The estranged husband of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos said he had a beautiful life before her disappearance, was “enamored” with his girlfriend and that the divorce was the only thing that wasn’t positive.
“I would lie to you if I told you that I didn’t have a very nice life,” Fotis Dulos told NBC’s Dateline prior to his arrest last week. “I had a beautiful life, I was with somebody that I was completely enamored with, Michelle. And the divorce was the only thing that wasn’t a positive in my life and I couldn’t wait for it to be over with.”
“But right now my life is a mess and I absolutely had no desire or interest to be in this mess,” he said.
The interview also came before the release of an explosive warrant from the Connecticut State Police. Among other details, the warrant said a “bloodlike substance” that contained Jennifer Dulos’ DNA was found in the vehicle Fotis Dulos had access to the day she disappeared.
His girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, told police he had the vehicle cleaned days later, “because the body of Jennifer at some point was in there,” according to the 38-page warrant.
He was re-arrested Wednesday and charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to the warrant. This is in addition to previous charges in the case. He has continuously denied any connection to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance. He and Troconis were arrested in June and charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence after arrest warrants said officers found “(m)ultiple areas of suspected blood spatter” in Jennifer Dulos’ home.
Her body has not been found.
Fotis Dulos and Troconis pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges and were released on bond, surrendered their passports and were forced to wear GPS monitoring devices. Fotis Dulos posted $500,000 bail on the new charge and is scheduled to be back in court for it on Thursday.
‘Never, never, never any violence’
In the NBC interview, Fotis Dulos was asked about one of Jennifer Dulos’ court filings where she said “he frightens me … his sense of revenge.”
“There was never, never, never any violence, any abuse in any way,” he responded. “Jennifer and I didn’t even really argue all these years.”
They just grew apart, he said.
“I’m not putting the blame on her or me. It just happens, and it happens all the time.”
And it was supposed to be an amicable divorce, he added.
Before Fotis Dulos’ June arrest, investigators discovered stains that tested positive for human blood on the mother of five’s garage floor, the arrest warrants said, and evidence of attempts to clean up the scene of what investigators concluded was “a serious physical assault … and Jennifer Dulos was the suspected victim.”
The day she went missing, surveillance cameras captured someone matching the description of her estranged husband getting out of a truck and putting “multiple garage bags into various trash receptacles” in the Hartford area, authorities said. Detectives later recovered clothing and household goods from trash receptacles with Jennifer Dulos’ blood on them.
In the NBC interview, Fotis Dulos said he believes his wife is still alive.
“I wish she were here to sort this mess out,” he said. “And I’m still hoping that she’s going to show up.”
He also said he doesn’t owe $2 million to his estranged wife’s family, despite a lawsuit by them against him.
