Michelle Troconis, whose boyfriend was accused of killing his estranged wife nearly five years ago in a Connecticut case that drew national attention, was found guilty Friday of six related charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and obstructing justice. persecution.
The verdict was the latest development in a case that began when Jennifer Dulos, a 50-year-old mother of five from New Canaan, Conn., went missing on May 24, 2019, after dropping her children off at school.
The search for Ms. Dulos deployed drones, dogs and helicopters across Connecticut and quickly gained widespread attention, eventually leading to new domestic violence legislation in the state.
She and her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, 52, were in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle when she disappeared, and she had accused him of threatening and controlling behavior. At the time, Ms. Troconis was living with Mr. Dulos at the Dulos family home in Farmington, Conn., while Ms. Dulos lived in a rented home in New Canaan.
Mr. Dulos waited for Ms. Dulos at her home and attacked her after she returned from school around 8 a.m., holding her down with zip ties, according to his arrest warrant.
Ms. Dulos then stopped responding to texts and calls and missed appointments in Manhattan, leading relatives to conclude she was missing. Investigators determined she had been assaulted after bloodstains and splatter were found in her home.
Police presented evidence to Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, Dr. James R. Gill, who discovered that Ms. Dulos had suffered one or more injuries that would have been “unsurvivable” without medical intervention, the warrant said.
Mr Dulos was the target of the criminal investigation surrounding Ms Dulos’ disappearance and probable death before taking his own life in January 2020. Mrs. Dulos was declared legally dead last October; her body was never found.
With Mr. Dulos dead, Ms. Troconis, 49, was one of two people involved in the case still before a jury. The other is Kent D. Mawhinney, a friend of Mr. Dulos who previously served as his lawyer. Mr Mawhinney is awaiting his own trial on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. He did not testify at Ms. Troconis’ trial.
As the jury foreman read the verdict Friday, Ms. Troconis cried and leaned on her lawyers. At one point, she rested her head on the desk in front of her while one of her attorneys, Audrey Felsen, rubbed her back.
Ms. Troconis then stood up and her hands were cuffed behind her back. Her other attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, asked for a sentencing date and after some hesitation the clerk gave one: May 24.
“Maybe that would be an inappropriate day, your honor,” he said, referring to the five-year anniversary of Ms. Dulos’ disappearance.
The date was changed to May 31 and Ms Troconis was led from the courtroom.
Ms Troconis, who has been out on bail since 2019, faces up to 50 years in prison. The judge set her bond at $6 million on Friday and ordered her to remain under house arrest pending sentencing if she posts it.
The case against Ms. Troconis focused on her actions the night Ms. Dulos was declared missing, when prosecutors said Ms. Troconis and Mr. Dulos drove to Hartford and dumped trash bags full of evidence, including zip ties, clothing and a kitchen sponge that was stained . with blood.
In her first two interviews with detectives, Ms. Troconis appeared to be cooperative, but in a third, on August 13, 2019, she admitted that she had not been truthful in the earlier conversations.
In footage of the third interview shown during the trial, Ms Troconis said she had lied on Mr Dulos’ instructions.
‘He framed me because he used me’ Mrs. Troconis said.
Ms. Dulos had alleged in court documents related to her divorce that Mr. Dulos and Ms. Troconis had been involved in a yearslong extramarital affair, a charge that Mr. Dulos did not deny. Shortly after they separated, Ms. Troconis moved in with Mr. Dulos.
Ms. Dulos, a writer and blogger, and Mr. Dulos, a luxury real estate developer, met again in New York City, years after they first met at Brown University. They married in 2004.
Ms. Dulos filed for divorce in 2017, citing Mr. Dulos’s “irrational, unsafe, bullying, threatening and controlling behavior.”
Mrs. Dulos immediately requested an emergency order for the couple’s five children, fearing that Mr. Dulos allegedly tried to harm them, according to court documents. The children have been in the care of Ms. Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, since Ms. Dulos disappeared.
In March 2021, the Connecticut General Assembly introduced “Jennifer’s Law”, a bill named after both Ms. Dulos and Jennifer Magnano, a Connecticut woman murdered by her husband, which expanded the state’s definition of domestic violence to include coercive control. The bill was signed and came into effect in October.
Michael Gold reporting contributed.