Surveillance video was played in court showing accused murderer Fotis Dulos and his alleged accomplice Michelle Troconis “disposing of bloody items.”
Luxury real estate developer Fotis was accused of brutally killing his 50-year-old wife Jennifer Dulos in their home on May 24, 2019, before throwing items into the trash can with the help of Venezuelan socialite Troconis.
Fotis committed suicide in January 2020 at the age of 52, leaving Troconis, now 49, alone with music. Jurors were shown the surveillance footage on the seventh day of their trial in Stamford Superior Court.
The clips appear to show Fotis traveling in his Raptor on the day of Jennifer's disappearance, before jumping out of his car several times to throw an unknown object into several trash cans in Hartford, CT.
According to prosecutors, the woman seen briefly getting out of Fotis Dulos' car in the surveillance footage is Michelle Troconis, who is on trial for helping him dispose of evidence
Surveillance video was played in court showing accused murderer Fotis Dulos and his alleged accomplice Michelle Troconis “disposing of bloody items.”
Luxury real estate developer Fotis was accused of brutally killing his 50-year-old wife Jennifer Dulos in their home on May 24, 2019, before throwing bloody items into the trash can with the help of Venezuelan socialite Troconis. (Pictured: Michelle Troconis in court on the seventh day of her trial)
Jennifer Dulos (left) disappeared on May 24, 2019 during her divorce from her husband Fotis (right), who was later charged with murder. Fotis killed himself in January 2020, leaving his new lover Michelle Troconis alone in court for allegedly helping him cover up the murder
Michelle Troconis (left) and Fotis Dulos (right) were living together at his home in Farmington, CT at the time of his ex-wife Jennifer's disappearance on May 24, 2019
According to police, the couple disposed of 30 bags of items that day and Jennifer's blood was discovered on some of the items found in the bins.
Another video showed Fotis throwing license plates into a roadside dumpster while a woman, who police say was Troconis, briefly exited the vehicle.
She appeared to be looking at or picking up something from the sidewalk near a sewer grate before both parties got back into the truck and drove away.
Prosecutors allege that Fotis killed Jennifer at her New Canaan property after she returned from dropping off her five children, who were between eight and 13 years old at the time, at school. Her body was never found.
Troconis denies allegations related to her alleged help in concealing the crime – including conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and obstructing prosecution.
The trial began on January 11 and is expected to last six weeks before the jury is sent to deliberate.
Another video released today shows Dulos throwing a bag of trash into a trash can on Albany Avenue. Michelle Troconis leans out of the car and wipes her hand on the ground. The video does not show her throwing anything away. @News12CT pic.twitter.com/ueuBuhj0Ka
— Marissa Alter (@MarissaAlter) August 24, 2020
Troconis linked arms with her father as she arrived at Stamford Superior Court on Monday
One of the clips shown in court Monday appeared to show Fotis throwing license plates into a roadside dumpster while a woman, who police say is Troconis, briefly exited the vehicle
Troconis (back left) denies allegations related to her alleged help in covering up the crime – including conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and obstructing prosecution
Troconis (back left) was dating Fotis Dulos at the time of Jennifer's disappearance in 2019
Troconis was living with her daughter Nicole and Dulos at his home in Farmington, CT when Jennifer disappeared in May 2019
Troconis wore large sunglasses when she arrived at Stamford Superior Court on Monday
Troconis appeared expressionless as she approached the Connecticut criminal courthouse
Jurors previously heard from several Connecticut detectives about the case and the Dulos family's nanny, Lauren Almeida.
Almeida, 32, gave revealing insight into the inner workings of the wealthy Dulos family, describing their family vacations to luxurious ski and beach resorts.
She told the court that the Dulos parents were initially “nice” to each other, but their relationship deteriorated, and when Jennifer found out about Fotis' affair with Troconis in March 2017, things took a turn for the worse.
Almeida said Fotis often intimidated Jennifer, and she became so afraid of him that she secretly fled her family's Farmington home with her five children to file for divorce, from the safety of a five-star hotel in Manhattan, and hired a bodyguard.
She also recounted how, hours after the Connecticut mother's disappearance, she ate lunch with her children in Jennifer's kitchen – oblivious to the tiny blood stains in the room that would later become the crime scene.
Almeida said afterwards that there were several startling signs that Jennifer wasn't going about her day as usual – including a full cup of tea and a granola bar in the kitchen and her expensive handbag scattered on the floor.
The nanny, who still lives with the now-orphaned Dulos children and Jennifer's mother Gloria, wore a silver necklace with the number “5” – possibly a reference to the brood – as she gave two days of testimony.
Jurors were shown messages Fotis Dulos sent to her nanny, Lauren Almeida (pictured), asking for updates on the disappearance of his 50-year-old wife on May 24, 2019
According to her nanny Lauren Almeida (pictured), who continued her testimony in court on Wednesday, Jennifer Dulos was “very afraid” of her husband Fotis in the months before her death
Almeida said she ate lunch with Jennifer Dulos' children in the kitchen – ignoring tiny alleged blood stains in the room that would later become the crime scene in Jennifer's murder
Four of Jennifer Dulos' children and her nanny had lunch in her “blood-stained” kitchen hours after she was allegedly murdered by her husband in the home, the court heard. (Pictured: Nanny Lauren Almeida in court on the fourth day of the trial)
Jennifer Dulos had an idyllic family life until her husband Fotis cheated on her with Michelle Troconis, the woman now accused of helping him cover up her murder, Almeida revealed. (Pictured: Almeida being sworn in as a witness in the Stamford trial on Tuesday)
Almeida previously said Jennifer was an “incredibly caring mother” to her five children, who were between eight and 13 years old when she disappeared on May 24, 2019
Jurors were also shown text messages Fotis sent to Almeida in the days after Jennifer's disappearance in which he repeatedly asked for “updates” on his missing wife before he was identified as a suspect.
Jennifer's body was never found, but Judge William P. Osterndorf declared her “officially dead” last week.
Troconis' trial began Thursday in Stamford before adjourning over the weekend and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
On the first day, the state presented bodycam footage from officers searching Jennifer's home in New Canaan, Connecticut, including the garage where police say Jennifer was so badly injured that she bled profusely.
Jurors were shown what appeared to be bloody footprints in her garage and various red marks on the Range Rover parked in the center bay.
Troconis' sister Claudia, flanked by her parents Marisela and Carlos, made an emotional statement at the Stamford courthouse after the first hearing, insisting that Michelle was innocent.
Former state police investigator Matthew Reilly said he discovered red stains on several surfaces in Jennifer's kitchen, including a paper towel roll, a sink faucet and a countertop – and in her garage
Suspected blood stain in Jennifer Dulos' Range Rover parked in her garage
The next day, Jon Schoenhorn, Troconis' attorney, tried to block investigators from testifying about the use of a luminol swab to identify some of the stains as blood, claiming the test was based on “junk science.”
He made an impassioned statement to the press, saying that luminol, which glows blue when blood is present, also exhibits the same color for substances such as bleach, rust, paint and turpentine.
However, Judge Kevin Randolph ruled that evidence regarding luminol was admissible, adding that Schoenhorn would be given the opportunity to cross-examine the officers about it.
Former Connecticut State Police investigator Kevin Reilly spoke about the luminol tests as the trial resumed Tuesday after the three-day holiday weekend and jurors were shown new images of alleged blood stains in Jennifer's kitchen.
Reilly said some of the garage samples tested positive for blood. The swabs were sent to a laboratory for confirmation, but none of the witnesses have yet testified about these results.
Under cross-examination by Schoenhorn, he agreed that the luminol test, one of the two tests used, would also have been positive for a “laundry list” of other substances.