Jennifer Dulos hired BODYGUARD while plotting escape from husband

Jennifer Dulos hired an armed bodyguard while plotting to escape from her husband, who would later be charged with her murder, their nanny has revealed. 

Nanny Lauren Almeida, 32, said she tried to aid the Connecticut mother’s desperate attempt to flee with her five children in the summer of 2017 – almost two years before she vanished. 

Almeida testified during the much-anticipated trial of Michelle Troconis, 49, who is accused of helping her late boyfriend and Jennifer’s ex-husband Fotis Dulos cover up the alleged murder on May 24, 2019. 

Fotis killed himself aged 52 in January 2020, leaving American-Venezuelan socialite and former TV host Troconis to face the music alone.  

On day four of the trial at Stamford Superior Court, Almeida said Jennifer was ‘afraid of what Fotis would do to her or with the kids if she filed for divorce while they were still living under the same roof’.

Jennifer Dulos hired an armed bodyguard while plotting to escape from her husband, who would later be charged with her murder, their nanny Lauren Almeida (pictured) has revealed

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 

Troconis, pictured in a white coat approaching Stamford Superior Court with her father on Thursday, denies all the charges and says she doesn’t know what happened to Jennifer

Almeida testified during the much-anticipated trial of Michelle Troconis, 49, who is accused of helping her late boyfriend and Jennifer’s ex-husband Fotis Dulos cover up the alleged murder on May 24, 2019. (Pictured: Troconis approaching court on day five of her trial) 

Fotis killed himself aged 52 in January 2020, leaving American-Venezuelan socialite and former TV host Troconis (pictured) to face the music alone

She said that on June 19, 2017, Jennifer fled from their Farmington, CT home to a five-star hotel in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where she would apply for the divorce. 

‘The plan was, she told him that we were all going to be visiting her father’s grave and we were going to New York,’ Almeida told the court. 

‘We went to New York often because that’s where Jennifer’s parents were. We left that afternoon I believe. 

‘We just got in the car and the plan was to stay at a hotel that we’ve never stayed in before, so we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in the city. 

‘Jennifer hired a bodyguard to be outside of her room because she was afraid, because her plan was to file for divorce once we were in the city in the hotel.’

Almeida, who still lives with the Dulos children – now aged between 13 and 17 – and their maternal grandmother Gloria, previously recalled an incident where Fotis ‘chased’ Jennifer while screaming at her and she hid from him behind a door. 

The nanny, who was close friends with Jennifer, said she saw her lose weight while becoming increasingly ‘anxious’ and ‘afraid’ of Fotis as their relationship deteriorated following his affair with Troconis. 

On the day of Jennifer’s escape, Almeida said she received ‘a bunch’ of calls from Fotis, which she ignored, but he left voicemails.   

A room in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan’s Upper West Side where Jennifer, her children and their nanny stayed after fleeing from Fotis in June 2017 

Jennifer Dulos was ‘terrified’ of her husband Fotis in the months before she died, according to their nanny Lauren Almeida (pictured), who continued her testimony in court on Wednesday

Almeida said she ate lunch with Jennifer Dulos’ children in the kitchen – oblivious to tiny alleged bloodstains in the room, which would later become the crime scene in Jennifer’s murder

Four of Jennifer Dulos’ children and their nanny ate lunch in her ‘bloodstained’ kitchen hours after she was allegedly murdered by her husband in the home, court has heard. (Pictured: nanny Lauren Almeida in court on day four of the trial) 

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 

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

‘He accused me of kidnapping their kids, and that he was going to call the police, which he did,’ she said. 

Almeida said Jennifer and the kids stayed at the Mandarin Oriental for one week, before moving to their first rental in New Canaan, CT. 

Eight days later, a child custody case between Jennifer and Fotis started at the same court where Troconis’ trial is being held, and Almeida testified on Jennifer’s behalf. 

She told the court she saw Fotis in the corridor with his lawyers and he made aggressive comments towards her.  

‘He came at me yelling at me, again accusing me of kidnapping his kids, and then I just walked away,’ Almeida said. 

‘He tried to approach me later with his lawyer in a different demeanor, apologizing and just saying that he was really upset. I just walked away.’

Almeida previously told the court of the moment her ‘stomach sank’ when she realized that Jennifer was missing after she failed to pick up her phone on May 24, 2019. 

While taking care of her children that day, the nanny messaged Jennifer several times to give her updates on their tasks, but the then-50-year-old stay-at-home-mom and blog writer did not respond. 

Troconis denies charges connected to her allegedly helping Fotis conceal the crime – including conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution

Michelle Troconis, 49, on day five of her trial at Stamford Superior Court 

Troconis has been listening to a Spanish translation of the trial through earphones 

Former state police detective Matthew Reilly said he spotted red stains on several surfaces in Jennifer’s kitchen, including on a paper towel roll, sink faucet, and counter-top – and in her garage

Suspected blood stain in Jennifer Dulos’ Range Rover which was parked in her garage 

 There were also several chilling clues in Jennifer’s home indicating that she had not gone about her day as normal, according to Almeida, including her routine morning cup of tea and granola bar left untouched in the kitchen.

She even sat down to eat lunch with the children in Jennifer’s kitchen on May 24, 2019, oblivious to what detectives have been calling tiny ‘blood-like stains’ in the room, which would later be identified as a crime scene. 

Almeida previously said she met the Dulos’ while working at a daycare where they used to drop their kids, and described Jennifer as ‘an incredibly nurturing’ and playful mother, and Fotis as a largely absent father. 

She painted a picture of their family life as one filled with idyllic holidays to an array of locations including Miami and Aspen until Jennifer busted Fotis’ affair with Troconis in March 2017. 

Prosecutors claim that Fotis brutally attacked Jennifer in her New Canaan property, before disposing of bloodied items in 30 garbage cans with the help of Troconis. Her body was never found. 

Troconis denies charges connected to her allegedly helping him conceal the crime – including conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. 

The trial began January 11 and it is expected to continue for six weeks before jurors are sent out for Shape Kapseln Erfahrungen deliberations.

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