Jury finds Michelle Troconis guilty of conspiring to murder Connecticut mother Jennifer Dulos
Michelle Troconis was found guilty of conspiring with Fotis Dulos to kill his wife, Connecticut mother Jennifer Farber Dulos, and five other counts in connection to her disappearance and presumed death.
Troconis, 49, was Dulos’ girlfriend when his wife disappeared in May 2019. Dulos was eventually charged with murder in the case but died by suicide while out on bail.
On Friday, after two days of deliberations, a six-person jury found Troconis guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and one count of hindering prosecution in the second degree following a multiweek trial in Stamford Superior Court.
Troconis, a dual American and Venezuelan citizen, became visibly emotional during the verdict reading. She sat with her head down and could be heard crying as she was handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom.
She is scheduled to be sentenced May 31, and her bond was set at $6 million. If she makes bond, she will be held under house arrest while awaiting sentencing.
Speaking with reporters outside the Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut, after the verdict, Troconis’ attorney Jon Schoenhorn said the defense team plans to “file post-trial motions for a new trial where (he will list) any number of reasons why the trial itself was not fair.”
Troconis, who once produced and hosted a show on ESPN South America, has been free on bond since 2019. She now faces up to 50 years in prison.
On Tuesday, she’ll appear before a different judge for a contempt hearing after allegations she displayed a sealed custody report on her laptop during the trial.
Jennifer Farber Dulos, mother of five, went missing after dropping off her kids at school on May 24, 2019. Jennifer Farber Dulos was last seen alive on May 24, 2019, at her home in New Canaan, Connecticut. She was 50 years old at the time.
Despite an extensive search of the city, surrounding areas and other Dulos-related locations, she has never been found. She was declared legally dead in October 2023.
When she disappeared, Farber Dulos was going through an acrimonious divorce with her husband, a luxury real estate developer in the tri-state area. Troconis was living with Fotis Dulos at a home in Farmington, Connecticut.
Dulos was arrested on Jan. 7, 2020, and charged with killing his wife. He posted $6 million bail and died by suicide on Jan. 30.
Troconis and a lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, were arrested the same day. Troconis was the first person to stand trial in connection with Farber Dulos’ death.
Surveillance video from Hartford on the days after the murder showed Dulos driving around the city and disposing of items in various trash bins. Prosecutors played several of the videos at trial and claimed Troconis was with Dulos while he was attempting to destroy evidence.
Investigators eventually recovered several of the items, and testing revealed blood stains on multiple items of clothing.
Prosecutors also played Troconis’ three interviews with police for the jury. In the third interview, Troconis admitted to lying about knowing Fotis Dulos was home on the day of Farber Dulos’ murder.
Defense attorneys argued that the evidence focused on Dulos, not Troconis, and that she could have been stressed and confused in the police interrogations.
“The entire case, at least 99% of it, is about Fotis Dulos’ conduct and notably his conduct outside the presence of my client,” Troconis’ lawyer Joe Schoenhorn told local CBS affiliate WFSB-TV during the trial.
Mawhinney, who previously worked as a lawyer for Dulos, is still awaiting trial on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. The opening date for those proceedings has not been scheduled.
Shortly after the verdict was announced, Stamford/Norwalk State’s Attorney Paul J. Ferencek expressed gratitude to jurors “for their thoughtfulness and attention” during the trial and offered condolences to Dulos’ family — particularly her five children.
“While it’s our hope that today’s verdict brings Jennifer’s family and friends some peace, we also hope that someday we can provide a resolution to the still unanswered question of where Jennifer rests,” Fereneck said. “I assure you the State of Connecticut and this office will never stop looking.”
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