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
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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.
Michelle Troconis’ trial is almost over. A jury will decide if she conspired to kill her lover’s ex-wife
Michelle Troconis may be held in contempt of court in Jennifer Dulos conspiracy to murder case
Michelle Troconis’ alleged comments about wanting ‘to kill’ and ‘bury’ Jennifer Dulos revealed at trial
Timeline of Jennifer Dulos’ case
Jennifer Dulos was last seen in May 2019, waving goodbye to her children as they went off to school.
Her body has never been found, but she has been officially declared dead, with police saying she was killed by her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos.
Mr Dulos is now also dead, having killed himself while awaiting trial.
Now, nearly five years later, his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for her role in Ms Dulos’ death.
Read the full timeline of the case here:
Timeline of Jennifer Dulos’ case as love rival faces trial over murder
After almost five years, the tragic case of Jennifer Dulos has finally made its way into a courtroom in Connecticut as the trial of her dead husband Fotis Dulos’ lover Michelle Troconis gets under way. Rachel Sharp reports
Jennifer Dulos confided in nanny about husband’s affair
Lauren Almeida, the Dulos family’s nanny for over a decade, testified that in 2017, Ms Dulos had confided in her that she believed her husband was having an affair.
“She said she had this feeling that he was acting weird. I didn’t really believe her at first,” Ms Almeida said. “I believed him to be an honest guy and I couldn’t imagine him having an affair when there were five little kids involved.”
“I told her I didn’t think it was true... she was very anxious, kind of tight and she seemed upset,” she said.
Read more:
Jennifer Dulos’ nanny testifies about Fotis’ affair with Michelle Troconis
Lauren Almeida, the nanny to Jennifer Dulos’ five children, first alerted police when she vanished in May 2019
“Justice for Jennifer"
Since the start of the trial, loved ones of Jennifer Dulos — and supports who had never met her — packed the courtroom in purple clothes and ribbons to raise awareness about domestic violence.
Many were members of the Facebook page “Justice For Jennifer Dulos,” which has more than 1,000 members.
“If there were room for 1100 of us in the courtroom, we would have all been there everyday,” Shell Meador, one of the Facebook admins told The Independent.
Read more here:
Women fighting for ‘Justice for Jennifer’ show up at Michelle Troconis trial
Jennifer Dulos, 50, disappeared in 2019 and has since been declared dead. Andrea Cavallier talked to a team of supporters — many of whom never met Jennifer — who attended every day of the trial for the woman who conspired to kill and cover up her murder
VIDEO: Michelle Troconis found guilty
VIDEO: Nanny recalls the day of Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance
Who is Clara ‘Petu’ Duperron?
Clara ‘Petu’ Duperron, a friend of Michelle Troconis, claimed in her testimony that she knew of information and evidence that would clear her friend’s name.
But following several objections, the judge did not allow her to expand upon this claim.
Ms Duperron said she recalled Ms Troconis acting normally on the morning Ms Dulos went missing.
VIDEO: Michelle Troconis and Fotis Dulos seen disposing of garbage bags
Video presented as evidence during the trial showed Michelle Troconis in Fotis Dulos’ truck as he disposed of garbage bags after the alleged murder.
Watch the footage here:
Guilty verdict “not a victory,” Dulos family says
In a statement to WTNH, family members of Jennifer Dulos said Friday’s guilty verdict was “a crucial attribution of accountability” but “not a victory.”
“That immense body of evidence also serves to highlight the gaps that remain in this case — most important, that Jennifer Farber Dulos still has not been found,” they wrote. “We have lost a mother, daughter, sister, cousin, and cherished friend. Jennifer’s loved ones cannot bury her next to her father.”
“Many questions remain as we approach the five-year marker,” they continued. “It is our hope that the resurgent public interest in this case might spur new, viable leads. In the meantime, Jennifer’s grace, goodness, and light live on through her children and through the honor of her memory.”
VIDEO: Michelle Troconis’ family proclaims her innocence
Speaking outside the courthouse following the guilty verdict, loved ones of Michelle Troconis wept and continued to proclaim her innocence.
Her father said the ruling was a “tremendous injustice.”
“She’s innocent and we will keep proving that forever,” he told reporters. “I forgive the jury, the judge, and the prosecutors, and God will prevail the truth.”
Through tears, Troconis’s sister said they planned to appeal the case.
“We, too, care to know the truth of what happened to Jennifer, but we don’t know what happened to Jennifer,” she said. “And choosing my sister as the guilty person is not the right thing to do, because she’s innocent.”
Watch their remarks here:
Three days of deliberations
The jury deliberated for three days before finding Michelle Troconis guilty on all counts.
Prior to reaching their verdict, they brought two notes to the judge.
The first, on Wednesday morning, requested testimony from Troconis’s friend, Clara ‘Petu’ Duperron. On Thursday, they sent another note, with questions about the definitions of tampering and accessorial liability.