STAMFORD, Conn. — Day two of the Michelle Troconis trial continued with testimony from investigators who responded to Jennifer Dulos’ home in the days following her disappearance.
Sgt. Jamie Pearston recalled being a detective for the Western District Major Crimes Unit, responding to 69 Welles Lane on May 27, 2019, and being assigned to design a scene map of the garage. The renderings she designed and the corresponding photos investigators took were shown to the court, and the unit’s methods of designing the map were explained.
RELATED: Over 4 years missing: Jennifer Dulos' disappearance hangs over looming trial of Michelle Troconis
The map included a bird’s eye rendering of the garage, showing the car parked in the middle, with an “area of convergence” circled on the floor near the driver’s side. Sections of the garage were gridded off into zones, and renderings of each zone pinpointed parts of the floor that became part of the bloodstain pattern analysis, Pearston testified.
Pearston recalled being tasked on May 28 with taking inventory – which included personal items and mileage – of Jennifer’s Chevy Suburban, which was found parked and unoccupied on Lapham Road near Waveny Park on May 24. The inventory did not contain any evidence, Pearston testified.
Retired Connecticut State Police Sgt. Matthew Reilly testified about responding to the investigation as a detective for the Western District Major Crimes Unit. He arrived at 69 Welles Lane around 2 a.m. on May 25, 2019, and was also there on May 27, Reilly testified.
On May 25, Reilly participated in a walkthrough to get a layout of the house. He also conducted “swabbing:” using a long-handled Q-tip to swab door handles for DNA, “just in case there was an unknown intruder coming from that point of entry,” Reilly testified.
Reilly also testified on evidence photos taken by investigators on May 25 and May 27 of red markings on the garage floor marked off by measuring devices and evidence seized throughout the house; some of these photos were not shown to the jury.
Reilly's testimony was delayed by pushback from the defense.
Jon Schoenhorn, Troconis' attorney, claimed that the chemical spray police use in investigations may end up detecting not just blood, but other substances, and called it "junk science."
"It’s sort of like 'fairy spray' right? They spray aerosol and if it glows, one of the things that it might show is blood but things like bleach, rust, paint, turpentine, there’s probably 50 or 100 things that also glow with a black light,” Schoenhorn said to reporters outside of court during a break. He then added that the Supreme Court of Connecticut has called the chemical "unreliable" and argued that it would have no value to put it into a case.
At a later date, Schoenhorn will have a lab technician coming in to testify, who he believes will back this up.
The courtroom has yet to hear from the defendant herself.
"This isn’t like law and order or CSI where the case wraps up in an hour, right? During jury selection, we were very clear that it’s going to take a long time,” Schoenhorn told reporters outside of court.
With the holiday Monday and potential snow Tuesday, the next court date has not been finalized.
CONTINUING COVERAGE: Investigators testify on first day of Michelle Troconis trial
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Jennifer Dulos, New Canaan mother of five, was last seen on May 24, 2019, dropping her children off at school. She was reported missing that evening, and an investigation was started. Some of what police and investigators pieced together from that day was part of day one of the trial.
Troconis is the one-time girlfriend of Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, who was charged with Jennifer’s murder before he took his life in January 2020.
Troconis faces six charges:
- Conspiracy to commit murder
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019
- Tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019
- Tamping with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019
- Hindering prosecution
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