Michelle Troconis found guilty of conspiring with late boyfriend to murder his estranged wife Jennifer Dulos
On Friday 1 March 2024, Michelle Troconis was found guilty of conspiring with her former boyfriend Fotis Dulos to murder his ex-wife Jennifer Dulos—the latest update in a case that’s gripped the state of Connecticut for five years. Charged with six counts including conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence, and hindering prosecution, Troconis could face up to 50 years in prison.
According to The Independent, Troconis’ sentencing has been set for 31 May. For context, this entire case revolves around the disappearance of Jennifer, who went missing after dropping her kids off at school in 2019. While Jennifer’s body has never been found, the mother of five was declared dead in October 2023. Police have concluded that Jennifer died at the hands of her ex-husband Fotis, who committed suicide in 2020, shortly after being charged with his estranged wife’s murder.
Troconis, who met Fotis in early 2017 at a waterskiing competition, has always asserted that she had no involvement in the murder of Jennifer, insisting that she did not expect anything nefarious when she observed Fotis toss garbage bags into random bins while she sat in the car, or when she helped him write up a timeline of their whereabouts on the day his ex-wife disappeared—documents that would later be referred to as “alibi scripts.”
Indeed, Troconis’ legal team has strongly argued that their client had no idea that a crime had taken place: “She not only did not know what was in those bags… she had no idea what he was actually doing.”
Claudia Marmol, the defendant’s sister, has also shared how Troconis was a victim of Fotis. In an interview with CBS correspondent Erin Moriarty, Marmol stated: “Unfortunately, he fooled all of us. In the beginning, he was this amazing guy. But it turns out, he was this monster.”
Much of Fotis and Jennifer’s relationship, as well as his proceeding courtship of Troconis and the subsequent murder, was dissected during a recent documentary by CBS’ true crime show 48 Hours, which aired on Saturday 6 April.
One of the most eye-opening aspects of the documentary was getting to understand that once Jennifer caught wind of Fotis and Troconis’ affair, she immediately devised a plan to get both herself and her children out of the house. According to the children’s nanny, Lauran Almeida, Jennifer was afraid of Fotis and what he was capable of. Indeed, the pair were in the midst of a highly volatile custody battle at the time of Jennifer’s disappearance.
Despite Troconis’ legal team’s efforts, prosecutors found unequivocally that the defendant not only knew about Fotis’ murder but was actively involved in attempting to cover it up. At the trial, prosecutor Sean McGuinness told the jury: “This defendant was undoubtedly part of this plan to kill Jennifer Dulos. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
