Crocodile tears
Slay socialite bawls over guilty verdict
Venezuelan socialite Michelle Troconis broke down in tears Friday morning as she was found guilty of helping her now-deceased boyfriend cover up the 2019 murder of his estranged wife, Connecticut mom-of-five Jennifer Dulos.
The jury convicted Troconis — who was caught on video riding around with lover Fotis Dulos while he ditched bags of Jennifer’s bloody clothes — of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution.
Troconis, 50, put her head in her hands and crumpled onto the courtroom table as her legal team struggled to comfort her after the verdict was read.
Members of Troconis’ family also broke down and wiped away tears during the proceedings, The Hartford Courant reported.
On the other side of the courtroom, police detectives who worked on the case shook hands while Jennifer Dulos’ friends closed their eyes and shed a few tears, the outlet added.
The six-person jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon in Stamford, Conn. Troconis had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
She now faces up to 50 years in prison, according to CT Insider.
Troconis was led away in handcuffs after the judge agreed to raise her bond from $2.6 million to $6 million.
If she makes bond, Troconis will be held under house arrest with electronic monitoring until sentencing, which is set for May 31.
She was not allowed to say goodbye to her family before being taken away, The Courant reported.
The court clerk initially tried to schedule sentencing for May 24, but Troconis’ attorney argued that the date would be “inappropriate” given that Jennifer Dulos vanished on May 24, 2019.
Outside the courtroom, Jennifer Dulos’ friends embraced the family’s former nanny, Lauren Almeida, who testified at the trial, The Courant said. Almeida also thanked investigators and hugged them.
The verdict came after a 27-day trial, during which jurors saw damning surveillance footage of Troconis in the passenger seat of Fotis Dulos’ flashy Ford F-51 Raptor while he drove up and down a main street in the hours after Jennifer is believed to have been killed, The Courant noted.
Troconis was present in the car while her lover moved and disposed of trash bags that were later discovered containing the victim’s blood-soaked clothes — including a bra that was shown in court.
Prosecutors claimed Dulos — a luxury home-builder originally from Greece — attacked his estranged wife at her New Canaan home and drove off with her body, which has never been found. He killed himself in 2020, weeks after being charged with her death.Wires