During Michelle Troconis’ latest pre-trial hearing, her attorney told the judge that state prosecutors have provided documents from the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation that indicate law enforcement suspected that Fotis Dulos’ friend Andreas Toutziaridis helped him create an alibi for his wife’s disappearance.
The court documents detail why federal investigators wanted to search Toutziaridis’ cell phone.
In the 17-page search warrant application filed a little more than four months after Jennifer Dulos’ death and disappearance in 2019, the special agent with homeland security asks a federal judge for advanced forensic examination of the cellphone for Toutziaridis.
According to the court documents, the Samsung Galaxy cellphone was seized by federal agents at Newark Liberty International Airport on June 25, 2019, one month after Jennifer’s death, when Toutziaridis flew there to visit and stay with Dulos at his Farmington home.
Earlier that month at the home, Connecticut State Police had found what they referred to as “Alibi scripts,” hand-written notes by Dulos and his then girlfriend Michelle Troconis, detailing their activities the day of Jennifer’s disappearance.
According to the search warrant application, “Of particular note, one of the entries, which is roughly translated from Greek to English, on the “Alibi Scripts” was “827 Andreas called + telephoned briefly,” believed by the special agent to have been in reference to a planned alibi call from Andreas Toutziaridis.
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Investigators say Troconis told them she and Dulos’ former attorney and friend Kent Mawhinney were standing in Dulos’ business office at the Farmington home when the phone rang and that Mawhinney motioned for her to answer it.
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The special agent says a preliminary search of Toutziaridis’ phone also found that Dulos texted him around 10:25 p.m. the night before Jennifer Dulos went missing, instructing him to call him during the same timeframe.
And according to the special agent, “Approximately four minutes after placing the call to Dulos’ iPhone in which he spoke to Troconis, Toutziaridis created a calendar entry in Greek, which roughly translates to “telephone Fotis.” The entry is for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. EDT.
The special agent saying, "I believe the entry about speaking to 'Fotis,' was a false entry, made in an attempt to conspire with Dulos to create an alibi for him.”
The special agent later finding: “Almost two hours after the call to Dulos’ iPhone and by the time authorities believed Jennifer Dulos was already dead, Toutziaridis, via WhatsApp, sent a link to a common internet meme video to Dulos which depicts a man being posed a question by a female off-camera who asks 'Alright, you have two choices. A) You can live the rest of your life with your wife or B)…at which time the male on camera interrupts and yells “B” and the video ends.'"
The special agent told the judge there's probable cause that Toutziaridis’ phone contained evidence of a crime including interstate domestic violence, obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting and conspiracy to violate U.S. laws.
NBC Connecticut called Toutziaridis’ cell phone number listed in the search warrant. The man on the line told us “No thank you” when NBC Connecticut asked for a comment.
State police said they cannot provide a comment on an investigation that involves another agency. NBC Connecticut also tried reaching out to the State’s Attorney’s Office, but has yet to hear back.
Troconis and Mawhinney have both pleaded not guilty in connection with Jennifer Dulos’ death. Investigators continue to search for her body.
