Michelle Troconis’ trial in Stamford continued on Monday for a 17th day and the jury heard more about DNA evidence from Kristen Madel, a member of the State Forensic Lab team, who was back on the stand.
Troconis has been charged in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, who disappeared on May 24, 2019.
Police believe Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, killed her in the garage of her home in New Canaan after she dropped their children off at school and then cleaned up the crime scene.
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Troconis, 49, was dating Fotis Dulos when Jennifer disappeared and is accused of helping Fotis Dulos cover up the killing of his wife, whose body has never been found.
She has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution and has pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement.
The trial also offered new insight into other potential material DNA evidence collected from items seized as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos.
The forensic expert explained to the jury what items from Albany Avenue screened positive for potential blood and what DNA samples were later pulled and sent to the lab for analysis.
She also offered some new information about a white, hard piece of evidence that was introduced in court on Thursday.
She noted that samples taken from it, like a blue hair-like fiber that was later confirmed to not be human hair, was packaged and sent to a different lab for further examination, but it remains unclear what the evidence was.
She testified about five human hairs that were collected from evidence off Albany Avenue and a red Toyota Tacoma that police believe Fotis Dulos was driving the day Jennifer disappeared.
One was from the Tacoma door panel, one from a sponge, one from the towel, one from a clear plastic bag, and one from the knot of black plastic bag.
State police investigators said they tracked the movement of that Tacoma going both toward New Canaan on the morning of May 24, 2019, and back from New Canaan later that morning, according to arrest warrants, and The truck was captured on surveillance video from cameras at rest stops in New Canaan and Fairfield.
Troconis’ defense attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, doubled down on the basis for all of this forensic testimony into screening tests for potential blood, pointing out he attempted to have it all kept from being presented to the jury.
But, since it was ultimately allowed in, he intends to keep the state accountable for what was blood and what ultimately was not or was never confirmed to be blood.
“Even though it's not about Michelle Troconis, it's not about her blood, it just keeps coming in and it's not all blood,” Schoenhorn said outside court Friday.
Testimony about the DNA results from all of the samples taken from this evidence is expected, but it is not clear when that testimony will be.
How to watch the trial
Our daily special, airing weekdays at 9 a.m. on the NBC Connecticut free streaming channel is available on Roku, Samsung TV plus, Freevee, and a number of other platforms. Here is more on how to watch.
Watch full episodes of "Inside the Trial of Michelle Troconis"
Watch the full episodes of "Inside the Trial of Michelle Troconis" here.
