Jennifer Dulos Case: Suspect Michelle Troconis Not Living In CT

STAMFORD, CT — Michelle Troconis, one of two remaining suspects in the disappearance of Jennifer Farber Dulos, is no longer living in Connecticut full-time as she awaits trial in the 2019 case.

During a pre-trial hearing in Stamford Friday before Superior Court Judge Gary White, Troconis's attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, mentioned her residency status as he again tried to have her GPS monitoring device removed from her ankle.

She has worn the device every day since June 2019, which Schoenhorn has argued is an unfair punishment for two and a half years.

"My client has been completely in compliance with all court orders," Schoenhorn told Judge White, adding that the GPS ankle bracelet has been a burden on Troconis, because she has to constantly recharge the device's battery.

But as Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Cummings and White suggested, the court has granted all of Troconis's requests to travel, and in fact, does not call Connecticut home anymore. She did not have to be present in court on Friday — and she was not — which was another request the court granted.

"The court has pretty much allowed her to do whatever she wants," Cummings said.

Schoenhorn confirmed that Troconis no longer lives full-time in Connecticut, and after the hearing he told reporters that she mostly spends her time in either Florida, where her family resides, or Colorado, where she has a home.

White denied the request to have the ankle monitor removed, but after the hearing Schoenhorn vowed to keep trying, and will likely file another motion about it in the future.

Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared from her New Canaan home on May 24, 2019, and is presumed to be dead. Her body has not been found, and her estranged husband, the late Fotis Dulos, was charged with kidnapping and murdering her. The two were in the midst of a contentious divorce and custody fight over their five children at the time of her disappearance.

Fotis Dulos took his own life in January 2020, before he could stand trial, and his ex-girlfriend, Troconis, and friend and former attorney Kent Mawhinney have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder by assisting him in the plot.

Both Troconis and Mawhinney have pleaded not guilty, and Schoenhorn said that his client has never wavered in asserting that she is innocent of the charges.

Friday's hearing centered around several motions Schoenhorn has filed to have the case dismissed against his client, or certain evidence suppressed.

He argued that there were flaws in the arrest warrants, such as law enforcement's assertion that Fotis Dulos, with Troconis in the vehicle, made 30 stops along Albany Avenue in Hartford to discard bags that contained bloody clothing and other evidence.

Schoenhorn claims surveillance footage shows that he stopped only three times, and that there is no evidence that Troconis knew what was in the bags that Fotis Dulos threw away or why.

"My client also never threw anything away nor picked anything up while she was in the [Fotis Dulos's] truck," Schoenhorn said.

"Does it matter whether it was three stops, or 30 stops, or one stop?" White asked. "He was seen throwing away bags."

Cummings argued that precedent is against the charges being dismissed, and Schoenhorn has not provided information on what specific evidence should be suppressed.

"Mr. Dulos went to extreme lengths to cover up a crime, so why would he bring someone along with him who wasn't involved?"

Mawhinney, who is free but spent months in jail when he was not able to bond out, has implicated Troconis in the plot, a claim that Schoenhorn denies.

"Mr. Mawhinney is a disgraced, ex-attorney, who is facing charges that he assaulted his ex-wife," Schoenhorn said after the hearing, adding that he is looking forward to discrediting him as a "jailhouse informant."

"Anything he says, you have to take with a grain of salt," Schoenhorn said.

White did not make a decision about the motions to suppress evidence, and Troconis's next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 15.

Mawhinney's next court appearance in the case, which is listed as a remote hearing, is scheduled for Jan. 18.

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
• Troconis Family Issues New Statement In Jennifer Dulos Case