HARTFORD, Conn. — Michelle Troconis, found guilty of conspiring with boyfriend Fotis Dulos in the disappearance and suspected murder of his estranged wife, has moved in court to reverse her convictions, claiming she was not properly advised by an attorney who represented her early in the criminal investigation and was wrongly denied a cooperation agreement by prosecutors.

Troconis’ complaint against both highly regarded criminal defense attorney Andrew Bowman and the prosecution turns on the fast paced investigative developments in the days following the disappearance of Jennifer Farber Dulos and the quick conclusion by state police detectives that she had been murdered.

At the time, detectives were racing to find a body and build a case against Fotis Dulos, whose bitter divorce and fear of losing custody of his children, made him a suspect. The police and prosecutors were trying to persuade Troconis to agree to an interview and the possibility of becoming a cooperating witness while threatening her at the same time with a murder charge, prison and loss of her daughter if she refused.

Attorney Michael Brown, who filed Troconis’ petition for habeas corpus, argues in it that Bowman advised Troconis to speak with detectives without learning enough about her fraught relationship with Fotis Dulos and without advising her of the consequences if the police failed to believe her account of events.

Troconis was arrested late on the night of June 1, 2019 and charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence — five days after Farber Dulos was reported missing. Police had closed circuit video footage of her with Fotis Dulos as he stuffed bloody plastic sheets and plastic zip ties into trash receptacles in Hartford.

Troconis told police she would not speak with them without a lawyer. After consulting with Bowman early the following morning, Troconis agreed to what would be the first of three interviews with police. At some point in the process, the authorities said Troconis changed her account of events and they stopped believing her.

Troconis argues among other things, that if Bowmen had spent more time learning about her on-again, off-again relationship with Fotis Dulos he could have advocated more effectively for a cooperation agreement and not her arrest.

“Specifically, Bowman did not learn from the petitioner the significant amount of information – and misinformation – that Fotis had provided to the petitioner about Jennifer, her past behavior, and the outlook of the pending divorce proceedings,” Troconis argues in the habeas petition.

Troconis accuses then-Fairfield County State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, who ran the Farber Dulos investigation with Connecticut State Police and New Canaan detectives, of failing to honor an “express or implicit” cooperation agreement. The petition says Troconis waived her right to remain silent “based upon the petitioner’s reliance upon her understanding that the prosecuting authority was interested in utilizing the petitioner as a witness against Fotis.”

Bowman, who has defended many high-profile criminal defendants such as former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, said he cannot discuss the Troconis case because of ethical and legal rules that make lawyer-client conversations confidential.

“If a judge at some point decides that the attorney-client privilege is waived, then in an appropriate forum at an appropriate time, I will discuss the matter,” Bowman said Monday.

Brown said, “Ms. Troconis and her lawyers look forward to the opportunity to present the evidence that will prove her convictions should be overturned. The trial judge ruled that the issues in this case could not be presented at the criminal trial, so this is the first time Ms. Troconis will be able to present a court with these legal claims and this evidence.”

Defense lawyers who have followed the case said there always risk when deciding whether to advise a client to speak with detectives the early stages of a fast unfolding investigation.

“Every lawyer takes a chance,” one said. “You are guessing, among other things, that your client told you the truth.”

Police believe Fotis Dulos killed his wife in New Canaan in the house where she lived with their five children. He and Traconis were living together at the time in a home in Farmington.

Her body has not been found, in spite of exhaustive police searches. But detectives said they found “a large quantity of physical evidence” of murder at the New Canaan home, including blood stains on the garage floor and evidence that someone tried to clear the crime scene. They said there also were traces of blood on a truck Dulos used.

Shortly after the reported disappearance, Hartford police produced traffic camera video footage the detectives believe shows Dulos and Traconis driving along a four mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford, while, according to a warrant, the driver stops to place “multiple garbage bags into various trash receptacles.“

“One clip showed what appeared to be a Caucasian female with a thin build leaning out of the passenger seat of the pickup and placing something on the ground or picking up an item,” according to an arrest warrant in the case. “This female was consistent with the appearance and build of Michelle Troconis. Some of the items recovered were tested and found to contain the blood of Jennifer Dulos.”

Troconis was charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in 2019. She was charged again in 2020 with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as additional tampering, hindering and conspiracy counts. She was sentenced to 14 ½ years on prison.

Dulos was charged with murder in January 2020, but died in a New York City hospital a month later after trying to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage of the home he shared with Troconis.

Troconis was in Superior Court Monday on a contempt of contempt of court charge. She has pleaded not guilty in that case and it remains pending.

©2024 Hartford Courant. Visit at courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.