Michelle Troconis, whose boyfriend was accused of killing his estranged wife nearly five years ago in a Connecticut case that attracted national interest, was found guilty on Friday of six counts in connection with the case, including conspiracy to commit murder.
The verdict was the latest development in a case that began when Jennifer Dulos, a 50-year-old mother of five from New Canaan, Conn., went missing on May 24, 2019, after dropping her children off at school.
The search for Ms. Dulos saw drones, dogs and helicopters deployed across Connecticut and quickly garnered widespread attention, eventually leading to new domestic violence legislation in the state.
She and her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, 52, were in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle when she disappeared. At the time, Ms. Troconis lived in the Dulos family home in Farmington, Conn., with Mr. Dulos, while Ms. Dulos lived in a rented house in New Canaan.
Mr. Dulos is believed to have waited for Ms. Dulos at her home and attacked her after she returned from the school run. According to Mr. Dulos’s arrest warrant, authorities believe that he restrained Ms. Dulos with zip ties after she got home at around 8 a.m.
Ms. Dulos did not respond to texts and calls after that point, and missed appointments in Manhattan, which led family members to conclude that she was missing. Blood stains and splatters in Ms. Dulos’s home led investigators to believe she had been attacked.
The police presented evidence to Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, Dr. James R. Gill, who concluded that Ms. Dulos had sustained an injury or injuries that would have been “‘non-survivable’ without medical intervention,” according to the warrant.
Mr. Dulos was the target of the criminal investigation surrounding Ms. Dulos’s disappearance and likely death before he died by suicide in January 2020. Ms. Dulos was declared legally dead last October; her body was never found.
With Mr. Dulos dead, Ms. Troconis was one of two people left to be held accountable. The other is Kent D. Mawhinney, a friend of Mr. Dulos’s who was previously his lawyer. Mr. Mawhinney is awaiting his own trial on one charge of conspiracy to commit murder. He did not testify in Ms. Troconis’s trial.
As the jury foreman read the verdict on Friday, Ms. Troconis sobbed and leaned on her lawyers.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.
