STAMFORD, Conn. — Michelle Troconis was found guilty on all counts for charges connected to the disappearance of New Canaan mom, Jennifer Dulos, after listening to weeks of witness testimony and watching hours of police interviews and surveillance footage. The jury reached the verdict Friday morning and immediately read their decision to the court.
Troconis was found guilty of all six charges:
- Conspiracy to commit murder - Guilty
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019 - Guilty
- Tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 24, 2019 - Guilty
- Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019 - Guilty
- Tampering with physical evidence – In connection to May 29, 2019 - Guilty
- Hindering prosecution - Guilty
While the jurors were polled as to whether they agreed with the verdict, Troconis sat with her head down, crying, as one of her lawyers rubbed her back. She later rested her head on the table and could be heard sobbing.
A scheduled contempt hearing has been moved to March 21; Troconis allegedly had sealed documents displayed on her laptop in an open court during the trial.
The bond was set to $6 million and sentencing will take place on May 31.
"Today's verdict is a crucial attribution of accountability, not victory," Carrie Luft, spokesperson for Jennifer's family, said in a statement following the verdict. "There can be no victory when five children are growing up without their mother."
Traconis' family members were shocked and angered by the verdict, arguing that she is innocent and that the mystery over Jennifer Dulos' disappearance is unfairly being blamed on her.
“Choosing and putting my sister as the guilty person is not the right thing to do because she is innocent,” Traconis' tearful sister, Claudia Troconis-Marmol, said outside the courthouse. She said her family wouldn't stop fighting for Tronconis and called the verdict an injustice.
“My sister will eventually come out,” she said. “She has to because she is innocent of everything she's been charged for.”
"I came many years ago to this country looking for opportunities, freedom and justice," Troconis' father said. "Today we are here, devastated, because there has been a tremendous injustice in my daughter."
A spokesperson for Jennifer Dulos' family, Carrie Luft, thanked the jury, judge and prosecutors but stressed that a “mother, daughter, sister, cousin and cherished friend” still remains missing.
“Today’s verdict is a crucial attribution of accountability, not a victory. There can be no victory when five children are growing up without their mother,” Luft said in a statement. The family hopes the verdict might spur new leads.
Troconis sat with her head down and cried as the jurors were polled to confirm they agreed with the verdict. She later rested her head on the table and could be heard sobbing before marshals cuffed her and led her from the courtroom.
Besides the conspiracy to commit murder charge, which is punishable with up to 20 years in prison, the jury convicted Troconis of hindering the prosecution and evidence tampering.
Troconis’ lawyer, John Shoenhorn, said he respected the jurors' decision but didn't understand it.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. It’s not like I’m cynical or hardboiled about this, but I truly just don’t see how the jury could have reached this verdict,” he told reporters, adding that “Michelle is devasted."
Shoenhorn said he plans to seek a new trial, noting there are “any number of reasons why the trial itself was not fair." He claims the judge allowed hearsay evidence.
Tronconis likely won't be freed on bond for a couple of days, he said.
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Jennifer Farber Dulos was last seen on May 24, 2019, dropping her children off at school in New Canaan. She was reported missing that evening, and an investigation was started.
Michelle 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 was seen in the passenger seat of a Ford Raptor, in which Fotis was seen dumping evidence into trash bins along Albany Ave. in Hartford the evening Jennifer went missing.
Troconis also accompanied Fotis to the car wash, where he had the Toyota Tacoma he drove to and from Jennifer's New Canaan home detailed, according to court testimony.
The trial started on Jan. 11. The jury was presented evidence collected from multiple homes and vehicles and viewed surveillance footage obtained from neighbors and highway rest stops. The jury also completed viewing videos of three interrogations investigators conducted with Troconis.
Testimony from the witnesses the prosecution called to the stand included investigators who responded to the initial missing person's report on behalf of Jennifer on May 24, 2019, forensic scientists who tested the evidence collected for blood and DNA, and a former employee of Fotis.'
Defense witness testimony included experts in psychology and linguistics, as well as neighbors, colleagues and others who were once close to Fotis and Troconis.
The case drew widespread attention and was the subject of a made-for-TV movie, Lifetime’s “Gone Mom.”
Jennifer Dulos was a member of a wealthy New York City family whose father, the late Hilliard Farber, founded his own brokerage firm. She also was a niece by marriage of fashion designer Liz Claiborne. Fotis Dulos was a luxury home builder originally from Greece.
Troconis, a dual American and Venezuelan citizen, has described herself as a co-founder of horse riding therapy programs in different parts of the world who once had her own TV production company in Argentina and hosted a snow-sports show for ESPN South America.
Another defendant in the case, Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos and his one-time lawyer in a civil case, is awaiting trial on a murder conspiracy charge. He has pleaded not guilty
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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