STAMFORD, Conn — An alternate juror hearing the Michelle Troconis criminal trial will take the spot of a regular juror who told the court they “had an emergency,” forcing them to leave the country and miss the trial.
The judge said the alternate left a voice message with the clerk, saying they had to leave the country due to “an emergency.”
The court drew the name of an alternate juror at random Monday morning before testimony continued.
This is the first regular juror to be replaced in the case. Two alternate jurors were already dismissed in the trial; one had an interaction with one of the attorneys and another discussed the case outside of court. There are two remaining alternate jurors.
Court continued Monday with cross-examination of retired Connecticut State Police Det. John Kimball, who testified last week while the court watched police interview videos of Troconis.
The defense scrutinized in hours-long cross-examination what evidence breakthroughs investigators knew about between the June 2 and June 6 interviews with Troconis.
The defense also revisited what investigators asked about surveillance video showing Fotis Dulos, who is accused in the murder of Jennifer Dulos, driving his Ford Raptor around Hartford dumping trash along Albany Ave. Defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn pressed Kimball on what investigators thought Troconis was doing when her passenger door opened and what Troconis had told investigators during the interviews.
“But she told you on at least two occasions what she was doing, right?” Schoenhorn said.
Kimball replied, “She told us she was leaning out. That’s not what she was doing, she was stepping out.”
“Didn’t she tell you she was chewing gum, ‘I took it, I spit it, my hand got sticky, and I went like this,’ to clean…like a rubbing motion,” Schoenhorn said while making a wiping gesture.
“I recall that, yes,” Kimball said.
“At no time did she say she was picking stuff off the sidewalk, did she?” Schoenhorn later said.
“In retrospect, no,” Kimball replied. “But at the time, it was not clear to us what she was doing…I don’t know if she was referring to cleaning her hand or cleaning the sidewalk.”
During cross-examination and the prosecution’s redirect, the court was shown screenshots and surveillance footage of Fotis and Troconis at a West Hartford Starbucks, where they got food after traveling along Albany Ave.
The day finished with testimony from a cyber crimes expert for the Connecticut State Police, who spoke about gathering surveillance footage from a neighbor on Mountain Spring Road, the same street Fotis’ construction company, Fore Group, had a home the company was trying to sell.
RELATED: Jurors watch Troconis police interrogation after Jennifer Dulos disappearance | Troconis trial
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Jennifer Farber 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.
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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