An officer who responded to the Connecticut home of Jennifer Dulos after she was reported missing in May 2019 testified that he saw what appeared to be blood splatter in her garage on the first day of a murder conspiracy trial in the case.
New bodycam footage worn by responding officers was shown in court on Thursday as Michelle Troconis’ trial began for her alleged involvement in Jennifer’s murder.
Ms Troconis is accused of conspiring with her lover Fotis Dulos, Jennifer’s estranged husband, to murder Jennifer and cover up the killing.
Investigators searched Jennifer’s home shortly after she was reported missing on 24 May 2019. Her body has never been found.
New Canaan Police Lieutenant Aaron LaTourette took the stand at the long-awaited trial in Stamford on Thursday where he testified about what he saw when he and another officer responded to the home on Wells Lane after her nanny reported her missing.
Michelle Troconis listens to arguments at the start of her trial on Thursday— (AP)
Twenty minutes of bodycam footage showed the officers scouring the massive house, poking in and out of rooms until eventually reaching the garage where a Range Rover was parked.
As the officers take pictures of the SUV, they comment on what they believe to be blood splatter on the front of the SUV.
“I noticed what appeared to be red blood in the front of that vehicle,” Lt LaTourette told the court. “A red mark in the grill part of the vehicle. And it caught my attention because it did not match the colour of the grill.”
Lt LaTourette and the officer are heard on the video discussing the possibility that the driver may have hit a deer. But noted there was no fur.
“It doesn’t sit well with me," one of the officers said. “It’s a pattern here,” he added, pointing out the absence of fur.
“Usually if you hit a deer and get blood on your car, you take it to the car wash to be cleaned.”
Ms Troconis, pictured here in 2020, is accused of conspiring with her lover Fotis Dulos to murder the mother-of-five and cover up the killing
After the footage concluded, the prosecution questioned Lt LaTourette about what appeared to be a bloody footprint found on the floor of Jennifer’s garage. An area of the concrete floor was reddish, as if someone had cleaned a large blood strain, he testified.
The search shown on the video also included the attic and basement. In the kitchen they found Jennifer’s purse, keys, and what appeared to be the jacket she wore that day.
While they’re still at the house, a call comes over the police radio stating Jennifer Dulos’ SUV has been found on Lapham Road, parked in a pull-off spot.
The 50-year-old was in the midst of a contentious divorce and child custody battle with her estranged husband Fotis when she vanished.
Police believe Fotis was lying in wait for her when she returned home from dropping their children off at school. Her body has never been found.
The 50-year-old was in the midst of a contentious divorce and child custody battle with her estranged husband Fotis when she vanished— (New Canaan Police Department)
Ms Troconis is accused of helping Fotis – her then-boyfriend – cover up the murder, with prosecutors saying surveillance footage captured the couple disposing of trash bags containing Jennifer’s blood and DNA.
Fotis killed himself in January 2020 after being charged with murder. He continued to claim his innocence – even in a suicide note left behind – with his attorney bizarrely claiming Jennifer staged her own disappearance in a Gone Girl-style plot.
Jennifer – who had revealed she was afraid of her husband in divorce filings – was officially declared dead this January.
