Fotis Dulos is arraigned on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and first-degree hindering prosecution at Norwalk Superior Court in Norwalk, Conn. Monday, June 3, 2019. Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, Michelle C. Troconis, were arrested at an Avon hotel late Saturday night and held on a $500,000 bond for charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and first-degree hindering prosecution. Fotis Dulos is the estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos, the 50-year-old mother of five who has been missing since May 24. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)
NORWALK, Conn. – The blood of a missing mother of five was found on clothing and other items dumped in several locations where two people matching the description of her estranged husband and his girlfriend were recorded on video disposing of trash bags, according to arrest warrants released Monday.
The warrants show blood spatter and evidence of cleanup attempts were also found at the New Canaan home of Jennifer Dulos, 50, who remains missing after her May 24 disappearance.
"Investigators came to the consensus that a serious physical assault had occurred at the scene, and Jennifer Dulos was the suspected victim," police wrote in the warrants.
The warrants were released Monday after Dulos' estranged husband, 51-year-old Fotis Dulos, and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, made their first appearances in Norwalk Superior Court.
They were charged Saturday night with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution . They did not enter pleas.
The case has stunned residents of New Canaan, a wealthy suburb of New York City, which is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) away from the affluent Hartford suburb where Fotis Dulos and Troconis lived in a large home that Jennifer Dulos and the children left two years ago.
Fotis Dulos' lawyer, Eugene Riccio, said his client was not expected to post bail. Troconis posted bail Monday afternoon and did not comment as she left the courthouse wearing a GPS monitoring device. Riccio and Troconis' attorney, Andrew Bowman, both said their clients had no criminal records.
Judge Stephanie McLaughlin rejected requests by both Fotis Dulos and Troconis to lower their $500,000 bail after a prosecutor cited the seriousness of the allegations and said more charges are expected.
Jennifer Dulos went missing May 24 after dropping her kids off at school and missing appointments that day. She has not been found. She and Fotis Dulos have been embroiled in a contentious divorce and child custody case for the past two years. Their children range in age from 8 to 13 and include two sets of twins.
Police have searched locations in several towns including a park in New Canaan where Jennifer Dulos' vehicle was found and the Hartford suburb home in Farmington.
The arrest warrants said clothing, kitchen sponges and other items with Jennifer Dulos' blood were found at various locations in Hartford in garbage bags police believe were dumped by Fotis Dulos and Troconis, based on surveillance videos and cellphone location data.
New Canaan police have said they are investigating her disappearance both as a missing person case and a criminal matter.
Jennifer Dulos is the daughter of the late Hilliard Farber, who ran Chase Manhattan Bank's bond trading desk before founding his own brokerage firm in 1975.
Fotis Dulos is a developer of expensive homes who borrowed money from his wife's parents to buy properties, according to a lawsuit filed against Fotis Dulos by Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber. The lawsuit in Connecticut state court claims Fotis Dulos has failed to repay Gloria Farber about $1.7 million in loans given to him.
Court documents filed in the divorce case say Jennifer Dulos feared Fotis Dulos would harm her in some way in retaliation for her filing for divorce, and she noted he had a gun. Jennifer Dulos has primary custody of the children, with their father getting to see them every other weekend.
After Jennifer Dulos went missing, Fotis Dulos asked the divorce case judge to grant him custody of the children. In a motion filed last week, he said the five children are staying with 85-year-old Gloria Farber in New York City and are being protected by an armed bodyguard.
A hearing in the divorce case is scheduled for Wednesday after being postponed last week.
