The Case Of Jennifer Dulos

[Music] Jennifer Faber dulos from Connecticut was born in New York Jennifer graduated from Brown University and later earned a master's degree in writing from New York University Tish School of Arts she was a stay-at-home mother and made her living as a writer and she also had her own blog fotus Doos was born in Turkey but grew up in Greece he also went to Brown University and later earned an MBA in finances from Columbia business school his first marriage started in 2000 to Hillary Vanessa Alama and lasted for 4 years fotus founded a real estate development company he started emailing Jennifer while he was still married to his first wife they married about a month after his divorce to Hillary fotus and Jennifer had five children together including two sets of twins just like most couples they had some trouble in their marriage Jennifer said in a blog that she wished she was a stronger person and that confrontation did Scare and appall her after about 13 years of marriage Jennifer claimed fotus was living an increasingly independent life and she filed for divorce in 2017 she then rented a house in New Canan and moved there with her children fotus stayed behind in the 10,000 foot six-bedroom house on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington that they had shared from 2012 until 2017 Jennifer also believed her husband had an affair with his colleague Michelle tronis from Venezuela after Jennifer moved out of their home Michelle and her daughter from a previous relationship moved in Jennifer knew filing for divorce would anger her husband and that he would retaliate and try to harm her in some way but she went ahead fotus threatened to kidnap their children if she did not agree to his terms in the divorce settlement according to Jennifer he also bought a gun that year he denied that he made any threats and claimed he bought the gun legally for Home Security after filing for divorce in 2017 the couple shared joint custody of their children but Jennifer did not want it that way she requested an emergency order of custody but it was denied in early 2018 she requested an emergency order of custody again the judge found that fotus had violated several court orders in March 2018 Jennifer was awarded sole physical custody while both parents were to share joint legal custody fotus was granted supervised visitation and monitored phone calls amidst the divorce and bitter custody battle 51-year-old Jennifer disappeared on May 24th 2019 that morning Jennifer dropped her children off at the new Canan country school and that was the last time she was seen she was reported missing by her friends and her children's Nanny Lauren Almeida just before 700 p.m. after she missed two doctor appointments and no one had been able to reach her for 10 hours a silver alert was issued for her that night Lauren told detectives she thought it was strange that Jennifer's Range Rover was in the garage as she was planning on taking it to her doctor's appointments instead of her Chevrolet Suburban which was missing police did an extensive search for Jennifer without success helicopters K9 units and divers were used to look for signs of her there has been no activity on her credit card or on her cell phone since she disappeared Jennifer's house was searched by detectives they found blood spatter on the floor door and a wall in the garage as well as on the exterior of the Range Rover blood was also found in the kitchen DNA tests revealed most of the blood belonged to Jennifer some of the blood found on the kitchen faucet belonged to fotus police also found other evidence of Jennifer being the victim of a serious assault police met with fotus the afternoon after Jennifer was reported missing and investigators seized his phone based on what they found police obtained surveillance video that would later be shown during the trial Jennifer Chevrolet had been captured on the neighbor security camera leaving her home at around 10:25 a.m. that morning according to authorities fotus was the one driving the vehicle carrying the body of Jennifer and other items involved with the probable cleanup that same evening at around 7:30 p.m. fotus and his girlfriend Michelle were captured on video dumping garbage bags in 30 bins in Hartford the trash bags were found to contain various pieces of bloodied clothing and Blood Stained cleaning items the blood was found to be that of Jennifer photos's DN na was found on the inside and outside of a glove in one of the trash bags the Chevrolet was later found at the side of a Road near wavy Park in New Canan just over 3 miles away from her home they believe fotus arrived by bike at Jennifer's home due to tire marks that was found and other evidence they believe he waited for her to return from dropping their children of at school so that he could end her life one of photos' co-workers testified at the trial that Michelle once said she was going to end Jennifer and made refences to ending her life on multiple occasions in June 2019 fotus and Michelle were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree both plead not guilty 2 Days Later Jennifer's mother filed for custody of the five children and they have been in the care of their grandmother and their Nanny since on January 7th 2020 State Police charged fotus with felony slaying and kidnapping and they charged Michelle with conspiracy to commit slaying but both denied the charges fotus 's friend and former lawyer Kent maany was also arrested on January 7th 2020 and charged with conspiracy to commit slaying he has pleaded not guilty his trial has not been scheduled yet according to online court records 3 weeks later 52-year-old fotus passed away Farmington Police responded to his home because he didn't show up for a court appearance in Stamford earlier that day and found him in medical distress they said he had attempted to take his Life by poisoning himself with carbon monoxide he was brought to Yukon John Dempsey hospital then flown to jacobe Medical Center in New York where he lost his life days later on January 30th 2020 49-year-old Michelle's trial started in January 2024 and a jury found her guilty on March 1st she was convicted of six criminal counts she was sentenced to 20 years a term that will be suspended after 14 and 1/2 years when she will then serve 5 years of probation she expressed remorse when it was her turn to address the court she said I am deeply saddened by this tragedy that has affected so many lives she also said that she regretted having been in a relationship with fotus Over The Last 5 Years the investigation has continued and Jennifer's loved ones have held out hope that she will be found Jennifer's good friend Carrie L released a statement on behalf of the family and friends saying today's verdict is a crucial attribution of accountability not a victory there be no Victory when five children are growing up without their mother we have lost a mother daughter sister cousin and cherished friend Jennifer's loved ones cannot bury her next to her father her strength of character her intelligence and her tenacity live on in her children she would be so very very proud of the young adults they have become for us 5 years is not a milestone but a marker of cumulative loss and longing life goes on yet grief goes on alongside it a Shadow urrent the presence of absence and she closed of by saying we hold fast in our belief that Jennifer's Body will be found the investigation is active and we are ever grateful to the Connecticut State Police and the State's Attorney's office for their continuous work on this case [Music]