Jennifer Dulos Case: Important Court Dates Upcoming

STAMFORD, CT — Michelle Troconis, one of two remaining suspects in the Jennifer Farber Dulos case, is scheduled to return to court in the first week in October and expected to enter a plea on the new charges she faces in connection with Dulos' disappearance and presumed killing.

The new charges were filed late last month by Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo and announced at Troconis' most recent hearing in Stamford Superior Court on Aug. 28.

Just over a week after Jennifer Dulos' disappearance, Troconis and her boyfriend, the late Fotis Dulos, were arrested on charges of tampering with physical evidence and hindering a prosecution. Troconis pleaded not guilty to the charges, as did Fotis.

Jennifer Dulos disappeared from her New Canaan home May 24, 2019, and prosecutors believe she was the victim of a violent, bloody attack in the garage at the hands of Fotis Dulos, her estranged husband. Her body has never been found, and the attorney in the probate case over Fotis Dulos' estate is seeking to have her declared dead.

Fotis Dulos was later charged with kidnapping and murdering his estranged wife. Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis', were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Troconis and Mawhinney are accused of helping Fotis carry out the killing.

In January, before he could stand trial, Fotis Dulos died by suicide.

Troconis faces a conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence charge and a new charge of second-degree hindering a prosecution.

Colangelo filed the new charges because prosecutors believe Troconis took additional steps to conceal or destroy evidence. She is accused of assisting Fotis Dulos with the plot to kill Jennifer, in part by writing "alibi scripts" and traveling with him when he purportedly threw away evidence along Albany Avenue in Hartford following Jennifer Dulos' disappearance.

"Michelle Troconis, with intent that conduct constituting the crime of Tampering with Physical Evidence be performed, did agree with Fotis Dulos to engage in and cause the performance of that conduct, and one of them did commit an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy, specifically, Fotis Dulos did transport and dispose of physical evidence relating to the murder of Jennifer Dulos in the City of Hartford on the 24th day of May, 2019, in violation of sections 53a-48(a) and 53a-155(a)(1) of the Connecticut General Statutes," Colangelo's motions states.

Troconis has been free since posting bond on bail of $2.1 million since her arrests, but she remains under house arrest and must continue to wear a GPS tracking device above one of her ankles. Her attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, so far has been unsuccessful in persuading a judge to lift the house arrest and remove the GPS monitor, but he intends to again appeal to the state Appellate Court to address these issues.

Schoenhorn successfully convinced a judge to stop the requirement of Troconis having to routinely check in with a probation officer.

Mawhinney remains incarcerated at the Cheshire Correctional Institution, unable to post bond on the $2 million bail.

He was arrested in January and has pleaded not guilty, but a clerk in Stamford court told Patch that his attorneys have not filed any motions in connection with the case.

Separately, Mawhinney also is facing sexual assault charges in another case. He reportedly was seeking a plea deal, but whether a deal been reached has not been disclosed; he is scheduled to next appear in Hartford Superior Court in the case Nov. 5.

Besides the two criminal cases, Mawhinney also reportedly lost custody of his twin sons earlier this year to his first ex-wife.

His next court appearance in connection with the Dulos case is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Stamford.

The Dulos case:

• Jennifer Dulos Case: New Updates As Mystery Remains Unsolved
• New DNA Evidence Disclosed In Jennifer Dulos Disappearance
• New Documentary Explores Jennifer Dulos Murder Mystery
• Law Enforcement Convinced Someone Knows Where Jennifer Dulos Is
• Jennifer Dulos Update: 'No New Evidence' At Avon House, CSP Says
• Michelle Troconis Issues First Statement In Jennifer Dulos Case
• New Details On How Jennifer Dulos May Have Died: Warrant
• Jennifer Dulos' Killer Still At Large, Says Fotis Dulos' Family
• Finding Jennifer Dulos Remains '#1 Focus' For Chief Prosecutor
• Jennifer Dulos Was Never In 'Human Grave' Prosecutor Says: Report