close 
Jennifer Dulos case: ‘Counter narrative’ could be ‘tough’ for suspect Michelle Troconis
It may be "tough" for Michelle Troconis, a suspect in the 2019 disappearance and death of Jennifer Dulos, to tell a convincing "counter-narrative" in the case, former NYPD officer and FOX News contributor Paul Mauro said.
Join Fox News for access to this content Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge. Please enter a valid email address. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided. Having trouble? Click here.
A Connecticut jury on Friday found Michelle Troconis, girlfriend of Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband, guilty of conspiring to murder the New Canaan mother of five in May 2019.
After four days, the jury found Troconis guilty of all charges filed against her, including conspiring to murder Jennifer, conspiring to commit evidence tampering, tampering with physical evidence, conspiring to commit tampering with physical evidence, tampering with physical evidence as an accessory and hindering an investigation.
Troconis bent over a table in the courtroom with her head in her arms as the verdict was read aloud on Friday morning.
Prosecutors said Troconis conspired to kill Jennifer with the late Connecticut mother’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, who was charged with murdering Jennifer in New Canaan. Fotis died by suicide in January 2020, after leaving a note insisting he was innocent.
“It is about a mother being taken away from children, in life or in death,” Assistant State’s Attorney Sean McGuinness said in closing statements Tuesday in Connecticut Superior Court. “It is about [Jennifer’s children] Petrus, Theodore, Christiane, Constantine and Noel, who went to bed on May 24, not knowing where their mother was. And she has still not arrived. That’s what this case is about.”
88-YEAR-OLD CONNECTICUT MOTHER TESTIFIES ABOUT DAUGHTER’S DISAPPEARANCE IN MURDER CONSPIRACY TRIAL
Michelle Troconis, right, consults with her defense attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, on day nine of her criminal trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)
Authorities still have yet to recover Jennifer’s remains, but a judge declared the mother of five dead just days before Troconis’ trial began.
Police suspect Fotis Dulos violently attacked Jennifer in her New Canaan garage and then drove away with her body. Prosecutors say Troconis sat in the front seat of his truck while he threw away trash bags containing Jennifer’s bloody clothing and a glove with his DNA on it throughout Hartford.
Prosecutors also argued that Troconis then helped create alibi scripts with Fotis so that they were on the same page about their schedule on the day Jennifer disappeared.
JENNIFER DULOS CASE: TOP MOMENTS FROM MICHELLE TROCONIS’ TRIAL
Jennifer Dulos’ estranged 52-year-old husband, Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were charged in connection with her death in 2019. Fotis died by suicide shortly after he was charged, and Troconis went to trial. (Photo by Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant/TNS/Sipa USA and FOX News)
“I pose this question to you: Do any of you doubt that Fotis Dulos is responsible for the death of his wife?” McGuinness said. “Do any of you doubt that he was in New Canaan on May 24, 2019, murdering his wife? How else could he have had her bloody bra, her bloody shirt, blood all over the bags, his DNA in a glove found inside the trash? How?”
McGuinness then noted Troconis’ alleged role in Dulos’ death, saying she “hated” the New Canaan mother of five and “referred to her as a bitch who should be buried next to the dog.”
JENNIFER DULOS CASE: JUROR DISMISSED AFTER TELLING PROSECUTOR, ‘WE LOVE YOU’
Police believe Jennifer Dulos was attacked in her New Canaan home on May 24, 2019, after dropping her five children off at school. (Fox News)
Meanwhile, defense attorneys argued that there is no evidence to prove Troconis had motive to kill Dulos. They also pointed fingers at Fotis, saying he killed his estranged wife, allegedly motivated by money, and Troconis was not involved at all.
“She did not know that Fotis Dulos planned to harm her. Everything suggested that things were going well, and … she didn’t know that Fotis was capable of doing something like this,” defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn said in closing statements. “A man who is dedicated to his five children had been in court for years trying to get custody. The state has made what I would suggest are unfounded and unfair assumptions … that Michelle Troconis had to know what was going on, that … because she was romantically linked with Fotis, that she was somehow involved in this nefarious, murderous plot.”
MICHELLE TROCONIS, SUSPECT IN JENNIFER DULOS MURDER COVER-UP, SEEN SHUTTLING PEOPLE TO AIRPORT DURING TRIAL
Michelle Troconis appears in court at the Stamford Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. Troconis went to trial for allegedly covering up the murder of boyfriend Fotis Dulos’ ex-wife in 2019. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Daily Mail/Pool)
Despite a mountain of evidence presented in court, Schoenhorn said, it is still unclear what exactly happened to Jennifer, and therefore unclear what Troconis’ alleged role in Jennifer’s death could have been.
“There [were] surveillance cameras. There were multiple interviews. There were family court pleadings. There were the interrogations. You heard eight or nine hours of interrogations of Michelle Troconis. Even in hindsight, even now, major questions remain about what happened, and it’s still unclear. It’s unclear what happened. And unfortunately, this trial will not solve that puzzle,” he said, adding that jurors “must find beyond a reasonable doubt that Michelle conspired with Fotis Dulos not just to cause harm to Jennifer Dulos, but to murder her.”
JENNIFER DULOS CASE: POLICE BODYCAM FOOTAGE SHOWS POSSIBLE BLOOD IN GARAGE DURING MICHELLE TROCONIS’ TRIAL
Fotis Dulos died by suicide in 2019, shortly after he was charged with murdering his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos. (Kassi Jackson/Hartford Courant/TNS/Sipa USA)
The defense attorney later noted that “everyone wants closure,” but “Michelle is not the remaining half of a scheming plot.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Troconis’ family, including her sister, who testified on her behalf, have stood by the Venezuelan national since the beginning of her trial.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to [email protected] or on Twitter at @audpants.