Michelle Troconis Re-Arrested As Details Emerge On Dulos Case

NEW CANAAN, CT — State police on Thursday re-arrested Michelle Troconis, the ex-girlfriend of Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of missing New Canaan mother-of-five Jennifer Farber Dulos, in connection with Jennifer Dulos' disappearance, according to authorities.

Troconis, 44, turned herself into State Police investigators Thursday afternoon at Troop G in Bridgeport. Troconis was charged with one count of tampering with and or fabricating physical evidence and she posted a $100,000 bond. Her next court date is Sept. 18.

In Troconis' 41-page arrest warrant, State Police shared details concerning her alleged involvement in the case. On June 3, crime scene investigators found notes at Dulos' home "which outlined specific times and activities" on (May 24 and May 25) and they were meant to "help them remember their activities on these dates," the warrant states. The notes included phone calls they made and specific activities on those two dates.

"Both notes included information, which was subsequently proven to be inaccurate, events which Troconis was forced to admit during questioning had never happened, and they included alibi witnesses who were later determined to be false. The notes also omitted all incriminating behavior — e.g., disposing of garbage bags in Hartford," the arrest warrant states while calling the notes "Alibi Scripts."

It was also revealed that on Aug. 13, Troconis gave a third recorded interview with State Police and she admitted in her prior two sessions that she "had not been truthful," the warrant states. She also said she didn't see Dulos from 6:40 a.m. until after noon on May 24.

"Troconis claimed she was 'mistaken' when she reported that she and Dulos had shared a shower on the morning of 5/24/19. This initial claim was inaccurate, despite the fact it was appeared on the 'script' prepared by Dulos and perpetuated by Troconis in her first interview," the arrest warrant states.

Her arrest comes one day after Fotis Dulos was re-arrested on the similar charge.

Fotis Dulos, 52, is believed to have violently killed his wife on the morning of May 24 and used the pickup truck of one of his employees to dispose of the body, according to the bombshell arrest warrant released by state police on Wednesday night.

Authorities charged Fotis Dulos with a new count of tampering with physical evidence after arresting him at his Farmington home on Wednesday afternoon. He and Troconis are already facing a tampering charge – in addition to a charge of hindering a prosecution – from an arrest a week after Jennifer Dulos had been reported missing.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen just after 8:05 a.m. on May 24 after she dropped her children off at school. She returned to her home on Welles Lane in New Canaan. Authorities have surveillance footage of Jennifer Dulos returning to her neighborhood in a 2017 Chevrolet Suburban at that time.

State police believe Fotis Dulos killed her in the garage soon after she returned home, according to the the arrest warrant.

"At the time this footage was recorded, [Fotis] Dulos is believed to have been lying in wait at 69 Welles Lane for his wife to return home," the warrant says. "The crime and clean-up are believed to have occurred between 8:05 AM and 10:25 AM."

Residential surveillance footage from neighbors shows the Suburban leaving the Welles Lane home at 10:25 a.m. westbound.

"[Fotis] Dulos is believed to be operating the victim's vehicle which is carrying the body of Jennifer Dulos and a number of other items associated with the clean-up which occurred in the garage of the residence. Cellular data obtained from Jennifer's cellphone is consistent with the phone moving from Welles Lane to Lapham Road during this timeframe," the warrant reads.

The Suburban was found abandoned later that day on Lapham Road in New Canaan's Waveny Park.

At 11:12 a.m. on May 24, a red 2001 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, owned by Barbara Gumlenny, is seen in surveillance video traveling on the Merritt Parkway near New Canaan. Gumlenny is the wife of Pawel Gumlenny, a project manager for Fore Group LLC, Fotis Dulos' luxury home building business.

Fotis Dulos had access to the Tacoma because Pawel Gumlenny often left it at the Fore Group home office at the Dulos house in Farmington, according to state police.

The truck was seen traveling to New Canaan early that morning, where it was parked on Lapham Road near where Jennifer Dulos' Suburban was eventually found, the warrant states.

Surveillance footage tracks the Tacoma northbound on the Merritt Parkway to Route 8 then to I-84, and finally to a Mountain Spring Road property Fotis Dulos owns in Farmington at 12:22 p.m.

Later tests on the vehicle and the seats, which had been replaced, found a "bloodlike substance" inside which contained Jennifer Dulos' DNA, according to state police.

Fotis Dulos subsequently had the Tacoma washed and detailed, without Pawel Gumlenny's knowledge or permission, and Dulos also insisted that the seats in the truck be switched with seats from a damaged Porsche SUV that his estranged wife owned, Pawel Gumlenny told state police.

Gumlenny had kept the old seats and turned them over to state police, which led to the tests.

Additionally, during questioning by state police about getting the vehicle washed, Troconis is quoted as saying, "Well obviously... all the evidence says because... you showed me the picture of the blood in the door it's because the body of Jennifer at some point was in there."

"Troconis reported that Dulos arrived back at 4 Jefferson Crossing for lunch between noon and 1:30 PM," state police wrote. "She claimed the two [ate] a 'quick' lunch together – approximately fifteen minutes long – during which she did not ask Dulos where he had been or what he had been doing during the morning hours. Troconis indicated that the victim, Jennifer Dulos, did not come up in conversation at all during their lunch."

Additionally that afternoon before the truck was washed, Troconis told state police that she saw Fotis Dulos "cleaning what he described [as] a spilled coffee out of" the Tacoma.

"Troconis told investigators at one point Dulos had handed her a stained towel he had been using to clean the truck and told her to place it into a plastic garbage bag. When questioned about the towel, Troconis claimed she could not remember the color of the stain, but she admitted the towel did not smell of coffee."

May 24 was a Friday, and Pawel Gumlenny tried to get the Tacoma back from Fotis Dulos' home, but was locked out of it because Troconis had taken the keys, according to state police. Fotis Dulos told Gumlenny to continue to use the Ford Raptor pickup for the weekend, a significant fact, state police said, because it would have given Fotis Dulos more time to have the vehicle cleaned of any evidence.

Gumlenny insisted on getting the Tacoma back, so Troconis returned with the keys.

"It was the following week that Dulos and Troconis took the Toyota to be cleaned and detailed without Gumlenny's knowledge or permission," state police wrote. The seats of the vehicle were switched after the washing, and Gumlenny told state police that Dulos had been "pushy" about getting them changed.

Not long after Jennifer Dulos was reported missing, Fotis Dulos and Troconis are believed to have dumped bags containing bloody clothing, sponges and other items - some of which tested positive for Jennifer Dulos' blood - along Albany Avenue in Hartford, according to authorities. People resembling the two were seen on surveillance footage during several stops along the roadway.

If Fotis Dulos killed Jennifer Dulos, as state police investigators contend, where is her body? That mystery remains unsolved, and in a statement Wednesday night, Fotis Dulos' defense attorney Norm Pattis brushed aside any claims that his client might have been involved in a murder.

"It is difficult to see why the state waited for months to serve this warrant. It was unnecessary," Pattis said. "Apparently, Michelle has changed her tune and a handyman is telling tales to
deflect attention from himself. We wish the state police spent more time looking for Jennifer and less trying to build a case against Fotis.

"We will plead not guilty to these charges next week in Norwalk."

Fotis Dulos is free after posting bond on bail of $500,000 on Wednesday, and he is due in Norwalk Superior Court on Sept. 12.

In connection with the first arrest, he is due back in court on Sept. 13 on the original charges, and Troconis is due back in court on Sept. 20.