Michelle Troconis found guilty on six counts in Jennifer Dulos murder case

Michelle Troconis, 49, pleaded not guilty and denies any involvement in Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance and death

Michelle Troconis found guilty

Michelle Troconis has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

After 12 hours of deliberation over the past three days, the jury found Ms Troconis guilty on all six counts Friday.

Jurors were tasked with deciding whether the 49-year-old conspired with her former boyfriend Fotis Dulos to kill his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, in Connecticut on 24 May 2019, and cover up the crime.

During closing arguments, prosecutors described Jennifer’s murder as “deliberate and intentional” and said that Troconis and Dulos “worked to make this happen”.

Jennifer’s body has never been found, but she has been officially declared dead – with police finding that she died a violent death at the hands of Dulos.

In January 2020, Fotis died by suicide after being charged with her murder.

Troconis pleaded not guilty and insisted she did not know Fotis was doing anything nefarious as she watched him toss garbage bags into random bins, or as she helped him write up a timeline of their whereabouts on the day Jennifer disappeared.

Key points

• Michelle Troconis is convicted of all charges
• Jennifer Dulos’ family reacts to verdict
• When is Michelle Troconis sentenced?

[1 March 2024 19:00 · Julia Reinstein]

Defense attorney is “at a loss"

Speaking outside the courthouse, defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn said he was “at a loss” after Michelle Troconis was found guilty on all counts.

“Her whole family is devastated,” he said. “I truly just don’t see how the jury could have reached this verdict.”

The defense will now prepare for sentencing, and plans to file a motion for a new trial, he said.

[1 March 2024 19:30 · Julia Reinstein]

State’s Attorney Paul Ferencek says they will “never stop looking” for Jennifer Dulos’s body

In a statement, State’s Attorney Paul Ferencek expressed his condolences to the Dulos family and thanked the jury for their verdict.

“First and foremost, I want to offer my deepest condolences to the family of Jennifer Farber Dulos, particularly her five children, who had their mother violently taken from them on May 24, 2019,” he said. “I commend the hard work of everyone involved in this case and express my gratitude to the jury for their thoughtfulness and attention during this trial.

He also vowed that his office would continue to search for Ms Dulos’s body.

“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 resolution to the still unanswered question of where Jennifer rests,” he added. “I assure you the State of Connecticut and this office will never stop looking.”

[1 March 2024 20:00 · Julia Reinstein]

What we learned in Michelle Troconis’s trial

Nearly five years after Jennifer Dulos disappeared, and after 27 dramatic days of testimony, Michelle Troconis was found guilty on all charges for her role in the death of Jennifer Dulos, her lover’s estranged wife.

As the verdict was read out, Ms Troconis laid her head on the table, her defence attorney consoling her with a hand on her back.

Here are the key takeaways to know about the trial:

[1 March 2024 20:30 · Julia Reinstein]

Troconis said she wanted to “kill” Dulos, witness testified

During his testimony, Pawel Gumienny, project manager for Fotis Dulos’ company Fore Group, said he recalled Ms Troconis saying she wanted to “kill that f****** b****,” referring to Ms Dulos.

The comments came the week after she went missing, he said.

“She said, ‘I’m going to kill that f****** b**** when she turns up,’” Mr Gumienny told the court.

Prior to her disappearance, Ms Troconis made a comment in Mr Gumienny’s presence about Ms Dulos apparently refusing to bring her children over to her estranged husband’s house to say goodbye to their dog before it was put to sleep.

Ms Troconis responded, “That b**** should be buried right next to this dog,” Mr Gumienny testified.

Read more here:

[1 March 2024 21:00 · Julia Reinstein]

“She was always there for them"

Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, testified during the trial about her daughter’s presumed murder.

Ms Dulos “never” missed one of her children’s birthdays or “name days,” which is a Greek tradition, she said.

Ms Farber recalled her daughter’s bond with her five children, of whom she now has custody.

“She was always there for them," she said.

Read more here:

[1 March 2024 21:30 · Julia Reinstein]

Michelle Troconis breaks down as verdict is read

As the jury read out their verdict Friday, Michelle Troconis broke down in the courtroom.

Upon hearing she’d been found guilty on all counts, Ms Troconis laid her head on the table, her defence attorney rubbing her back to console her.

Her lawyer, Jon Schoenhorn, said he was “at a loss” over the result.

“Her whole family is devastated,” he said.

(AP)

(AP)

(Law&Crime Network)

[1 March 2024 22:00 · Julia Reinstein]

Jennifer Dulos’ family speaks about “brutal evidence”

“Brutal evidence” presented during the trial left her loved ones reckoning with the understanding that Jennifer Dulos suffered a tragic death.

“Witnessing Jennifer’s blood-soaked clothing, knowing that was the shirt, the bra, she wore on the last day of her life, made us imagine, again, what she must have endured,” Carrie Luft, a spokesperson for the family, said in a statement to NBC. “We hope that seeing this evidence in three dimensions can put an end to any suggestion that Jennifer is ‘missing.’ She died a tragic death, and her loss is felt beyond what words can express.”

Read more here:

[1 March 2024 23:00 · Julia Reinstein]

“She was terrified"

The nanny who cared for Jennifer Dulos’s five children testified that Ms Dulos was so fearful of her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, that she hired a bodyguard to wait outside her hotel room when she filed for a divorce.

“She was afraid of what Fotis would do to her and the kids if she filed for divorce while they were living under the same roof,” the nanny, Lauren Almeida, said. “She was terrified.”

[2 March 2024 00:00 · Julia Reinstein]

Juror dismissed for comparing case to “Gone Girl"

Early in the trial, a juror was dismissed from the case after comparing it to the hit novel-turned-movie “Gone Girl.”

The juror “discussed something about the case and it was all over social media,” a note to the judge said. “Said it was like ‘Gone Girl’ — a brief mention. Several other jurors said, ’Don’t discuss this.’”

“Gone Girl,” a 2012 novel by Gillian Flynn that was made into a 2014 movie starring Ben Affleck, is about a woman who fakes her own disappearance and her husband, who becomes a suspect.

Read more here:

[2 March 2024 01:00 · Julia Reinstein]

Witness says Fotis Dulos pressured him to destroy evidence

Pawel Gumienny, an employee of Fotis Dulos, testified that his boss had his pickup truck cleaned after his wife disappeard and pressured him to replace the front seats.

“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,’ “ Gumienny testified.