Michelle Troconis' challenge to conviction in Dulos case can go to trial, CT judge rules

Michelle Troconis, convicted in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, appears during a hearing at state Superior Court in Stamford Feb. 19, 2025. Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

ROCKVILLE — A judge has ruled that Michelle Troconis, who is serving more than 14 years in prison in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, can take to trial the habeas challenge of her conviction on claims her first attorney was ineffective. 

In the ruling issued Aug. 8, state Superior Court Judge Carl Schuman denied the state's motion filed a month before to have Troconis' habeas challenge to her conviction thrown out, paving the way for the challenge to move to a trial, which is scheduled for January. Troconis in the habeas challenge is seeking a release from prison and to have the conviction overturned.

Most habeas cases are heard in state Superior Court in Rockville, court officials said.  Troconis also is appealing her conviction before the state Supreme Court. That appeal is pending. 

A 27-page habeas document filed in September contends that attorney Andrew Bowman, who represented Troconis prior to February 2020, never told her about the downside of speaking with investigators who were trying to find Jennifer Dulos, never prepared her for speaking with police, and never asked her whether she had any relevant information for law enforcement. 

"There is no basis in fact or law to support this habeas petition," Bowman said Thursday. "I absolutely reject any claims that I did not render effective assistance of counsel." 

Attorney Adele Patterson, one of the attorneys representing Troconis in the habeas challenge, said Thursday that "the trial dates are set and we expect to move forward." 

The state had contended in its motion filed July 9 to have the case thrown out that Troconis' attorneys continued to include claims that Schuman had ordered removed from the habeas challenge. But Schuman said in his ruling that the claims in question were removed properly and then added to a separate part of the updated habeas document, which was not a violation of his orders issued in April. 

Troconis spoke at length with New Canaan and state police with Bowman by her side for hours on at least three occasions in the days and months after Dulos disappeared on May 24, 2019. Videos of the interviews presented to the jury during her eight-week trial in early 2024 show Troconis often contradicted herself on the events of the morning of the disappearance. 

During the several-month period when she talked to police, Troconis was arrested three times, charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and eventually conspiracy to commit murder.

The body of Jennifer Dulos has never been found, but she is believed to be dead by police and her family. A judge also declared her legally dead.

Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, who was living with Troconis at the time of the disappearance, died by suicide in January 2020 while facing murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case.

Within weeks, Troconis changed attorneys and hired Jon Schoenhorn, who represented her during the 2024 trial. 

Troconis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution and was sentenced to 14½ years in prison.

In the habeas document, Troconis is seeking to have the conviction vacated so she can be released from prison. 

The habeas document claimed Troconis blocked Fotis Dulos on Facebook after she saw posts indicating he and his wife had not officially separated. Troconis also claimed she was not the only extramarital affair that Fotis Dulos was having, the document said. She later relented and moved to Connecticut to be with him, after Fotis Dulos said his divorce was amicable, the document said. 

But Troconis later learned the divorce was acrimonious, with Fotis Dulos at one point having to see his children under court-ordered supervision, the filing said. 

It was Fotis Dulos who originally hired Bowman after Jennifer Dulos disappeared, the document said. Bowman allowed Troconis to speak to investigators with no deal for immunity in place and no preparation, according to the filing. 

He also failed to object to having the interviews recorded and failed "to advise her not to speak unless there were safeguards in place to ensure that her attempts to cooperate would not be used against her," the document said. 

Bowman's "ineffective representation" all but sealed Troconis' fate at her criminal trial, according to the document. 

Aug 14, 2025

Lisa Backus

STAFF WRITER

Lisa Backus is a local, state and national award-winning crime reporter who covers breaking news and criminal justice policy for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. When she's not working she can be found hanging out with her animal companions Spot and Morgan and her six grandchildren.