Michelle Troconis may call prosecutors, police in bid to overturn Jennifer Dulos conviction

Michelle Troconis stands with her attorneys, Jon Schoenhorn and Audrey Felsen, as she speaks before Judge Kevin Randoph prior to her sentencing in Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, Conn., Friday, May 31, 2024. Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

By Lisa Backus, Staff Writer Oct 2, 2025

VERNON — Michelle Troconis, who is serving more than 14 years in prison in the presumed death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, may call former and current prosecutors, witnesses and police involved in her original trial as she challenges her conviction on claims her first attorney was ineffective, a witness list indicated.

In a ruling issued Aug. 8, state Superior Court Judge Carl Schuman denied a motion from the state 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. In the habeas challenge, Troconis 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.

The witness list for the habeas trial includes former Chief State's Attorney and former Stamford State's Attorney Richard Colangelo, who originally prosecuted the case against Troconis and her boyfriend Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos.

Norm Pattis among witnesses in Michelle Troconis habeas trial

The list also includes attorney Norm Pattis, who represented Fotis Dulos before he died in 2020 following a suicide attempt three weeks after he was charged with his wife's murder.

Pawel Gumienny, a former employee of Fotis Dulos, and Gumienny's attorney Lindy Urso are also on the list, as are Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos, and his attorney Jeffrey Kestenband. Police believe Fotis Dulos used Gumienny's truck to drive to New Canaan to kill his estranged wife and Mawhinney, like Troconis, was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case. Mawhinney pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and is not incarcerated.

A 27-page habeas document filed in September 2024 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 told CT Insider in August. "I absolutely reject any claims that I did not render effective assistance of counsel." 

Bowman is also on the list of potential witnesses. The list also includes state police who investigated the case and who questioned Troconis for hours on three separate dates. Attorneys Jon Schoenhorn and Audrey Felsen, who represented Troconis in the trial, attorney Michael Meehan, the guardian ad litem for the five Dulos children, and Dr. Stephen Herman, who completed a psychological report on the Dulos family but never finished a family court hearing on the report, are also listed among the potential witnesses.

Troconis spoke at length with New Canaan and state police with Bowman by her side 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 period when she spoke 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.

Weeks after, Troconis changed attorneys and hired 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. 

Oct 2, 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.