A jury on Friday found Michelle Troconis guilty of conspiring in 2019 to murder her boyfriend’s wife, who resided in Connecticut with their five children.
The verdict was heard in Stamford Superior Court following more than two days of deliberation, NBC Connecticut reported:
“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,” the family and friends of the victim, Jennifer Farber Dulos, wrote in a statement:
Troconis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence, tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence, tampering with physical evidence, and second-degree hindering prosecution.
Video footage shows officers escorting Troconis out of the courtroom following the guilty verdict:
Troconis’s bond was set at $6 million. If she can pay the bond, she will be put on electric monitoring and be subject to home confinement as she appeals the verdict, the NBC report said.
The outlet detailed the case:
Jennifer Dulos, 50, went missing on May 24, 2019, and has never been found. Prosecutors told the jury her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, attacked her at her New Canaan home and drove off with her body. They were battling over their divorce and custody of their five children at the time, and Troconis was Fotis Dulos’ girlfriend and living with him at another home.
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Prosecutors alleged Troconis must have known about the plot beforehand, because she answered Fotis Dulos’ cell phone on the morning of May 24 when he allegedly was in New Canaan — suggesting she helped him with an alibi. He had left his phone at their home in Farmington, about 70 miles away near Hartford, prosecutors said.
A few hours later, Troconis went to Hartford with Fotis Dulos, where he threw away some trash bags in different areas. Once police officers obtained some of the bags, they found clothes, zip ties, and additional items with the victim’s DNA on them. They also found some of Troconis’s DNA on one of the bags:
Prosecutors claimed the pair wrote a timeline of their actions to be ready if law enforcement officers wanted to question them.
The NBC report also noted that Fotis Dulos built luxury homes before killing himself in early 2020 after officials charged him with Jennifer’s murder.
Now, Troconis faces up to 50 years behind bars in the case.
“Many questions remain as we approach the five-year marker. It is our hope that the resurgent public interest in this case might spur new, viable leads,” the statement from family and loved ones said.
It is important to note that a medical examiner working the case said suspected blood spatter in the victim’s garage, along with additional evidence, indicated the woman could not have survived such an attack. In October, she was officially declared deceased even though her body has never been located.