Michelle Troconis, the Venezuelan socialite accused of covering up the murder of Connecticut mother Jennifer Dulos, is back in court for the second day of her trial.
Troconis is accused of helping her boyfriend, Jennifer’s estranged husband Fotis, carry out the murder and then covering it up.
Fotis committed suicide in January 2020 while out on bail. He was charged with murdering his wife in May 2019, but denied it.
Now Troconis faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence. She maintains her innocence.
Michelle Troconis, 49, in court in Connecticut on Friday for the second day of her trial
Troconis listens to the legal proceedings through a translator. The Venezuelan socialite denies the accusations
Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared in May 2019. Her remains were never found, but police believe she was murdered by her husband Fotis Dulos, and that his new girlfriend Michelle Troconis conspired with him to help him cover up the crime.
Yesterday, the court was shown bodycam footage of police searching Jennifer’s New Canaan home on the day she disappeared.
They discovered what appeared to be blood on the grill of her Range Rover and “bloody footprints” on the floor.
‘There appeared to be red blood on the front of the vehicle. A red mark on the vehicle’s grill.
“We examined the vehicle, observed no damage, we discussed the possibility of it possibly being a deer strike… there was no hair or damage to indicate such a deer collision,” the witness statement said.
Forensic teams later found huge bloodstains that someone had tried to clean in the same garage.
The state alleges that Fotis lay in wait for his wife there and jumped her when she returned from dropping off their five children at school.
A “red spot” on the grill of Jennifer Dulos’ Range Rover on May 24, 2019, the day she disappeared. Police who searched the house said it struck them and did not appear to be the result of a deer attack. The state alleges that Fotis Dulos killed his wife at home or in the garage, injured her so severely that she bled profusely, and then disposed of her body.
Jennifer’s car was in the house when police arrived. It wasn’t the vehicle she used to drop off the kids earlier in the day; that car was later found discarded. The garage has a door that gives access to the house
Troconis — who is accused of helping lover Fotis Dulos kill his wife in 2019 — is currently free on $2 million bond and faces 20 years in prison if convicted
On Friday, the judge ruled that the alleged bloodstains will be shown to jurors.
Troconis’ lawyers had tried to argue that this was “junk science” and no better than using a “Ouija board.”
Her attorney Jon Schoenhorn said there could be “50 or 100 things that also glow under a black light,” including bleach, rust, paint and turpentine.
He allegedly beat her to death before dismembering her body and taking it away from the scene.
Jennifer’s remains were never found.
The core of the prosecution’s case is surveillance camera footage showing Fotis and Michelle later that day, stopping at 30 different trash bins.
Michelle insists she doesn’t know what he threw away and never asked.
She is also accused of helping him create a false alibi for the day of the murder.
Fotis and Jennifer were in the middle of a bitter divorce at the time of her death. They not only argued about finances, but also about who would get custody of their children.
The children now live with Jennifer’s mother in New York City.
The mother of five, who made her living as a writer for Patch.com, was last seen arriving home at 8:05 a.m. on a neighbor’s security camera.
She missed two doctor’s appointments in New York City scheduled for later that day, and two of her friends, including her nanny Lauren Almeida, reported her missing after being unable to contact her.
State police launched an investigation, starting with a search of her home, where they found her blood splattered on the exterior of a Range Rover in her garage and on several surfaces in the kitchen.
Officials said there was evidence of an attempted cleanup, and the sheer amount of blood made it clear that Jennifer could not have survived.
She was going through a messy divorce with Fotis at the time, and arrest warrants show he was also $7 million in debt while living with Troconis and her daughter in the Farmington, Connecticut, home he once shared with his wife and children.
The trial against Troconis continues.
