STAMFORD, Conn. — Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the hearing on Monday, Dec. 11 is a suppression hearing. Her trial is expected to start on Jan. 8, 2024.
The attorney for the woman accused in connection with the disappearance of a New Canaan mother will be in Stamford court on Monday for a suppression hearing.
Michelle Troconis faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with physical evidence, hindering the prosecution, and conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence in connection to the disappearance of New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos. She has pled not guilty to all the charges.
Dulos was first reported missing on May 24, 2019. Her friends told New Canaan police at the time that they had not heard from her for around 10 hours that day, and she had missed several appointments. The last time she reportedly had contact with anyone before her disappearance was when she dropped her children off at school earlier that day.
A missing person search quickly became a criminal investigation after officials found her car in a New Canaan park with blood inside.
Investigators followed evidence that led to Dulos' estranged husband, Fotis Dulos. The two were in active divorce proceedings at the time of her disappearance.
Investigators managed to uncover surveillance video of Fotis Dulos and Troconis, reported to be his girlfriend at the time, in his SUV, driving down Albany Ave. in Hartford on the day of the disappearance.
According to officials, Fotis Dulos was placing things in garbage bins on Albany Ave., which led investigators to comb through the Hartford Landfill MDC for more clues to his estranged wife's whereabouts.
Fotis Dulos was eventually charged with the murder of his estranged wife's death despite her remains never being found. However, before he could stand trial, Fotis Dulos died by suicide in January 2020.
His death left Troconis and Kent Mawhinney, Fotis' friend and personal lawyer, the only two people remaining facing charges concerning Jennifer Dulos' disappearance.
As of October 2023, Jennifer has not been found.
Since being charged in 2020, Troconis and her defense have been in court numerous times, arguing to have her ankle GPS unit removed, a dismissal of all charges, and a different prosecution, to suspend 24/7 GPS monitoring, and more recently, stating that the search of Fotis Dulos' home in 2019 was too broad and had no probable cause.
“They have the right to essentially strip this house. Every corner of this house, based on this warrant without the slightest probable cause or limitation for it,” Schoenhorn said in open court in August.
Schoenhorn also claimed, in the same court hearing, that evidence regarding cell tower data from the day that Dulos went missing should be suppressed and considered inadmissible and that it was "overly broad."
“When the police are trying to investigate a disappearance, sure, they’re entitled to get whatever data they can through the issuance of a search warrant. But you can’t use a wet sponge for the bullseye when a dart with a pinpoint will suffice,” Schoenhorn said.
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