,” the warrant read.
Arrest Warrant: Fotis Dulos by Leigh Egan on Scribd
The suspect, according to one of his attornies, still denies having anything to do with his wife’s disappearance.
“We categorically deny that Mr. Dulos had any involvement in the disappearance of his wife, and we defy the state to prove that she is actually dead,” Dulos’ defense lawyer, Norm Pattis, said. “If this is all the state’s got we wonder why it bothered.”
Police later found her vehicle, a black 2017 Chevrolet Suburban, parked off of Lapham Road. A cleaning service arrived at her home at noon on May 24 but never saw Jennifer.
Jennifer also missed several appointments that day, including one at 11 a.m. and one at 1 p.m. Since she vanished, she has not used her cellphone or her credit cards.
Search dogs and search teams scoured through wooded areas by Jennifer’s home, as well as a 300-acre park, bodies of water and a cornfield. Authorities also spent days searching at a large dump facility and scouring Fotis Dulos’ property in Farmington.
Both Dulos and Troconis were previously arrested in June after authorities said the pair tampered with evidence in connection to Jennifer’s disappearance. According to the initial arrest affidavit, investigators found, in part:
- Bags of blood-stained clothing and sponges that Dulos allegedly dropped into trash cans at businesses in Connecticut
- Stains of blood on Jennifer’s garage floor
- Blood spatter in numerous areas of Jennifer’s home
- Dulos’ DNA mixed in with Jennifer’s blood on her kitchen faucet
- Obvious attempts to clean up the scene
- Altered Connecticut license plates that belonged to Dulos
- Security footage of Dulos driving his Ford pickup to various locations, dropping trash bags into different public trash receptacles
- Security footage of Troconis “leaning out of the passenger seat of the Ford pickup and either placing something on the ground or picking up an item”
- Blood DNA that matched to Jennifer inside Gummienny’s truck
The pair bailed out of jail, but both were arrested again in September on additional tampering with evidence charges. The second arrests happened after Troconis reportedly turned on Dulos and admitted she lied about seeing him the morning Jennifer vanished.
Troconis told detectives that she did not know where Dulos on the morning of May 24, between 6:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m, taking back her original claim that she was with him.
Authorities believe a “serious physical assault” happened to Jennifer, and the “the crime and the cleanup are believed to have occurred between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m.” on May 24.
Trocinis also said that Dulos borrowed a truck from his friend, Pawel Gummienny, around the time Jennifer vanished, according to court documents. Troconis said Dulos later had the truck detailed and washed.
When detectives asked her why the truck was cleaned, Jennifer allegedly referenced to blood inside the vehicle.
“You showed me the picture of the blood in the door. It’s because the body of Jennifer at some point was in there.”
The arrest warrant stated Dulos later offered replacement rear truck seats to Gummienny. The owner of the truck reportedly told police that Dulos instructed him to get rid of the old seats “so they would not be found.”
Gummienny claimed he held onto the old seats, in the event authorities asked for them.
Investigators obtained the old seats from Gummienny and performed a swab test on a “blood-like substance,” which matched Jennifer’s DNA. Further, investigators accused Dulos of “lying in wait” for Jennifer to come home on May 24, when security footage captured her walking into her home at around 8:30 a.m.
Investigators noted that Jennifer’s SUV left her residence at some point on May 24, but they think Fotis Dulos was behind the wheel.
An attorney identified as Kent Douglas Mawhinney was also arrested charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the case. Mawhinney is accused of digging a makeshift grave at the Windsor Rod & Gun Club in East Granby, Connecticut, shortly before Jennifer vanished.
The story continues. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Fotis Dulos via Erik Trautmann/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool]
