A federal search warrant shows the Department of Homeland Security investigated a man...
www.nhregister.com
Fotis Dulos asked friend to make ‘alibi call’ morning Jennifer Dulos vanished, search warrant shows
Fotis Dulos texted a close friend in Greece, asking him to make “a planned alibi call”
the morning his estranged wife disappeared, according to a search warrant obtained by federal authorities in October 2020.
The brief call made by Andreas Toutziaridis around 8:30 a.m. on May 24, 2019 placed him at the center of Connecticut’s largest investigation in recent history and prompted federal authorities to examine his potential role in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, court documents showed.
Special Agent Craig Bowling with the Department of Homeland Security was looking for any evidence that Toutziaridis participated in federal crimes, including interstate domestic violence, obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting and conspiracy from Feb. 1, 2019 to June 25, 2019 when he sought the federal search warrant, court documents said.
Bowling requested that his affidavit, explaining why he wanted the search warrant, the search warrant and any other federal warrants be sealed to “protect the integrity of the investigation.” The warrant was served, but the case was closed by acting Connecticut U.S. Attorney Leonard Boyle on Nov. 12, 2021 without an arrest, the document said.
Toutziaridis and his attorney could not be reached for comment.
Hatchet-wielding man arrested following Wallingford road rage incident, police say
The search warrant, obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group, is now part of the
defense for Michelle Troconis whose attorney Jon Schoenhorn is seeking any evidence that other suspects were considered, but not charged in the case.
Schoenhorn’s client, who was Fotis Dulos’ live-in girlfriend at the time of the disappearance, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges.
Attorney Kent Mawhinney, a close friend of Fotis Dulos, has also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.
Toutziaridis was added to the list after an examination of Fotis Dulos’ cellphone revealed the two had been in contact in the hours before the disappearance, the search warrant said.
Bowling and other federal agents seized Toutziaridis’ phone when he entered the U.S. on June 25, 2019 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to stay with his friend Fotis Dulos, court documents said.
A review of his phone revealed that Fotis Dulos had called his friend the day before the disappearance, but Toutziaridis didn’t answer, court documents stated.
Fotis Dulos texted Toutziaridis at 10:30 p.m. that night, instructing his friend “to call the following day — May 24, 2019 — at 3:30 p.m, his time in Greece, which would be 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time in Connecticut,” the search warrant said.
On the morning of May 24, 2019, Mawhinney and Troconis were in Fotis Dulos’ office at his Farmington home in an effort to establish an alibi for him while he was in New Canaan, police have said in arrest warrants.
Fotis Dulos’ cellphone was left in the office and rang at 8:26 a.m., arrest warrants stated. Troconis answered the phone, but claimed the connection was “poor” and the call failed after a few seconds, arrest warrants said.
Toutziaridis then made a calendar entry in his device in Greek that was translated to “telephon(ed) Fotis,” the search warrant said. The entry was for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the court document said.
“Based on my training and experience, and participation in this investigation, I believe the entry about speaking to ‘Fotis,’ was a false entry, made in an attempt to conspire with (Fotis) Dulos to create an alibi for him,” Bowling wrote in the search warrant.
Police believe Fotis Dulos was “
lying in wait” for his estranged wife at her New Canaan home when she returned from dropping off their children at school around 8 a.m. that day.
While Troconis and Mawhinney were in his office in Farmington, arrest warrants said Fotis Dulos was likely trying to clean up after attacking his estranged wife in the garage of her New Canaan home, arrest warrants said.
The amount of blood and evidence of a cleanup indicated Jennifer Dulos would not have survived the attack without immediate medical intervention, according to the state medical examiner’s office.
Almost two hours after he made the call to Fotis Dulos’ cellphone, Toutziaridis sent a video to his friend and two other people through WhatsApp, the search warrant said. The video, which investigators believe is a meme available online, shows a man who is asked a question by a woman off camera, the search warrant said.
“All right, you have two choices: A, you can live the rest of your life with your wife, or B...” the woman says in the video, according to the search warrant.
The man then interrupts and yells “B,” before the video abruptly ends, the search warrant said.
