Some restrictions against Troconis lifted

No longer on house arrest, but she must still wear GPS bracelet

A Superior Court judge has relaxed some of the bail restrictions against Michelle Troconis, accused of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of missing Stamford mother Jennifer Farber Dulos. Undertheruling, Troconis is nolonger onhousearrest or under a curfew, but must still wear an ankle bracelet so authorities can monitor her whereabouts 24 hours a day.

Stamford Superior Court Judge JohnBlawie issued a 15-page ruling late Wednesday in which he said the “seriousness of the defendant’s charges cannot be understated.”

“The defendant stands accused of two serious felonies, alleging her involvement in a conspiracy to murder Jennifer Dulos,” Blawie wrote. “Although Troconis has no prior criminal record nor any history of violence, these allegations themselves weigh heavily against completetermination of her non-financial conditions of release.”

Troconis is currently free on a combined $2.1 million bond. She has been arrested three times since Jennifer Farber Dulos disappeared on May 24, 2019 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

At the time of Farber Dulos’ disappearance, Troconis was romantically involved with Fotis Dulos, Jennifer’s estranged husband. Dulos was charged with murdering the mother of his five children in January, but he attempted to kill himself later that month and died a few days later.

Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has been fighting to get what he considered stringent restrictions on her movements, going as far as the Appellate Court seeking a hearing. Blawie held a hearing in late August and said he would issue a written ruling.

Schoenhorn said that the judge’s ruling “splits the baby,” adding he plans to once again ask the Appellate Court to review the GPSmonitoring restrictions.

“Although I believe it is a thoughtful legal memorandum, I will continue to ask the Appellate Court to review the requirement of continued GPS monitoring.” Schoenhorn said.

“We are grateful that the court agreed that the other conditions, including curfew and house arrest should be removed, and that she is permitted to travel out of state with prior permission. But we believe there is an insufficient basis to require the ankle bracelet.”

Schoenhorn has argued that the bond conditions are restrictive for what Troconis has been charged with and that she has abided by all of the conditions since her first arrest in June of 2019.

“Whether or not it was appropriate to put those conditions on her back then as of today they are no longer required,” Schoenhorn arguedattherecenthearing. “These are conditions for someonewhohas difficultyfollowingcourtrulesorisa possible danger to the community.”

But Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo argued for the GPS monitoring to remain in place because Troconis has no ties to the area. He said the only thing that was keeping her in the area before her arrest was her relationship with Fotis Dulos, who is now dead. Dulos, who had been charged with his estranged wife’s murder, attempted suicide in January and died a few days later.

Some of the charges against Troconis stem from surveillance video on Albany Avenue in Hartford on the same night that Farber Dulos disappeared in May 2019.

The videos show a man police believe to be Dulos throwing garbage bags that had the Vineyard Vines shirt that Farber Dulos wore the day she went missing and other items with her blood on them into trash cans, records show.

There also is a video showing a woman resembling Troconis getting out of the passenger side of a vehicle just before the man places a package that contained an old, doctored license plate that once was registered to a car owned by Dulos into a storm drain.

The video shows Tronconis sitting in the passenger seat with the door open only feet from where Dulos dropped the package into the storm drain, authorities say.

At Troconis’ court appearance in August, Colangelo added new charges against her for conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. One of those new charges stems from the Albany Avenue trash run. In both of the new conspiracy charges Colangelo alleges that Troconis “did agree with Fotis Dulos anddidengageand cause” the overt acts — dumpingthe evidence and washing the truck — that were part of the conspiracy.

Farber Dulos has not been seen since she dropped her children off at a private school in New Canaan shortly after 8 a.m. on May24, 2019. State police have alleged that Dulos “lied in wait” for her in the garage of her New Canaan home and that a violent struggle took place inside the garage.

They have alleged that Dulos then took her body from the house in her Chevrolet Suburban and transferred it to a red Toyota pickup truck he had driven to New Canaan from Farmington and left at a park near her home. He then drove back to Farmington where Troconis later met him at a home owned by his company, The Fore Group, authorities say.

The red pickup truck never left the property until its owner came to get it and give Dulos back his black Ford Raptor that he drove to Albany Avenue later that same night to dispose of the trash bags, according to arrest records.

Schoenhorn said that police have falsely stated “that Ms. Troconis actively assisted co-defendant Dulos in disposing of evidence during six stops along Albany Avenue, when those videos show no such thing.”

The Courant has reported that two days after Dulos allegedly dumped the evidence, a homeless mangrabbed the trash bag, opened it and found a bloody pillow and a knife in the bag.

The man told the Courant he kept the knife and sold it for $5 worth of crack cocaine to a man he called “Fudge” wholater traded it with another guy for food. The knife and the pillow haven’t been found.