STAMFORD, Conn. — A vehicle used to drive to and from New Canaan the morning Jennifer Dulos went missing was a focal point of witness testimony on Tuesday in the criminal trial of Michelle Troconis.
She is facing charges in connection to Jennifer's disappearance in May 2019, including conspiracy to commit murder. Jennifer's estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, was charged with murder before he died by suicide in 2020.
The court was shown video footage from multiple places, including two Route 15 rest stops, of what appeared to be a 2001 red Toyota Tacoma driving from Farmington to New Canaan and back on the morning of May 24, 2019, the day Jennifer went missing. A few school bus cameras captured the red truck parked on Lapham Road near Waveny Park, the same road where Jennifer's Chevy Suburban was found later that day.
There was no testimony regarding who was in the truck seen in any of the surveillance footage.
Investigators discovered that the Tacoma belonged to Pawel Gumienny, an employee of Fotis' home construction company, Fore Group.
Police met Gumienny on May 31, 2019, one week after Jennifer's disappearance, while attempting to execute a search warrant for 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, where Fotis and Troconis lived.
Gumienny was very sweaty while investigators patted him down, which caught the attention of the investigators, the jury heard Tuesday.
"He then elaborated further on his comings and goings, and stated that after coming from New Canaan [where Fore Group had a home], he stopped down the road at a property also owned by Mr. Dulos - number 585 Deercliff and had indicated to me that he was removing vehicle seats from a Porsche that belonged to Fotis so that he could put them into his own [Pawel’s] truck,” said Connecticut State Police Sgt. Michael Beauton Jr. who returned to the stand Tuesday.
Previous testimony included images of the crowded garage at 585 Deercliff Road with a damaged Porsche parked in the middle, and a detective testified Monday that the Porsche was registered to Jennifer.
Investigators interviewed Gumienny at his Simsbury home on June 2, where they also seized the Jeep Cherokee that belonged to Fore Group, as well as his phone and work computer.
In videos of police interviews with Troconis previously shown to the court, she told investigators that she was driving the Jeep Cherokee during the day on May 24.
On the day 4 Jefferson Crossing was searched, Fotis and Troconis were brought to State Police Troop L, where investigators seized a second phone from Fotis, and noticed a non-verbal interaction between the two, according to testimony.
“She was seated in a chair, her head was between her legs, head in hands, and was rocking back and forth,” Beauton said of Troconis. “At some point, she looked over at Fotis, with what I would describe as a “stern look” and shaking her head back and forth at him.”
“So when the two made eye contact, I would say he made an even sterner look back toward her,” he added.
“How long did this interaction take place?” the prosecuting attorney asked.
“A few moments,” Beauton replied.
The trial will resume Wednesday and is expected to continue for several more weeks.
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Jennifer Farber Dulos, New Canaan mother of five, was last seen on May 24, 2019, dropping her children off at school. She was reported missing that evening, and an investigation was started.
Troconis is the one-time girlfriend of Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, who was charged with Jennifer’s murder before he took his life in January 2020.
Troconis faces six charges:
- Conspiracy to commit murder
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019
- Tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019
- Tamping with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019
- Hindering prosecution
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