Michelle Troconis found guilty on six counts in Jennifer Dulos murder case
Michelle Troconis, 49, pleaded not guilty and denies any involvement in Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance and death
Michelle Troconis has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.
After 12 hours of deliberation over the past three days, the jury found Ms Troconis guilty on all six counts Friday.
Jurors were tasked with deciding whether the 49-year-old conspired with her former boyfriend Fotis Dulos to kill his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, in Connecticut on 24 May 2019, and cover up the crime.
During closing arguments, prosecutors described Jennifer’s murder as “deliberate and intentional” and said that Troconis and Dulos “worked to make this happen”.
Jennifer’s body has never been found, but she has been officially declared dead – with police finding that she died a violent death at the hands of Dulos.
In January 2020, Fotis died by suicide after being charged with her murder.
Troconis pleaded not guilty and insisted she did not know Fotis was doing anything nefarious as she watched him toss garbage bags into random bins, or as she helped him write up a timeline of their whereabouts on the day Jennifer disappeared.
Michelle Troconis’ trial is almost over. A jury will decide if she conspired to kill her lover’s ex-wife
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Deliberations enter their third day
Jurors are now in their third day of deliberations.
So far, they have sent two notes to the judge. The first, on Wednesday morning, requested testimony from Troconis’s friend, Clara ‘Petu’ Duperron.
On Thursday, they sent another note, with questions about the definitions of tampering and accessorial liability.
“Justice for Jennifer” supporters pack courtroom
Throughout the trial, spectators have packed the courtroom wearing purple for domestic violence awareness.
Many are members of the Facebook group “Justice for Jennifer Dulos,” which has more than 1,000 members.
“If there were room for 1100 of us in the courtroom, we would have all been there everyday,” Shell Meador, one of the Facebook admins told The Independent.
Read more about the women fighting for ‘Justice for Jennifer’ here.
The jury has reached a verdict
The judge has received a note that the jury has reached a verdict.
Guilty on all six counts
The jury has unanimously found Michelle Troconis guilty on all six counts, including on conspiracy to commit murder.
Michelle Troconis lays head on table after verdict read
Michelle Troconis laid her head on the table after her verdict was read out.
Her attorney rubbed her back, consoling her.
Sentencing date set
Michelle Troconis has been handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.
Her sentencing hearing will be held May 31.
Court has now adjourned.
Michelle Troconis faces up to 50 years in prison
Michelle Troconis faces up to 50 years in prison. She is scheduled for sentencing May 31.
After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury found Ms Troconis guilty on all counts Friday morning.
She broke down after the verdict was head, putting her head down on the table as her defense attorney rubbed her back.
In pictures: Michelle Troconis on trial
Family members of Michelle Troconis proclaim her innocence
Outside of the courthouse following the guilty verdict, family members of Michelle Troconis spoke to the media.
Her father called the verdict a “tremendous injustice.”
“She’s innocent and we will keep proving that forever,” he told reporters. “I forgive the jury, the judge, and the prosecutors, and God will prevail the truth.”
Troconis’s sister wept and said they planned to appeal the case.
“We, too, care to know the truth of what happened to Jennifer, but we don’t know what happened to Jennifer,” she said. “And choosing my sister as the guilty person is not the right thing to do, because she’s innocent.”
Dulos family says guilty verdict “not a victory"
Friday’s guilty verdict serves as “a crucial attribution of accountability” but “not a victory,” family members of Jennifer Dulos said in a statement to WTNH.
“There can be no victory when five children are growing up without their mother,” the family wrote. “This verdict represents the meticulous collection, analysis, and presentation of evidence to illuminate an unconscionable series of crimes.”
“That immense body of evidence also serves to highlight the gaps that remain in this case — most important, that Jennifer Farber Dulos still has not been found,” they wrote. “We have lost a mother, daughter, sister, cousin, and cherished friend. Jennifer’s loved ones cannot bury her next to her father.”