Fotis Dulos pressured his employee to remove seats from his pickup truck after allegedly using it to dispose of his wife Jennifer’s body in 2019, a court has heard.
Pawel Gumienny, 43, who worked for the suspected killer’s luxury real estate company Fore Group at the time, testified in the murder case on Tuesday.
He described becoming an unwitting accomplice when Fotis allegedly used his red pickup truck to move Jennifer’s body after brutally attacking her at her New Canaan home after she returned from dropping their five kids off at school on May 24, 2019.
Fotis was charged with murder but killed himself aged 52 in January 2020 – leaving his new girlfriend Michelle Troconis to face trial for allegedly helping him conceal the crime alone.
The 49-year-old American-Venezuelan socialite and former TV host denies charges of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution and she is facing a six-week trial at Stamford Superior Court.
Pawel Gumienny (pictured) who worked for the suspected killer Fotis Dulos’ luxury real estate company Fore Group at the time, testified in the trial over the disappearance of his wife Jennifer in 2019 on Tuesday
Michelle Troconis (pictured) denies charges of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution and she is facing a six-week trial at Stamford Superior Court
Jennifer Dulos (left) vanished on May 24, 2019, amid a divorce from her husband Fotis (right), who was later charged with her murder. Fotis killed himself in January 2020, leaving his new lover Michelle Troconis to face trial alone for allegedly helping him conceal the killing
Nanny Lauren Almeida previously said Jennifer was an ‘incredibly nurturing mother’ to her five kids, who were aged between eight and 13 when she disappeared on May 24, 2019
Fotis and Jennifer were embroiled in acrimonious divorce and child custody proceedings when she vanished, and her body was never found – though she was declared legally dead by a judge in late 2023.
Police allege that Fotis drove Fore Group project manager Gumienny’s truck to New Canaan CT that day before riding a bicycle to Jennifer’s home in the town and attacking her.
On the eighteenth day of Troconis’ trial, Gumienny testified that Fotis had the truck cleaned inside and out at a car wash, and pressured him to replace the front seats of the truck.
Gumienny said he was growing suspicious as Jennifer Dulos remained missing, but he didn’t think Fotis Dulos was capable of killing her.
Under questioning by prosecutor Sean McGuinness, Gumienny said he got frustrated at one point and asked Fotis Dulos why he had the truck cleaned.
‘He said, `Don´t worry about it. There’s nothing going on. … I just want to clean everything. The police might come in. They find something, they destroy my name, destroy the company name,’ ‘ he said.
Gumienny said he probed Fotis about why he wanted to change out the seats – to which the alleged killer said he wanted to get rid of them so they wouldn’t be found.
‘He said, `Can we not talk about it. Can you just do it?´ He kept on pressing me and pressing me on it. … He was growing angry,’ Gumienny said.
Police allege that Fotis drove a truck owned by Fore Group project manager Gumienny (pictured in court) to New Canaan CT before riding a bicycle to Jennifer’s home in the town and attacking her
Gumienny gave evidence on day 18 of Michelle Troconis’ trial over the murder of Jennifer Dulos
Gumienny is seen as a key witness in the trial of Michelle Troconis, who prosecutors accuse of trying to help her late boyfriend Fotis Dulos conceal the killing of his estranged wife Jennifer
Gumienny did replace the truck seats, but he kept the old ones and gave them to police. Authorities later said testing indicated Jennifer’s blood was on one of the old seats.
The Fore Group employee also said Fotis Dulos, a month or two before his wife vanished, showed him and another employee a photo of her house and asked them if they saw any cameras.
Gumienny said he didn’t see any, but he added: ‘She can record you with anything. Just don´t´ do anything stupid when you go there.’
Troconis’ lawyer, Jon Schoenhorn, objected to Gumienny’s testimony about what Fotis Dulos said, calling it hearsay and requesting a mistrial. Judge Kevin Randolph said the testimony was permitted and denied the request.
Schoenhorn was expected to cross-examine Gumienny on Wednesday.
Gumienny also testified that Troconis said disparaging things about Jennifer Dulos.
Some time before Jennifer Dulos vanished, Fotis Dulos was upset about having to put down his ailing dog, and Troconis said Jennifer Dulos should be buried next to the dog, in an apparent effort to cheer him up, Gumienny said.
In a conversation with Gumienny a week after the disappearance, Troconis was upset that her and her daughter’s photos had been posted online by the media and said she was going to ‘kill’ Jennifer Dulos when she reappeared, he testified.
Michelle Troconis (left) and Fotis Dulos (right) were living together in his Farmington CT home at the time of his ex-wife Jennifer’s disappearance on May 24, 2019
A blood-soaked bra that cops recovered from a trash can that the State alleges Fotis Dulos, with the help of his lover Michelle Troconis, disposed of evidence in
Zip ties that were covered in blood were also recovered from a local trash can
Jennifer Dulos and the children had moved out of the family’s home in Farmington, where Fotis Dulos was living with Troconis and her daughter in 2019.
Gumienny, a native of Poland who came to the U.S. in 2000 and got a green card, was given immunity from criminal charges by prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.
Outside of court Tuesday, Troconis’ sister told news media that the family has received hundreds of letters supporting Troconis and calling her a good person and good mother who would never hurt anyone.
‘I hope that we can continue to (demonstrate) that she had nothing to do with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos,’ her sister, Marisela, said.
While most of the trial has focused on Fotis Dulos, prosecutors say evidence also incriminates Troconis.
Police said Troconis went with Fotis Dulos when he had Gumienny’s truck cleaned, and she also accompanied him on a trip to Hartford where Fotis Dulos is seen on video throwing away garbage bags in random containers.
Police found some of the bags and said they contained clothing, zip ties and other items containing Jennifer Dulos’ DNA.
Some of the items, including a shirt and bra, had blood-like stains on them. Some items had Fotis Dulos’ DNA on them, and one bag tested positive for Troconis’ DNA.
Pawel Gumienny leaves Stamford Superior Court with his attorney Lindy Orso after morning testimony in the Michelle troconis case on February 6 2024
Schoenhorn said Fotis Dulos could have touched Troconis and spread her DNA onto that bag.
Police also said Troconis helped Fotis Dulos write up a timeline of their activities to prepare for potential questioning by police.
Troconis told police she only did that at the request of Fotis Dulos and his lawyer.
Gumienny said Fotis Dulos also asked him to write down his whereabouts around the time Jennifer Dulos disappeared, but he refused.
‘I was surprised,’ Gumienny said. ‘I told him, `What am I going to do? If police is going to come over and ask me, I´m going to pull out a piece of paper and read it to them?´’
The case has drawn widespread attention – Jennifer, 50, was a member of a wealthy New York family and a niece by marriage of fashion designer Liz Claiborne, while Fotis was a luxury home builder originally from Greece.
Jennifer uncovered Fotis’ affair with Troconis in March 2017, and their children were aged between eight and 13 at the time she disappeared.
