The wealthy estranged husband at the center of a murder investigation was re-arrested after a new warrant alleges that a “bloodlike substance” containing his missing wife’s DNA was found in a truck he had access to the day she disappeared.
The missing person case of 50-year-old mother Jennifer Dulos has gripped Connecticut since May, when the mother of five suddenly disappeared amid a bitter divorce battle. Days later, her husband, 51-year-old Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, 44-year-old Michelle Troconis, were arrested and charged with tampering evidence and hindering prosecution. Since that time, law enforcement has been working to figure out what exactly happened on the day she went missing.
The same day the couple was booked, police discovered blood spatter in Jennifer Dulos’ home, according to CNN. Investigators said there also appeared to have been an attempt to clean the crime scene where there was “a serious physical assault” of Jennifer Dulos. She disappeared after dropping her kids, ages 8 to 13, off at school.
On Wednesday, an explosive new arrest warrant said that Troconis told police Fotis Dulos had the vehicle where his wife’s DNA was found cleaned days after she went missing, “because the body of Jennifer at some point was in there.”
The warrant said that the vehicle Dulos is thought to have been driving the day of his wife’s disappearance belongs to one of his employees. The employee, who is not believed to be involved in the crime, told police that Dulos repeatedly asked him to change the seats in the truck, becoming “pushy” and angry the longer that the seats weren’t replaced. The employee said Fotis Dulos told him he was worried there might have been hair evidence in the truck because Jennifer Dulos hugged him before she went missing.
The employee told police he did switch the seats out, but kept them in case police needed them, but didn’t tell Dulos he didn’t dispose of them. When police located the seats, they allegedly found a “bloodlike substance” containing Jennifer Dulos’ DNA.
According to the warrant, investigators also discovered what they called “alibi scripts” in Fotis Dulos’ office. The notes detail specific activities and times for the day his wife went missing and the day after. The notes were handwritten by both Dulos and Troconis to “help them remember” what they did those days, police say. Those notes were found to be inaccurate, as some of the alibi witnesses listed were determined to be false. Troconis also admitted that the activities on the alibi scripts didn’t actually happen.
Investigators also alleged that on the morning Jennifer Dulos disappeared, Fotis Dulos was believed to have gone to his wife’s house and was waiting for her to return home, with the alleged crime and subsequent cleanup occurring between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. Images in the warrant show what appears to be Fotis Dulos’ employees’ truck (the one the seats were later switched out of) parked about 100 feet away from where Jennifer Dulos’ Chevy Suburban was eventually found abandoned.
Although a body hasn’t been found, surveillance cameras picked up someone matching the description of Fotis Dulos getting out of a truck and placing “multiple garage bags into various trash receptacles” in the Hartford area. Investigators did find clothing and other household goods with Jennifer Dulos’ blood on them after searching the trash receptacles.
Fotis Dulos’ attorney, Norm Pattis, who has also represented Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, said that Dulos intends to plead not guilty to Wednesday’s new charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
“It sounds like the state is trying to convince itself that Fotis is responsible for Jennifer’s disappearance,” Norm Pattis said. “When and if the state decides it can prove its case, we will welcome the chance to meet the case in open court.”
“It’s an exhausting fight,” Dulos said in a brief statement Wednesday. “I love my children. That’s about it.”
Both Dulos and Troconis pleaded not guilty to the initial tampering charges and were released on bond under the condition that the couple wear GPS tracking devices.
On Wednesday, Dulos posted $500,000 bail for the new charge. His next scheduled court appearance is Sept. 12.
