WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:11.000 On the morning of May twenty fourth, twenty nineteen, a 2 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.679 woman dropped her five children off at school and returned home, 3 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.199 just like she had done so many times before. But 4 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.440 within a matter of hours, she vanished without a trace, 5 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:26.640 leaving behind a house that suggested something had gone terribly 6 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:32.240 wrong inside. As investigators began piecing together what happened, a 7 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:37.000 timeline emerged that pointed not just to a disappearance, but 8 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:42.240 to a carefully executed crime. And what followed was a 9 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:47.520 case built on evidence, contradictions, and a question that still 10 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:53.359 hasn't been answered. Where is Jennifer. This is the story 11 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:55.359 of Jennifer Dulos. 12 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.679 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 13 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.200 and Grim, a true crime podcasting. 14 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:13.040 The following podcast material in more mature audience listener discretion. 15 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.439 I need to stop doom scrolling on my phone so bad. 16 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:38.799 I spent so much time just scrolling today. 17 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:41.319 Yeah, well it's pretty dang easy to do. 18 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.840 It is. I just get sucked into this void and 19 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.159 I hate it. 20 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.239 I don't feel like I'm too bad, but often I'll 21 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:52.879 go on like my photography page to look for something, 22 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:56.719 and then ten minutes later, I'm like it's been scrolling 23 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:58.680 and it's like, oh shit, what did I go on 24 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:01.959 here to do? So if I go in there to 25 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:03.879 look for something, I can get caught. But I don't 26 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.319 feel like I tend to spend much time like doom scrolling. 27 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.680 I think, like I don't have a problem with people 28 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:13.879 consuming content. I like to consume content. I'm a content creator. 29 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:15.479 I've spent time on social media. 30 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:17.840 There's nothing wrong with it, but I think I need. 31 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.080 To make it a little more intentional. It's this like 32 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:24.560 just like stuff that's just crammed in your face, this 33 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:31.080 perfect analytic creation that the machine feeds you. Yeah, and 34 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:33.159 you just get in this zombie state. 35 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:35.840 I think I don't spend a lot of time because 36 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.680 if I have a hot minute to go on social 37 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.599 I'm the person that then has like fifty million reels 38 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.960 that have been sent to me, so then I have 39 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:47.120 to go and watch those. 40 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:51.240 They're almost sure they're usually sent to you by me too. 41 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.199 Yeah sorry, yeah, mostly by you and then a couple 42 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.800 friends and stuff. So if I have a minute to 43 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:59.560 doom scroll, I'm probably just going and checking these messages 44 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.159 that people sent me with their doom scrolling. 45 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.400 Which is yeah, fair enough, but I do want to say, 46 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.560 if you want to curate your content not rely on 47 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:10.439 the algorithm, you should head over to our patreon. So 48 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.680 you got some cool content over there, just like Jennifer Whitmore, 49 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:18.439 Melissa Smith, Cherry Kay Jen, and Jessica Carver all did. 50 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:20.560 They went over there, they signed up, they get the 51 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.800 exclusive behind the scenes. And today as this episode is dropping, 52 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:26.840 also an exclusive episode is dropping over there on Patreon. 53 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:28.680 Two. Yeah, fantastic. 54 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:31.840 You could be getting some more cool true crime content 55 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:33.199 stories from us. 56 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:35.759 You could get two on one day, which is pretty dope. 57 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.360 That's like double the wickedness. H really is and it's 58 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.199 not very grimp. Well, the stories might be, you know 59 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.759 what I'm saying. Stories always are the stories are, and today, honestly, 60 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:47.840 it's a little bit of a grim tail. Once again, 61 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.479 I don't know if you're ready for this. 62 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.719 I actually well, I was kind of listening to your intro, 63 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:55.520 but I have no idea what the hell is going 64 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:57.280 to happen, So well, let's do it. 65 00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.840 The intro I did leave it a little bit ambiguous. 66 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:01.759 Try not to give too much away in the intros, 67 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.919 because I've had some people tell me that I give 68 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:06.000 too much away in the intros, so I'm trying to 69 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:08.479 leave it a little bit more of a question mark 70 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.039 hanging above it. If that makes sense. 71 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:11.080 Yeah, that makes sense. 72 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.800 Usually, if you read the description of the podcast, I 73 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.120 give away a little bit more so if you, yeah, 74 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.800 listen to the intro, read the description, you usually have 75 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.079 a good, good feeling what the story's about. But I 76 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.160 will say this one has a bit of a mystery 77 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.480 still to the end of this story. 78 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.160 Ah, I don't love that. 79 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:32.920 It is a solved case though. Okay, there still a 80 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:33.639 mystery to it. 81 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:35.959 Okay, well, let's hear it. 82 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.319 Well, most people don't end up in a completely different 83 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:43.720 life overnight. It usually happens slowly. Things change a little 84 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:45.600 bit at a time, and you adjust as you go. 85 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.199 You get used to certain conversations or certain patterns and 86 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.240 different tensions and things in your life, and before long, 87 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:55.120 it just becomes a new part of your normal day 88 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:58.040 to day. You still go to work, you still take 89 00:04:58.040 --> 00:04:59.879 care of your family, showing up where you need to be. 90 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.759 The routines are all there. It's not like there's a 91 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.399 single moment where everything clearly falls apart. It's more like 92 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:11.399 a gradual shift that only really makes sense when you're 93 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.480 the one living inside of it. At some point, though, 94 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.959 you start to realize that things aren't settling back into 95 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.040 place like they should be. The same issues keep coming up, 96 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:24.279 the same feelings stick around, and you might try to 97 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.800 ignore it for a while or convince yourself it's temporary, 98 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:29.759 but eventually it gets harder for you to do that. 99 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.639 You start thinking about what it would actually mean to 100 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.839 make a change, and whether that's even something you can do, 101 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:38.759 And when you finally decide that you are in fact 102 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:43.399 going to move forward, it feels very practical and even necessary, 103 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:46.800 like something just had to happen, even if it's uncomfortable 104 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.560 or uncertain. It's a situation a lot of people can 105 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:53.639 relate in many ways, trying to move forward, trying to 106 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:56.040 make the right decision, and hoping that once you do, 107 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.800 things will start getting better from there. In some cases, 108 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.199 those changes, even if they are made for the right reason, 109 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:10.160 they can lead to deadly results. In the late morning 110 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.519 on May twenty fourth, twenty nineteen, things should have been 111 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:16.720 very routine, just another week day, with the school drop 112 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.120 offs being done and the house becoming a little quieter 113 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.040 once again. When the nanny pulled into the driveway at 114 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:25.199 Jennifer Dulo's home in this story in New Canon, Connecticut, 115 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.079 about an hour northeast of New York City. Nothing seemed 116 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:31.199 at a place. The house looked the same as it 117 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.199 always did, but as she walked inside, small details started 118 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:40.279 to feel off. Jennifer, for example, wasn't there at first. 119 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.800 That alone wasn't alarming. She could have stepped out or 120 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:45.680 gone to run some errands or something. But then her 121 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.959 purse was still inside, and her phone wasn't being answered, 122 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:50.680 And there was even a cup of coffee that was 123 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.040 still left sitting there untouched. And then there were paper 124 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:59.120 towels they were nearly gone. It wasn't one single thing, 125 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.079 it was everything altogether. You know, the kind of feeling 126 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.000 you can explain right away, but you know something isn't 127 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:09.800 right when these things start to not add up. Now, 128 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.839 before anything really felt wrong, before the eventual investigation and headlines, 129 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:17.199 In fact, Jennifer Dulos had built a life that looked 130 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:21.920 almost ideal to many. She was born Jennifer Farber in 131 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:25.040 New York City in nineteen sixty eight into a wealthy 132 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.959 and well connected family. Her father was a successful banker, 133 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:32.959 her mother deeply involved in philanthropy and Jennifer grew up 134 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.800 surrounded by opportunity, but the people who knew her didn't 135 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:41.319 describe her in terms of money or status. They described 136 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.639 her as thoughtful and creative, someone who paid attention to 137 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.519 people in ways that made them feel seen. She went 138 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:52.160 to Brown University, where she focused on writing, as it 139 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:55.680 was something she cared deeply about. She wrote plays, she 140 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.680 wrote essays, and later kept a blog where she shared 141 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.600 pieces of her life, often centered around her children. She 142 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.879 had a way of capturing small, everyday moments and turning 143 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:11.480 them into something very meaningful. That was the life she wanted, 144 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.879 not just success, but connection, family, and a home that 145 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:22.439 felt full now. During her time at Brown University, that 146 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.399 is where she met a man by the name of 147 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.720 Potus Dulos. At the time, nothing came of their relationship. 148 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:32.080 Their lives moved in different directions for years. But later 149 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.600 and in the early two thousands, they reconnected, and this 150 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:40.159 time things moved rather quickly. They fell head over heels 151 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.080 for one another, and they got married in two thousand 152 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.799 and four. Soon after that, they settled into a large 153 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:51.000 home in Farmington, Connecticut. Over the next several years, they 154 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:54.120 had five children together, and Jennifer stepped into the role 155 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.519 of a full time mother, raising them in a life 156 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:02.240 that seemed to have everything, space, security, opportunity, and most 157 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:07.000 importantly love, and for a while it worked like a 158 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:11.240 picture of the ideal happily ever after type life. She 159 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:15.039 wrote about her kids often, things like their personalities and routines, 160 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:16.879 and of course the little things that made them who 161 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:20.639 they were. Her life became centered around them and it 162 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.799 was everything she had ever wanted. But inside that life, 163 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.440 things weren't as stable as they seemed. At first. The 164 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.360 changes were subtle, nothing you could point to right away 165 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:34.519 and say that's the moment that everything went wrong kind 166 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.360 of thing. It was much more slower, and it was 167 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.840 more of a gradual shift now. Fotus he had always 168 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:46.039 been very ambitious. He built his career developing high end 169 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:50.480 homes through his company for group, and he had an 170 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:53.600 image that mattered to him. You know, how things looked 171 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:57.480 and how he appeared from the outside. He had success, 172 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.559 control and presentation to worry about. It was all part 173 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.840 of it. Now. In the beginning, that drive felt like confidence, 174 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.559 but it started to feel very different. With more time 175 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:12.799 than passed. He was gone a lot. He was focused 176 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.039 on work, a lot and on projects and maintaining a 177 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.519 certain lifestyle, and as that part of his life expanded, 178 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:23.559 Jennifer's world seemed to shrink smaller and smaller. She was 179 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.960 at home, raising their five children, managing everything that came 180 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.320 with it, and the balance between the two of them 181 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:34.159 began to tilt, and with it came tension. There were 182 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:38.080 ongoing arguments that didn't seem to resolve, with moments where 183 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:41.600 things escalated further than they should have, with his behavior 184 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:45.480 seemed to become more controlling and more intense. There were 185 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.480 instances where he would become angry very quickly, and situations 186 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:54.720 turned rather confrontational. Jennifer started to feel something. She didn't 187 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.879 always say it outright, but in the way she wrote, 188 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.679 in the way she described her life, that's where the 189 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.679 hints were. A sense that things in Wonderland, if you will, 190 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:10.240 weren't stable, a sense that something underneath the surface wasn't correct. 191 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:13.080 And as time went on, that feeling didn't go away, 192 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:17.039 it only grew. Now by twenty seventeen, the marriage had 193 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:21.240 already been understrained, but it hadn't fully broken apart. But 194 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.559 that changed when Fotus told Jennifer that he had been 195 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:25.639 having an affair. 196 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:30.399 Okay, I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting that the. 197 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.840 Woman he was seeing was someone named Michelle to Connus, 198 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.320 and she had quickly become a central person in his life. 199 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:38.279 Oh I hate that. 200 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:43.039 Now this turmoil and infidelity wasn't something that stayed hidden 201 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:47.360 and wasn't privately handled exactly. The relationship became very obvious 202 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:51.279 and the situation between them was growing rather difficult. At 203 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.240 one point, Fotus even actually suggested that his girlfriend, Michelle, well, 204 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.480 his home wrecker of a girlfriend, I should actually say, 205 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:00.320 he suggested that she should move into the house them, 206 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.639 proposing that they all continue living together under one roof. 207 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:07.639 Like he wants to live with his wife, girlfriend and 208 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.440 his five kids under one roof. 209 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:11.720 Correct, So we had got the shit. He has a 210 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.360 home with his wife and five kids, and he's like, hey, 211 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.840 what if my girlfriend. 212 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.600 Moves in nobody That's not how it works, right, It 213 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:20.879 just you can't have the best of both worlds there. 214 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.840 Yeah. So it was a suggestion that clearly made it 215 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.360 obvious how far things had moved and it was not 216 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:32.000 something that was resembling a functional marriage for Jennifer. 217 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.279 Okay, that makes me angry. That even that suggestion. 218 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.360 There, with that suggestion, she knew this was a very 219 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.919 clear line that was being marked. So whatever remained between 220 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:46.519 the two of them, it was obviously officially over. And 221 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.799 so in June of twenty seventeen she made the decision 222 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:51.759 to leave. So she packed up her five children and 223 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:56.200 moved out of that Farmington home and relocated to New Canon, Connecticut, 224 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:00.639 and the following day she filed for divorce. Now what 225 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.360 stood out in that filing wasn't just that the marriage 226 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:08.360 had ended, but how she described it. See, Jennifer detailed 227 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:11.440 what she believed had been a pattern of escalating behavior 228 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:16.399 from her husband, Fotus. She described him as irrational, unsafe, 229 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:21.000 and very controlling, especially increasingly so. Not to mention, she 230 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.039 made it clear that she was actually afraid, not just 231 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:30.120 of the situation, but what he might do. In this situation. 232 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:34.480 She wrote that she believed filing for divorce would enrage 233 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:37.879 him and that he would retaliate by trying to harm 234 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.840 her in some way. This wasn't something written casually. I 235 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:44.559 want to make that clear. It was very direct, a 236 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:49.799 statement of concern documented in court filings. This is with 237 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:54.399 her divorce papers. There were also specific incidents that were 238 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:58.039 referenced and included. She alleged that he had purchased a gun, 239 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.600 that he had threatened to take the children, and that 240 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:04.000 during one confrontation, he even followed her into a room, 241 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:08.320 blocked the exit, and physically intimidated her as she tried 242 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.080 to leave. Now, Fotus, of course, denied that all of 243 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.559 that actually occurred. He said that he had never threatened her, 244 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.519 that he had never acted in a way that was 245 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.240 dangerous or controlling whatsoever. Instead, he framed the situation as 246 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.320 a breakdown in communication rather than something serious as what 247 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:30.879 Jennifer was alleging. Now, from what he said, the focus 248 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.279 should remain on maintaining a relationship for the sake of 249 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.320 the children. But by that point, Jennifer was no longer 250 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:40.919 trying to preserve anything as far as a relationship goes. 251 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:44.200 She was focused on leaving and protecting herself and her 252 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:45.519 children first. 253 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.159 Well, fair enough, because he started that with the affair 254 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:53.720 exactly right. He made that decision that they were not 255 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:56.240 going to be moving forward in this for the sake 256 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:56.840 of the kids. 257 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.600 Yeah, he drew a line where the family was and 258 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.919 he was trying to reshape it in a way that 259 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:05.840 he wanted not what works in a marriage, right, a 260 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.720 marriage you worked together. He was not working together. He 261 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:11.919 was working for the sake of himself. Yeah, so with 262 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:15.919 that comes separation. Now what followed from there was not 263 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.879 a clean or quiet divorce. It quickly became something far 264 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.080 more drawn out and even aggressive, you could say, stretching 265 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.159 over months and then years, with both sides locking into 266 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:30.840 legal battle that showed no signs of slowing down. At 267 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.960 the center of this divorce was, of course, the custody 268 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.080 battle over the kids. Initially, the court granted shared custody 269 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:40.799 of the five children while the divorce proceedings move forward, 270 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:45.600 but almost immediately Jennifer pushed for full custody, arguing that 271 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:48.480 Photus' behavior made it unsafe for the kids to be 272 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.360 in his care without any supervision. The whole thing started 273 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.960 as a dispute over parenting arrangements, but quickly it turned 274 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:59.720 into another prolonged fight, with filings, counter filings, and motions 275 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:04.279 tot up over time. By the end, there were hundreds 276 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:07.080 of court documents tied to this case, making it one 277 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:12.200 of the most contentious divorces in Connecticut at the time. Now, 278 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:16.240 as the legal proceedings unfolded. The whole situation became increasingly 279 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:21.600 restrictive for fotus, and eventually Jennifer was granted sole custody 280 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:26.240 of the children and his access was limited to supervised visitations. 281 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.919 Now that was very significant, because not only had the 282 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:33.120 marriage ended, but his role in the children's daily lives 283 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.720 had been reduced in a very public and legal way 284 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:41.519 to be enforced to well down to the bare minimum. 285 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.519 At the same time, the financial pressure on him was building. 286 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.840 Jennifer's family had previously supported his business ventures, including his 287 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:53.519 real estate development company, and so the relationship began to 288 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.840 deteriorate there as well, and that support actually turned into 289 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.919 a legal dispute in its own self. 290 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:03.080 Oh Goodness's okay, that makes it even more messy. 291 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:06.640 It does, so soon a lawsuit was filed seeking repayment 292 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.000 of millions of dollars, adding to a whole nother layer 293 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.880 of pressure on top of the already unstable situation. 294 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.119 But honestly, that's not surprising. Of course, they would probably 295 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.519 support their daughter, right why not? So it makes sense. 296 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:24.880 Yeah, I mean that's what happens in separations. Separations occur, 297 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:28.960 but there's a lot more things tied to relationships finances, 298 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:34.880 children's children's children, businesses, all these sort of things, companies. 299 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:36.000 It gets messy. 300 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.000 It's almost surprising that he didn't think that's true. 301 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:41.960 I guess, but well, lots of time people don't. 302 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:42.599 They don't. 303 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.680 So now his finances were strained, and the legal cost 304 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.680 from the divorce only made things worse. When it came 305 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:53.440 to the court proceedings themselves, they were very intense. There 306 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.160 were multiple legal teams involved, repeated hearings and moments where 307 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:00.960 the conflict between Jennifer and Fotus played direct out in 308 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:04.200 front of the judge, and at one point, after dismissing 309 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:07.519 his attorney, Fotus even chose to represent himself in court, 310 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.039 and that decision allowed him to personally question Jennifer under oath, 311 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:17.279 turning what was a very tense process into another confrontation 312 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:21.640 wide open in court. Now. During one of these early hearings, 313 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:25.759 the judge overseeing the case actually took a very unusual step. 314 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:31.000 After listening to hours of testimony, he paused the proceedings 315 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:36.160 and he spoke directly to both Jennifer and Fotus. He 316 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.079 acknowledged that they were very intelligent and capable people with 317 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.680 resources and opportunities that many families didn't have, and he 318 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.160 warned them about the direction of things and how they 319 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.960 were headed. He told them in very simple terms that 320 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.279 if they couldn't find a way to resolve these things themselves, 321 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:56.720 the court would of course continue to step in, and 322 00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:02.039 that process would only make things harder, not easier. He 323 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.960 urged them to consider how the situation would even affect 324 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.160 their children, and what it would look like from the 325 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.839 outside if those children were sitting in the courtroom watching 326 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:14.400 this unfold for themselves. It was a moment that, in hindsight, 327 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.119 felt like a warning, but unfortunately nothing changed. 328 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:22.000 I'm just sitting here, though, and how you described this 329 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.440 judge having to sit there for hours listening to this, right, 330 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.079 that must be the one of the least fun jobs 331 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:30.519 out there. I feel that would just be hell. 332 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.960 Yeah, you're being a mediator between two individuals who are 333 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:35.640 doing he said, She said. 334 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.680 Yeah, who are hating each other. And oh, I just 335 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.400 think it would give you a headache by the end 336 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:40.640 of that. 337 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:43.359 Yeah, And I think the judge basically wanted them to 338 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:46.680 just like suck it up, get this over with and 339 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:50.799 move on with your lives already. I just picture like, like, 340 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.559 you know, like a kindergarten teacher listening to two kids 341 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.920 argue over at the playground over who's juice boxes who's 342 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.920 and the teachers just like, I don't fucking care. 343 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.279 Oh, I just think I would hate that. But honestly, 344 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:06.480 I think that it's fairly common, right, I mean, there's 345 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.240 a lot of emotions going into ending a relationship, and 346 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.039 especially when you have kids involved in stuff, So I 347 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.160 kind of get it, but I'm just like, that would 348 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:17.000 just be hell to have to sit there and listen. 349 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:20.480 To all of that, definitely. So there's it makes sense, 350 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:22.920 Like you say, a lot of emotions and everything, but 351 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.480 you've got to try and find the line, the common ground, 352 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.519 if you will, and that common ground is it's very 353 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:32.799 hard for people to find, especially when you have very 354 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:39.680 messy situations like finances, like companies, like children in the picture. Now, 355 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:44.160 if anything, this conflict only continued to escalate. The filings continued, 356 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.480 the accusations continued, and what was supposed to be just 357 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.799 a divorce had turned into a prolonged fight over control 358 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:54.240 over the children, finances, and how the story would ultimately 359 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:57.359 be told. And as the pressure continued to build, it 360 00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:01.160 created a situation that was just all unstable, as if 361 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:04.920 everything was being pushed towards a breaking point that hadn't 362 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:09.440 quite happened yet, but that pressure that was building, it 363 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:12.279 was getting closer and closer to breaking. 364 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:13.680 Now. 365 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:17.200 On May twenty fourth, twenty nineteen, it didn't begin with 366 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.599 anything out of the ordinary, at least not from Jennifer's 367 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:23.440 point of view. She woke up, she got her children 368 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:25.640 ready for the day, and followed the same routine she'd 369 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.519 done countless times before that. It was just before eight 370 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:31.799 am when she left her home in New Cannon and 371 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.440 drove them to school. At around seven to fifty eight am, 372 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:37.799 she dropped her children off, and a few minutes later, 373 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:42.359 just after eight am, she returned home. That moment, when 374 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.640 she pulled back into her driveway would later become the 375 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.799 last confirmed sighting of Jennifer. Now. Earlier that morning, more 376 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:54.079 than an hour before she returned home, a red Toyota 377 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:59.319 Tacoma had left a property connected to Potus in Farmington. Now, 378 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:02.160 the vehicle did belonged to him directly, In fact, it 379 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:06.279 was from an employee of his, But we'll touch on 380 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.160 that vehicle a bit later. At approximately seven point thirty 381 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.799 one am, Surveillance footage from that area near Jennifer's home 382 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.319 captured a figure riding a bicycle in the direction of 383 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:21.119 her street. Now, that doesn't stand out. People ride bikes 384 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.960 all their time, especially early morning right getting your exercise. Yea, 385 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.119 so it wasn't unusual. But later, when the investigators began 386 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:32.400 reviewing the timeline, that detail it stuck out. But again 387 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:36.680 we'll get to that. By the time Jennifer arrived back 388 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:39.880 at her home just after eight am, whoever had been 389 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.640 moving through the area earlier that morning was already there waiting, 390 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:48.400 and sometime within the next two hours, between approximately eight 391 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:52.680 h five am and ten twenty five AM, something happened 392 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:58.079 inside her house, something that would shift everything. At ten 393 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:02.000 twenty five am, Jennifer's black Shae Chevrolet Suburban was seen 394 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:07.119 leaving the property. However, she wasn't driving it now. By 395 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:09.519 the time the nanny arrived at the house later that morning, 396 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.039 it was around eleven thirty am. As she pulled into 397 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.119 the driveway, the house looked the same as it always did. 398 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:18.839 It was quiet, but not unusual for that time a 399 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:22.279 day with the kid's gone. Inside, though, things didn't feel right. 400 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.759 Jennifer wasn't there like she usually was, which you know, 401 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.680