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Jurors could decide as early as next week the fate of the woman accused of helping cover up the murder of Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos, the Stamford Advocate reports.
On Friday, 49-year-old Michelle Troconis chose not to testify in her trial on charges of murder conspiracy, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. The defense subsequently rested its case, and prosecutors also opted not to present a rebuttal case.
Authorities allege that Michelle helped Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, kill Jennifer at her home in New Canaan, Connecticut, and get rid of evidence.
Jennifer and Fotis, the parents of five children, were in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle when Jennifer went missing on May 24, 2019, after dropping off the kids at school.
Michelle was dating Fotis at the time Jennifer vanished. The state argued that Michelle helped her boyfriend concoct a timeline of his whereabouts on the day Jennifer vanished, and that she watched him put garbage bags into different trash bins, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors during the trial highlighted inconsistencies in Michelle’s statements to police, but her defense attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, called experts who testified that she was not necessarily lying.
The inconsistencies could have been caused by miscommunication, and it is also possible that investigators lied to her, which can affect how people recall information. Schoenhorn further noted that Michelle, who is from South America, speaks native Spanish and that English is not her first language.
“The science as we are presenting here, there is an alternative narrative theory to what the prosecution is trying to claim,” Schoenhorn said outside the courtroom, according to NBC Connecticut.
Jennifer’s body has not yet been found. A judge last year ruled that she had died. Fotis died in January 2020 of suicide after he was charged with his wife’s murder.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
[Feature Photo: Michelle C. Troconis, 44, appears in court with her attorney Andrew Bowman in relation to her charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and first-degree hindering prosecution, to which she has pleaded not guilty, at Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, Conn. Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. The charges stem from video surveillance footage that police said shows two people resembling Troconis and Fotis Dulos making more than 30 stops in a four-mile stretch of Hartford the night of the disappearance of Dulos’ wife, Jennifer. Police said the videos showed Fotis Dulos dumping bags that were later determined to contain clothing and cleaning supplies with his wife’s blood, according to an arrest warrant. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)]
