Michelle Troconis: Conviction, Appeal, and Habeas Petition

Michelle Troconis is the Venezuelan-American woman convicted in March 2024 of conspiring with her boyfriend, Fotis Dulos, to murder his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, who disappeared from New Canaan, Connecticut, on May 24, 2019. She is serving a 14-and-a-half-year prison sentence at York Correctional Institution and is pursuing appeals after a judge denied her habeas corpus petition in May 2026.¹

Who She Is

Troconis was born on September 26, 1974, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Venezuelan parents who were studying in the United States at the time. The family returned to Venezuela when she was six, and she was raised and educated there. She studied psychopedagogy in Caracas and later specialized in equine-assisted therapies for children with disabilities. She lived in Argentina for over a decade, working in equine rehabilitation and hosting a show on ESPN. She is an American citizen and has a daughter, Nicole.²

She met Fotis Dulos in May 2016 at a waterskiing club. Their relationship began while Dulos was still married to Jennifer, and Troconis moved to Connecticut in September 2017 to live with him.²

Her Connection to the Jennifer Dulos Case

Jennifer Farber Dulos, a 50-year-old mother of five, was last seen on the morning of May 24, 2019, after dropping her children off at the New Canaan Country School. She was reported missing that evening after failing to appear for scheduled appointments. Investigators found bloodstains in the garage of her New Canaan home and on a vehicle inside, and her abandoned SUV was discovered near Waveny Park. Jennifer and Fotis were locked in a bitter divorce and custody battle at the time. Her body has never been found, though a probate judge declared her legally dead in October 2023.³

Troconis was first arrested with Fotis Dulos on June 1, 2019, on charges of tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution. Surveillance footage showed a man matching Fotis Dulos disposing of garbage bags at more than 30 locations along Albany Avenue in Hartford on the evening Jennifer disappeared, with a woman matching Troconis in the vehicle.³ On January 7, 2020, Connecticut State Police escalated the case: Fotis Dulos was charged with capital murder, murder, and kidnapping, while Troconis and Kent Mawhinney, an attorney and friend of Fotis Dulos, were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors alleged that Fotis attacked Jennifer in her garage between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. that day.⁴

What She Was Convicted Of

After a trial that ran roughly 31 days in Stamford Superior Court before Judge Kevin Randolph, a jury deliberated for three days and returned guilty verdicts on March 1, 2024, on all counts. On May 31, 2024, Judge Randolph sentenced her to 20 years in prison, suspended after 14 and a half years, followed by five years of probation.⁵

The counts of conviction and their sentences, all running concurrently, were:

Conspiracy to commit murder: 20 years, suspended after 14.5 years, plus five years of probation.
Tampering with physical evidence (May 24, 2019): five years, suspended after four.
Tampering with physical evidence (May 29, 2019): five years, suspended after four.
Second-degree hindering prosecution: five years, suspended after four.
Conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence (May 24, 2019): five years, suspended after four.

Judge Randolph vacated one additional count of conspiracy to commit tampering on double jeopardy grounds before sentencing. Prosecutors had requested the maximum of 45 years. State’s Attorney Paul Ferencek said the state “had hoped for a more stringent sentence” but “accepts Judge Randolph’s decision.”⁶

Jennifer Dulos’s five children attended sentencing and gave victim impact statements. Her eldest son, 18-year-old Petros Dulos, told the court his mother’s death left him with “a hole inside of me that I know I will never fill.” The family nanny, Lauren Almeida, addressed Troconis directly: “Where is she, Michelle?”⁷

The Evidence Against Her

The prosecution built its case on surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and Troconis’s own statements to police. Footage showed her and Fotis Dulos driving along Albany Avenue in Hartford on the evening of the disappearance, with Dulos stopping repeatedly to discard garbage bags. In one sequence, Troconis was seen leaning out of the vehicle and wiping her hand on the sidewalk.⁸ Those bags later yielded clothing in Jennifer’s size, ponchos, zip ties, duct tape, and a blood-soaked shirt and bra, all matching Jennifer’s DNA.⁹

Prosecutors also pointed to a handwritten “alibi script” found at the home Troconis shared with Fotis Dulos. The document outlined their purported movements on the day of the disappearance, and its details closely matched the account Troconis initially gave police.¹⁰ The state alleged she helped construct an alibi by answering Fotis Dulos’s phone during a prearranged call with a friend while he was allegedly committing the murder.⁸

A significant portion of the trial focused on three police interviews Troconis gave in the summer of 2019. In footage played for the jury, she admitted lying about seeing Fotis Dulos at their home on the morning Jennifer disappeared, telling investigators: “I just know that I went as the stupid girlfriend to help him out, because he told me, ‘Come and clean the house.'” Prosecutors also argued that Troconis harbored animosity toward Jennifer, citing interrogation footage in which she called Jennifer “manipulating, angry, toxic.”⁹ Troconis did not testify.¹¹

Her Defense

Defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn argued that the state’s case rested on speculation and that Troconis had no knowledge of any plan to kill Jennifer. He said that while she was in the vehicle on Albany Avenue, she did not know what was in the garbage bags, and that the chimney smoke at their home the day of the disappearance was simply firewood burning.⁸ The defense called memory expert Dr. Elizabeth Loftus and bilingualism expert Dr. Viorica Marian to argue that Troconis’s contradictory statements to police resulted from stress, sleep deprivation, and language barriers rather than deliberate deception.¹²

Where the Case Stands Now

Troconis is pursuing two parallel challenges to her conviction: a direct appeal and a habeas corpus petition. She has also repeatedly sought release on bond while those challenges are pending, and every request has been denied.¹³

The Direct Appeal

In November 2025, her attorneys filed an 86-page appellate brief presenting seven arguments for overturning her conviction. The central claims are that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew of Fotis Dulos’s plan or conspired with him, that police conducted unconstitutional searches of the Farmington home, and that the trial court improperly excluded evidence regarding a sealed custody evaluation while allowing prosecutors to use the custody dispute to establish motive.¹⁴ The state’s responding brief is due in October 2026, oral arguments are not expected until early 2027, and full resolution may not come until 2028. Troconis has also asked the Connecticut Supreme Court to hear the appeal directly, a request that remains pending.¹³

The Habeas Petition

Her habeas corpus petition argued that her original attorney, Andrew Bowman, provided ineffective assistance by allowing her to sit for three police interviews without securing immunity, failing to account for her fatigue or need for a Spanish-speaking interpreter, and not negotiating through counsel.¹⁵ Bowman testified that he initially advised Troconis not to speak with police but changed course after then-State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo warned that she would be charged with accessory to murder if authorities found Jennifer’s body. Bowman said he believed there was “zero possibility” of immunity and instead tried to establish Troconis’s credibility as a potential witness against Fotis Dulos. He testified he “absolutely reject[ed] any claims that I did not render effective assistance of counsel.”¹⁶ Colangelo testified his primary intention had been to use Troconis as a witness against Fotis Dulos, a strategy that fell apart when Dulos died.¹⁷

On May 18, 2026, Judge Carl Schuman denied the petition, ruling that Bowman’s advice “fell within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.”¹⁸ On June 4, 2026, Troconis filed notice that she intends to appeal that denial.¹

Life in Prison

Troconis is serving her sentence at York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut, the state’s only women’s prison.¹⁹ Her father, Carlos Troconis, has publicly alleged frequent lockdowns, nutritionally deficient food, and inadequate medical care at the facility, saying it was on lockdown for 53 of 235 days between January and August 2025. The Connecticut Department of Correction has stated that its menus comply with USDA guidelines and that lockdowns are used for the “safety and security of the staff and incarcerated population.”²⁰

The Connecticut Office of the Correction Ombuds separately determined that a strip search of Troconis on May 5, 2025, before a family visit was “unauthorized” and inconsistent with Department of Correction policy. The ombuds found no reasonable suspicion existed to justify the search and recommended corrective action. The guard was educated on the policy but not disciplined.²¹

What Happened to the Others Charged

Fotis Dulos never stood trial. On January 28, 2020, he failed to appear for a court hearing regarding a discrepancy with his $6 million bond. Police found him unresponsive in his car inside his Farmington home, having suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. He was flown to a New York City hospital and died two days later, on January 30, 2020. He reportedly left a note proclaiming his innocence and that of Troconis and Mawhinney.²²

Kent Mawhinney’s case ended very differently from Troconis’s. On June 13, 2025, prosecutors dropped his conspiracy-to-commit-murder charge, concluding they lacked sufficient evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. He pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to a reduced misdemeanor charge of interfering with an officer and was sentenced to 11 months in jail, credited as time served.²³ Jennifer Dulos’s family expressed “full support” for the state’s decision. The Troconis family called the outcome “deeply disturbing and unjust,” characterizing it as “selective prosecution” given that Troconis received 14 and a half years for the same conspiracy charge while Mawhinney walked free.²⁴

Jennifer Farber Dulos’s remains have never been recovered, and the Connecticut State Police and the state’s attorney’s office have said the investigation remains active.²⁵

1
Stamford Advocate. Michelle Troconis Habeas Denial Appeal in Dulos Case
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El País. Michelle Troconis, the Most Hated Woman in the United States
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NBC Connecticut. What to Know About the Disappearance and Presumed Murder of Jennifer Dulos
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ABC News. Fotis Dulos Alleged Suicide Note Leaves Questions
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NBC Connecticut. Breaking Down Michelle Troconis Charges Ahead of Sentencing
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Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Troconis Sentencing Press Release
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CT Public. Jennifer Dulos Michelle Troconis Sentencing
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CBS News. Michelle Troconis Trial Evidence
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ABC News. Michelle Troconis Trial Verdict Reached
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Court TV. CT v. Michelle Troconis Missing Mom Conspiracy Trial
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NBC Connecticut. Jurors Deliberations in Michelle Troconis Trial
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WFSB. Trial to Begin for Suspect in New Canaan Mother’s Murder Case
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Stamford Advocate. Michelle Troconis Appeal of Conviction in Dulos Case
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WFSB. Michelle Troconis Appeals Conviction in Jennifer Dulos Case
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Hartford Courant. Michelle Troconis Lawyers Rest in Bid to Overturn Her Conviction
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CT Insider. Michelle Troconis Habeas Trial in Dulos Case
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NBC Connecticut. Troconis Habeas Trial Day 2
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NBC Connecticut. Michelle Troconis Habeas Appeal Denied by Judge
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Yahoo News. Michelle Troconis Strip Search Violated Policy
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MichelleTroconis.com. Father of Michelle Troconis Says CT Prison Conditions Inhumane
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Connecticut Office of the Governor. Troconis Investigation Final Report
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NBC News. Fotis Dulos Charged in Estranged Wife’s Murder Dies After Suicide
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WFSB. Kent Mawhinney Returns to Court Amid Ongoing Jennifer Dulos Case
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NBC Connecticut. Kent Mawhinney Jennifer Dulos Disappearance
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NBC Connecticut. Search for Jennifer Farber Dulos Continues Five Years After Her Disappearance