Michelle Troconis pleads not guilty in Connecticut missing mother case

Michelle Troconis pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that she conspired to murder Jennifer Farber Dulos, a Connecticut woman missing since May 2019.

The plea was entered in Stamford Superior Court on Friday morning.

“Michelle is innocent of all these charges, and we plan to fight them through the courts,” Troconis’s attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, said to reporters outside court.

Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, was last seen in New Canaan on May 24, 2019, after she dropped her children off at school. She and her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, had been embroiled in a custody battle.

Troconis was romantically involved with Fotis Dulos. He died last month in a hospital after an apparent suicide attempt.

Both Fotis Dulos and Troconis were previously arrested on suspicion of evidence tampering after investigators found a “bloodlike substance” with Jennifer Dulos’ DNA in a truck Fotis Dulos had access to the day she disappeared. They both pleaded not guilty.

Connecticut’s chief medical examiner declared last month that Farber Dulos likely suffered a combination of “traumatic, blunt force injuries.”

Dulos’ former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, is also facing charges that he conspired to murder Farber Dulos. Mawhinney has yet to enter a plea.

In a note left by Dulos before his death, he wrote that neither Troconis nor Mawhinney had anything to do with Farber Dulos’ disappearance.

Schoenhorn was asked Friday to comment on Troconis’ reaction to Dulos’ death.

“No,” Schoenhorn replied, declining to comment, “I would say that’s not appropriate.”

Troconis, 45, remains under house arrest and is allowed to attend religious services, court dates, attorney meetings, work appointments and go shopping with permission. On Friday, the court denied her permission to travel outside the state.

Troconis is due back in court on March 20.