‘Lying in Wait’: State Police Affidavit Points to Premeditation in Jennifer Dulos Case

Fotis Dulos left his Farmington house at daybreak on May 24—the Friday of Memorial Day weekend—and drove toward New Canaan, according to evidence presented in a state police detective’s sworn affidavit made public Wednesday. The 51-year-old had taken precautions, leaving his cellphone back at the home office of his building company and driving a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that belonged to one of his workers, according to an arrest warrant application from Detective John Kimball of the state police Western District Major Crime Squad. Fotis Dulos parked the Tacoma on a dirt turnoff along Lapham Road and made his way to the Welles Lane home that his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, had been renting, according to Kimball’s affidavit. She’d filed for divorce nearly two years prior—saying at the time that she was afraid her husband—though a custody battle for their five children and subsequent court order violations had protracted the divorce proceedings, and it hadn’t been finalized. 

The last known photo of Jennifer Dulos alive is captured at 8:05 a.m. by a Welles Lane neighbor’s video surveillance system—she’s driving her SUV home after dropping the kids off at school while Fotis Dulos “is believed to have been lying in wait at 69 Welles Lane for his wife to return home,” Kimball wrote in a 43-page arrest warrant application. 

During the next two hours and 20 minutes, Jennifer Dulos appears to have been killed in a violent assault that’s followed by an effort to clean up the scene, the application said. At 10:25 a.m., the residential surveillance video “shows Jennifer Dulos’s Suburban traveling westbound away from 69 Welles Lane,” according to Kimball’s affidavit. 

“[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,” the affidavit said.

Estranged Husband, Girlfriend Charged in Case of Missing Woman

Police on Saturday night charged the estranged husband of a missing New Canaan woman, and his girlfriend, in connection with her disappearance. New Canaan Police at 11 p.m. Saturday charged Fotis Dulos, 51, and Michelle C. Troconis, 44, both of Farmington, with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and first-degree hindering prosecution—eight days after she went missing. Jennifer Dulos, 50, has been missing since May 24. New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said in a press release issued Sunday morning that missing person and criminal investigations in the case both are “active and dynamic.”

“As the criminal investigation progresses, additional criminal charges are expected,” he said. “At the time of this release, Jennifer has not been located, and the search is ongoing. If Jennifer is located, we will provide additional information.”

Fotis Dulos and Troconis were taken into custody in Avon and transported to New Canaan Police headquarters for processing on the felony-level charges, on warrants reviewed by the state’s attorney and signed by a Superior Court judge.