Michelle Troconis sobbed in court as a detective dismantled her apparent lie about having showered with her boyfriend the morning he murdered his estranged wife.
Stamford Superior Court jurors were shown videos of the 49-year-old Venezuelan socialite being interrogated by police in the days after Connecticut mother-of-five Jennifer Dulos disappeared on May 24, 2019.
Troconis broke down in tears, dabbed her nose with a tissue, and placed her hands on her head in a moment of anguish as lead detective on the case John Kimball highlighted the discrepancies in accounts she gave across three different interviews.
Police say Fotis Dulos killed his estranged wife Jennifer when she returned home from the school run for their five kids, who were then aged between eight and 13, before disposing of the evidence in trash cans around Hartford, CT with Troconis.
Luxury real estate developer Fotis killed himself aged 52 in January 2020, leaving his new lover Troconis to face evidence tampering charges alone. She denies knowing anything about Jennifer’s death.
Michelle Troconis sobbed in court as a detective dismantled her apparent lie about having showered with her boyfriend the morning he murdered his estranged wife
Troconis broke down in tears, dabbed her nose with a tissue as lead detective on the case John Kimball highlighted the discrepancies in accounts she gave across three different interviews with cops in the days after Jennifer Dulos vanished on May 24, 2019
Troconis placed her hands on her head in a moment of anguish as she broke down in Stamford Superior court on Thursday, the tenth day of her trial over the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos
Troconis denies all charges leveled against her – conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution
Troconis has been listening to a Spanish translation of the trial through earphones. Her first language is Spanish but she also speaks English fluently and communicated with cops in English
Michelle Troconis told cops two contradictory stories about what she was up to on the morning her boyfriend allegedly killed his ex Jennifer Dulos, jurors have heard. (Pictured: Troconis’ interview with police on June 2, 2019)
Jennifer Dulos (left) vanished on May 24, 2019, amid a divorce from her husband Fotis (right), who was later charged with her murder. Fotis killed himself in January 2020, leaving his new lover Michelle Troconis to face trial alone for allegedly helping him conceal the killing
Michelle Troconis (left) and Fotis Dulos (right) were living together in his Farmington CT home at the time of his ex-wife Jennifer’s disappearance on May 24, 2019
On Thursday, former Connecticut State Police Detective John Kimball told the court he interviewed Troconis on three occasions – June 2, June 6 and August 13, 2019.
Jurors were shown footage of the first interview, where Troconis told cops she woke up on May 24, 2019, headed to the bathroom and then ‘Fotis jumped into the shower with me’.
State prosecutors paused the footage to ask Kimball whether Troconis ‘always maintained her account that she showered with Fotis Dulos’ that morning.
‘She did not,’ Kimball said.
Earlier in the interview, the detectives told Troconis that Fotis had been described to them as controlling and manipulative, and they they were concerned for her safety.
‘We understand, having learned some things about Fotis, we understand that he has been described to us as a person who has a very strong personality and he has a tendency to control people and manipulate people,’ one of the cops told her.
‘We believe there’s a possibility that he could manipulate you and that’s one reason you guys are physically separated now, and you are safe, and we are concerned for your safety if you get out of here and he’s out of here… we don’t want anything bad to happen to you.’
Troconis spoke with her lawyer Jon Schoenhorn as they approached the court building
Troconis conferring with her lawyer Jon Schoenhorn in the courtroom on Wednesday
Zip ties that were covered in blood were also recovered from a local trash can
A blood-soaked bra that cops recovered from a trash can that the State alleges Fotis Dulos, with the help of his lover Michelle Troconis, disposed of evidence in
Former Connecticut State Police Detective Matthew Reilly giving evidence in court
The court previously heard from several other detectives in the force, who described finding blood-stained items in Jennifer’s New Canaan home where it is alleged Fotis killed her.
State prosecutors also presented several blood-soaked items including a bra, long-sleeved shirt, zip ties and razor which were retrieved from several trash cans around Hartford, CT.
Detective Matthew Reilly said they also found traces of blood in Jennifer’s Chevy Suburban, which were illuminated by a test for blood and other substances called luminol.
Prosecutors allege that Fotis brutally attacked Jennifer in her rented New Canaan property when she returned from the school run for their five kids, who were then aged between eight and 13, on the morning of May 24, 2019.
The state claims he cleaned up the evidence at her home before putting her body in her Chevy and driving it around three miles away, where it was found abandoned. Jennifer’s body was never found.
Fotis and Troconis are accused of dumping garbage bags containing bloody evidence, including the bra, t-shirt and razor, into various trash cans around Hartford in his Ford Raptor.
Jurors were shown images of each bloodied item, along with several of them which were present in the court room, and surveillance footage of Fotis and Troconis disposing of the items in the Connecticut town.
Almeida previously said Jennifer was an ‘incredibly nurturing mother’ to her five kids, who were aged between eight and 13 when she disappeared on May 24, 2019
Jennifer’s heartbroken friend Carrie Luft (pictured) described seeing her blood-soaked clothing as it was shown to jurors the previous day
Jennifer’s heartbroken friend Carrie Luft described seeing her blood-soaked clothing in a statement she issued on behalf of her family.
‘Witnessing Jennifer’s blood-soaked clothing, knowing that was the shirt, the bra, she wore on the last day of her life, made us imagine, again, what she must have endured on May 24, 2019,’ Luft said.
‘We hope that seeing this evidence in three dimensions can put an end to any suggestion that Jennifer is “missing”.
‘She died a tragic death, and her loss is felt beyond what words can express. We are grateful to the prosecution and the investigators for their meticulous collection and presentation of evidence in this case.
‘Above all, we trust in justice, and we hope that this trial will help provide answers to, and accountability for, what was done to Jennifer that day.’
Troconis denies all charges leveled against her – conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. The trial continues.