Troconis lawyer fears murder charge looms

The attorney representing Michelle Troconis in the criminal charges filed against her in the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos is trying to avoid another deposition because he fears his client could face a murder charge.

Attorney Andrew Bowman has repeatedly tried to avoid having his client become embroiled in the $2.5 million lawsuits filed by Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, against her soninlaw and his real estate development company, Fore Group.

In a motion filed Wednesday, Bowman said he needs to protect his client who he fears could eventually face even more serious charges.

“In addition, law enforcement's investigation concerning the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos has not concluded,” Bowman said. “It is a continuing investigation, which may or may not result in a homicide charge or in a conspiracy charge.”

Bowman attempted to get a subpoena quashed requiring her to provide a deposition in the lawsuits. When that didn’t work, he instructed his client to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights as an answer to every question asked by Farber’s attorney Richard Weinstein.

Weinstein wants to question Troconis about her knowledge of Fotis Dulos’ finances.

Hartford Superior Court Judge Cesar Noble denied Weinstein’s request to keep the deposition questions under seal, and now Bowman is asking that his client not be compelled to answer any questions linking her to Fotis Dulos.

Troconis and Fotis Dulos have each been charged with two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with the May 24 disappearance.

Weinstein asked more than 100 questions about Troconis’ relationship with Fotis Dulos, including if she had access to credit cards for his company, whether he paid for their vacations together in Colorado and Florida and whether she knew any of his business associates.

She was also asked if Fotis Dulos had paid for her to get a real estate license and if she had money off the sale of particular properties. Weinstein also asked questions about how long she and her daughter lived with Fotis Dulos in his Farmington home and if he had ever indicated he needed to get his divorce resolved because it was having a negative effect on his real estate business.

Troconis invoked her Fifth Amendment rights for each question. Weinstein is now seeking to have Noble compel Troconis to answer at least some of the questions before the lawsuits go to trial next month.

But Bowman contends that even answering questions that could link his client to her former boyfriend could be fodder for future charges.

“In light of the hindering charge and the possibility of a conspiracy charge or worse in the future, any defendant subject to such charges and ongoing investigation would have an absolute Fifth Amendment right to deny even knowing the person she is alleged to have assisted or conspired with,” Bowman said.

Bowman said his client is innocent of the hindering and tampering charges. But he didn’t want any of her answers used against her for the existing criminal cases, or any future charges. Bowman has also accused Weinstein of questioning Troconis “as a prosecutor would.”

“In this case, it is entirely reasonable for Michelle Troconis and her attorney to believe that her answers to the questions propounded in this deposition either ‘could be used in a criminal prosecution or could lead to other evidence that might be so used,’” Bowman said. “Issues including motive, common plan or scheme, identity, intent, knowledge are all implicated in every single question that plaintiffs counsel propounded at the deposition.”

The lawsuits are expected to be discussed during a trial scheduling proceedings in Hartford Superior Court next week.

Jennifer and Fotis Dulos were embroiled in a contentious twoyear divorce and custody battle when she vanished on May 24.

Farber filed the lawsuits against Fotis Dulos and his company in 2018, about a year after her husband died. She claims in the lawsuits that Hilliard Farber loaned the Fore Group millions of dollars to build highend homes and then was repaid with the proceeds from the sale of the properties.

At some point, Fotis Dulos stopped paying the loans as he and his wife separated shortly after Hilliard Farber died, court papers said.

Police said Jennifer Dulos, 51, was the victim of a “serious physical assault” based on blood evidence found in the garage of her New Canaan home.

Troconis