Michelle Troconis:‘I have no idea where Jennifer is’

STAMFORD — A distressed Michelle Troconis repeatedly insisted during interviews with state police investigators that she was not involved with the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, according to video excerpts her attorney has filed as exhibits in the case.

The video clips, filed with a motion last week seeking to have some of Troconis’ charges thrown out, offer a glimpse into hours of interviews she had with state police detectives after Jennifer Dulos vanished in May 2019.

“I have no idea what happened to Jennifer. I have no idea where Jennifer is and that’s 100 percent.” Troconis told state police detectives during an Aug. 13, 2019 interview.

Troconis, 46, is free on

$2.1 million bond after pleading not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges.

Her former boyfriend, Fotis Dulos, died from a suicide last January while facing murder, kidnapping and other charges in connection with his estranged wife’s death and disappearance.

Fotis Dulos’ longtime friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, has also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the case. Mawhinney was released on a reduced bond in October and prosecutors announced last week that he will likely testify against Troconis if her case goes to trial.

Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has filed more than a half-dozen motions since taking the case last February, with one directly calling on Judge John F. Blawie to dismiss the evidence tampering charges.

Schoenhorn submitted the video clips in an effort he said to show state police detectives had a “reckless disregard” for facts and evidence when they drafted the arrest warrant affidavits used to charge Troconis.

Troconis was first arrested on evidence tampering and hindering prosecution charges on June 1, 2019 — one day after police said they discovered videos of her with Fotis Dulos in Hartford as he dumped bags that contained his estranged wife’s blood and clothing the night of the disappearance, according to arrest warrants.

With her former attorney, Andrew Bowman, by her side, Troconis was interviewed by police on June 2, June 6 and Aug. 13, 2019. In the video excerpts that Schoenhorn submitted, Troconis can be seen shaking and crying at times during the tense interviews with state police detectives.

One of the video excerpts Schoenhorn submitted appears to contradict the way state police investigators quoted Troconis in arrest warrants.

In the video clip, Troconis denied smelling the paper towel that police inferred in arrest warrants that Fotis Dulos used to clean an employee’s Toyota Tacoma the day his estranged wife vanished. The warrant alleges Troconis said the towel did not smell like coffee. In the video, however, Troconis denies knowing what it smelled like at all.

“I hold the paper towel, but I didn’t smell it,” Troconis said in the video.

It is unclear, however, if the exchange between Troconis and the investigators — outlined in arrest warrants about a paper towel stained with dark liquid — occurred during a portion of the interview that was not released by Schoenhorn.

Another video clip shows a compilation of Troconis insisting throughout interviews that she did not know what happened to Jennifer Dulos. However, the clips exclude much of the back-and-forth between Troconis and the detectives. Schoenhorn has said his client told state police at least 18 times she did not know what happened and was not involved.

When asked where Jennifer Dulos was located during a June 6, 2019 interview, Troconis replied that she thought she was “hiding.” Later in the interview, Troconis claimed she feared Jennifer Dulos after she went missing.

“I didn’t want to stay in the house, that’s the truth,” Troconis told investigators.

Troconis said she was “scared” and “worried.”

When asked what she was worried about, Troconis replied, “Jennifer disappeared and maybe she was going to come and kill me and Nicole (her young daughter).”

But arrest warrants indicate Jennifer Dulos did not survive her estranged husband’s attack that occurred in the garage of her New Canaan home when she returned from dropping off her five children at school on May 24, 2019. Jennifer Dulos has been presumed dead, although her body has never been recovered.

Schoenhorn included video clips in the recent motion that he believes refutes accusations that Troconis actively participated in discarding key forensic evidence in Hartford’s North End the night of the disappearance.

Two videos submitted by Schoenhorn show a man parking his black Ford Raptor on Albany Avenue that evening. State police believe the man was Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants.

The clips show the man in a white T-shirt getting out of the truck to discard items, including a trash bag and what appears to be a large section of rug from a car that he leaned against Milagro’s restaurant. A similar rug was missing from Jennifer Dulos’ Chevy Suburban when it was found abandoned the night she was reported missing.

Troconis was in the vehicle, police allege, but could not be seen on the excerpts released by Schoenhorn.

Similar to the interview clips, these videos show brief sections of the footage obtained by investigators.

The judge has not ruled on many of Schoenhorn’s motions. Troconis is next scheduled to appear in court on March 16.