Venezuelan socialite Michelle Troconis has been sentenced to 20 years for conspiring to murder Connecticut mother-of-five Jennifer Dulos.
Judge Kevin A. Randolph made the ruling at Stamford Superior Court on Friday following an emotional hearing where Jennifer’s teenage children called for the maximum sentence of 50 years – while Troconis’ daughter pleaded for leniency.
Police say Jennifer was brutally attacked by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos in her New Canaan, Connecticut home after she returned from dropping their five children at school on May 24, 2019.
Fotis was charged with her murder but killed himself ahead of trial, leaving the kids orphaned. In March 2024, his ex girlfriend, glamorous Venezuelan former TV host Michelle Troconis, was found guilty of helping him dispose of bloodied clothes.
One of Jennifer’s eldest sons, Theodore Dulos, 18, blasted Troconis as ‘evil, violent, and most definitely a coward’ and demanded she tell them where their mother’s body is.
His twin, Petros Dulos, said Troconis had ‘helped destroy’ their family, while 15-year-old Christiane Dulos called her ‘the reason kids at school look at me with pity’ while calling for the maximum jail term of 50 years.
Venezuelan socialite Michelle Troconis (center) who conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos has broken down in tears as the murdered mother-of-five’s teenage son gave a heartbreaking tribute
The sentencing is being live-streamed, but Judge Kevin A. Randolph forbade the media from showing any of the teenagers.
Cameras instead showed Troconis, 49, sobbing as each of the Dulos children spoke, and Judge Randolph appearing to fight back tears as Troconis’ 17-year-old daughter Nicole pleaded for leniency for her convicted mother.
Judge Randolph sentenced Troconis to 20 years for conspiracy to commit murder, ‘suspended after 14.5 years to serve five years probation’.
She was also given five years for each of the lesser charges: tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, and hindering prosecution – but these terms will be wrapped into the 20-year sentence.
But it’s not the end of the story – Troconis’ lawyer Jon Schoenhorn said she will be appealing the jury’s findings and the sentence.
The case has drawn widespread attention – Jennifer was a member of a wealthy New York family and a niece by marriage of fashion designer Liz Claiborne, while Fotis was a luxury home builder originally from Greece.
Jennifer uncovered Fotis’ affair with Troconis in March 2017, and their children were aged between eight and 13 at the time she disappeared.
Fotis and Jennifer were embroiled in acrimonious divorce and child custody proceedings when she vanished on May 24, 2019. Her children – Petros, Theodore, Constantine, Christiane and Cleopatra Noelle – have waited five years for justice.
Jennifer, 50, was brutally attacked by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos in her Connecticut home when she returned from dropping their five kids at school, and his new lover Troconis helped conceal the crime . Fotis killed himself before facing trial
Addressing Troconis at her sentencing hearing on Friday, Theodore said: ‘You will spend the next however many years behind bars, and this will give you the time to think about what you have done.
‘Every day, you will wake up in a small cell with not much to do. You have many years to contemplate what you know you have done.
‘If you have just the least bit of humanity, I suggest that you let all of us know exactly what happened that day and where my mother is.
‘Do the right thing, Michelle, admit to your family what you did instead of trying to keep your family pride.’
‘I will never forgive you for what you have done, and until you give us more answers, you will be considered evil, violent, and most definitely a coward,’ he added.
Appealing to Judge Randolph to impose the maximum jail term, Theodore added: ‘An appropriate sentence, your honor, would be 50 years – 10 years for every child that lost a mother that day. May my mother rest in peace.’
Theodore Dulos, 18, blasted Troconis as ‘evil, violent, and most definitely a coward’ and demanded she tell them where their mother’s body is, while his twin Petros said she had ‘helped destroy’ their family. (Pictured: Theodore as a child with his mother Jennifer)
‘Michelle Troconis to me is the reason I feel completely lost and alone at night when I cannot sleep,’ Jennifer’s daughter Christiane, 15, told the court at Troconis’ sentencing hearing on Friday. (Pictured: a photograph of Christiane and Jennifer shown to the court)
Christiane also called for the maximum jail term, adding: ‘Even though Michelle may not have been holding the weapon, I truly believe she had a lot more to do with everything than she is letting on.
‘Michelle Troconis to me is the reason I feel completely lost and alone at night when I cannot sleep.
‘She is the reason I have blocked out my childhood, and that day so much I can barely remember it.
‘She’s the reason kids at school look at me with pity, the reason my teachers say guardians are not parents, the reason I have had to sit and watch as the people who care for me break down, the reason my siblings move through life with a huge piece of them lost.’
‘Mom and dad are words that only bring trauma and grief,’ she added. ‘I will never again share those simple moments that mean everything.’
Jennifer’s eldest son, Petros, was only 13 at the time of her death. Now aged 18, he told Stamford Superior Court Troconis had ‘helped destroy’ his family. (Pictured: a photograph shown to court of Jennifer and Petros when he was a child)
The sentencing is being live-streamed, but Judge Kevin A. Randolph forbade the media from showing any of Jennifer’s children on camera. Cameras instead showed Troconis breaking down in tears as Petros Dulos spoke
Petros Dulos urged Judge Randolph not to let Troconis’ role as a mother sway his decision.
‘Your honor, I understand that sitting over there is a mother with a child, and a family who love her,’ the 18-year-old said.
‘My mom once had that. We once had that. She helped destroy it. That woman appeals to our sympathy under the guise of being a mother. She has desecrated the meaning of that word for me.
‘The defendant’s actions in conspiring to murder my mother have had irreparable effects on my life, many that I’m still figuring out each and every day,’ he added.
‘I have been left with a hole inside of me that I know I will never be able to fill.
‘Losing my mother tore me from the joyful innocence of my youth and made me confront the horrors of the world at an early age.
‘I want to end with a lesson my mom taught me: leave everything the same or better than you found it. Michelle Troconis, you did the opposite and you should be punished.’
Police say Jennifer was brutally attacked by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos on May 24, 2019. He killed himself ahead of trial, but in March this year jurors found his glamorous girlfriend Troconis guilty of helping conceal the horrific slaying
Arrest warrants link Dulos (left) and Troconis (right) to videos of trash bags being dumped in areas where Jennifer’s blood was later found on clothing and other items
The Dulos children also paid heartbreaking tribute to their mother, who was a writer.
Petros said she was ‘everything’ to him, but during her acrimonious divorce, he ‘became very bitter with everyone – especially mom, because she was always trying to help me.’
‘This meant that I hurt the person closest to me because I didn’t know how else to voice my pain,’ he said.
‘The defendant’s actions mean that I will never be able to tell my mom how sorry I am for not being a better son when she needed me.
‘I will never be able to tell mom how proud of her courage I am, most importantly how much I love her. This fact haunts me every day.’
Christiane blasted Troconis for having an affair with their father which destroyed their family.
‘My dad, the person who I looked up to, was doing something awful, and it was with Michelle. Our lives completely changed from then on…
‘It occurred to me then that this was why we were no longer a family.’
Troconis rubbed her eyes and sobbed as she sat between her lawyers while they listened to the Dulos children speak.
Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, reads a victim’s impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Michelle Troconis, in Stamford Superior Court in Connecticut May 31, 2024
Pictured: a photograph shown to court of Gloria with Jennifer in her youth
Jennifer’s mother, Gloria Farber, 88, who gave heartbreaking testimony earlier in the trial, said her daughter’s friends had been helping take care of her five orphaned children in ‘blended families’.
Gloria added that her daughter ‘lived in fear of her life and fear that her husband might abduct her children’ during her final years.
Jennifer’s older sister, Melissa Farber, remembered her as a ‘beautiful and precious baby sister’ who was a ‘talented writer and a beautiful person’.
She also recalled feeling ‘shaken to the core’ on the day Jennifer died before they even heard the devastating news.
‘At 8.45 in the morning of May 24, 2019, I awoke with a startle,’ Melissa told the court. ‘I did not realize at this time that my sister Jennifer’s life was ending, but there was something in me that was shaken to the core.’
Jennifer’s friend of 46 years, Kiki Davis, told the court she had been helping take care of the Dulos children over the last five years, spending half her time at her Charlotte, North Carolina home and half at the Dulos’ home in New York City.
‘Michelle Troconis’ actions and perhaps lack of actions greatly impacted me daily as I’m now the closest thing to a mother these five may ever have again,’ Davis told the court.
‘My friend Jennifer should be in my shoes hugging her children each morning… they should feel, not remember, her unconditional love.’
Michelle Troconis (left) and Fotis Dulos (right) were living together in his Farmington CT home at the time of Jennifer’s disappearance on May 24, 2019
Jennifer Dulos (left) vanished on May 24, 2019, amid a divorce from her husband Fotis (right), who was later charged with her murder. Fotis killed himself in January 2020, leaving his new lover Michelle Troconis to face trial alone for allegedly helping him conceal the killing
The prosecutor blasted Troconis for her ‘failure to show any remorse’.
Troconis’ daughter Nicole, 17, expressed condolences for the Dulos children who she said she ‘enjoyed spending time with’ when they crossed paths on a family holiday in Miami.
‘Michelle isn’t just my mother. She’s my best friend, my rock and my guiding light,’ the teenager told the court as her voice cracked with emotion.
‘If you asked me who I want to be, my unhesitant answer would be: I want to be just like my mom.
‘She’s a perfect example of kindness, thoughtfulness and selflessness.’
‘I never had the chance to meet Jennifer nor did my mother ever speak ill of her,’ Nicole added.
‘My heart goes out to the kids, and I earnestly hope that one day we all discover peace within our hearts.’
Pictured: Michelle Troconis remonstrating with her lawyer at her sentencing hearing at Stamford Superior Court on Friday
Pictured: an image of Jennifer Dulos shown to the court at Troconis’s sentencing hearing at Stamford Superior Court on Friday
Judge Randolph appeared to fight back tears as he heard the teenager’s testimony.
Jennifer’s children – Petros, Theodore, Constantine, Christiane and Cleopatra Noelle – who are now aged between 13 and 18 – now live with Gloria and their nanny Lauren Almeida in Manhattan.
Prosecutors accused Fotis of killing Jennifer in her New Canaan, CT home after she returned from dropping their children off at school, and they alleged that Troconis helped him dispose of her bloodied clothing in several garbage bags.
Jennifer’s body was never found, but Judge William P. Osterndorf declared her ‘officially dead’.
The weeks-long trial heard evidence from officers, forensics experts, and the family and friends who were due to meet with Jennifer on the day she died.
A blood-soaked bra that cops recovered from a trash can that the State alleges Fotis Dulos, with the help of his lover Michelle Troconis, disposed of evidence in
Gruesome images of blood splatters in the garage and kitchen of Jennifer’s New Canaan home were shown to the jury as experts detailed how Fotis’ DNA was found at the property.
Surveillance footage of Fotis and Troconis in a car making stops to dump several rubbish bags in trash cans miles away from the property was also shown in court.
Police said Troconis’ DNA was detected on the trash bags and on some of the bloodied items of clothing belonging to Jennifer inside the bags.