With Michelle Troconis’ full trial set to begin Thursday in Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, a final jury has been set as of Wednesday afternoon.
The jury originally consisted of six regular jurors and six alternates when it was set at the end of 2023. But since the original selection, four jurors had been excused for various personal reasons.
The trial was originally set to start Jan. 8, but was delayed three days so vacancies in the jury could be re-filled.
Troconis is answering to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and hindering prosecution among other charges.
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“Family is all up here from different parts of the country, and we are ready to start tomorrow,” Troconis’ attorney Jon Schoenhorn said.
Schoenhorn said he planned on filing more motions Wednesday afternoon ahead of the trial, but they could be addressed later. He didn’t specify what the motions pertain to in an interview outside court Wednesday.
He said this trial has been a long time coming, adding, “I have been doing this now since January of 2020 on this case, I don’t think there is any case that I have spent four years preparing for.”
The case is centered around Troconis’ involvement in the disappearance and alleged murder of Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan mother of five who disappeared after dropping her kids off at school back on May 24, 2019.
Troconis was dating Jennifer’s estranged husband Fotis Dulos at the time.
“She is finally going to trial for her part in this investigation,” University of New Haven Professor Ken Gray said.
Gray believes prosecutors have built a strong case against Troconis, considering the scale of the investigation. Investigators gathered evidence from New Canaan to Hartford.
“Because there is the lack of a body, there will be a reliance upon evidence that was collected there at the crime scene,” Gray said.
Also expected in evidence are photographs and videos of Troconis and Fotis Dulos, including video evidence from Albany Avenue where the pair are alleged to have been seen disposing of evidence into trash containers.
Also physical evidence gathered from those Albany Avenue trash cans, and physical evidence from the New Canaan crime scene and an alibi note. Troconis also did interviews with investigators following her arrest.
The defense attempted to have the interviews with investigators suppressed claiming the statements made in the interviews were coerced out of Troconis, but the judge in the case denied that motion.
According to the defense, state prosecutors have also listed between 100 and 150 potential witnesses for the trial. Not all have to be called, but attorney Schoenhorn said whoever is called, the defense is ready.
“They’re going to put on whatever they are going to put on and we are prepared,” he said.
The trial starts inside superior court in Stamford at 10 a.m. Thursday and is expected to last six to eight weeks.
