Michelle Troconis may be held in contempt of court in Jennifer Dulos conspiracy to murder case
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Michelle Troconis, who is accused of helping kill her boyfriend’s wife, could be held in contempt of court after she was reportedly spotted looking at sealed documents on her laptop during proceedings.
On Friday, Judge Kevin A Randolph said he would schedule a contempt hearing after the defence rests. The judge was alerted on Thursday by someone in the court gallery that Ms Troconis, 49, had part of a sealed custody report on her laptop screen, according to NBC Connecticut.
Prosecutors say Ms Troconis was dating Fotis Dulos at the time his wife, Jennifer Dulos disappeared on 19 May 2019. Officials believe Mr Dulos killed his wife in the garage of their residence in New Canaan after she dropped their children off at school and later cleaned up the crime scene.
Ms Troconis is suspected of helping him cover up the crime, but has denied any involvement. Mr Dulos died by suicide in January 2020 after police charged him with his wife’s murder.
Ms Dulos’s body was never found. Ms Troconis was subsequently charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and conspiracy to commit murder.
On Thursday, officials in the courtroom said the document Ms Troconis had on display is sealed because it has confidential information about Mr Dulos’s five children. Though the state has said the report needs to remain under seal, the jury heard testimony in regards to it this week.
Still, Ms Troconis was not supposed to have access to the document. Officials launched an inquiry to determine how she got the report and how the person in the gallery recognized it.
“The concern the state has is this notion that she would have access on her device to a report that it starts off that a member of the audience is able to see, which is clearly under seal,” said Michelle Manning, the state’s assistant attorney, said when speaking to the judge.
“That is concerning. The second major point is that it was displayed for the public with a news camera behind us and that she couldn’t even have read it to begin with.”
On Friday, the judge told the courtroom that only counsel would be able to have access to a computer during proceedings and that the court would not become a “hallway monitor”, adding that anyone who makes an attempt to communicate with the jury or a witness would be removed.
The trial, which began in January, has lasted 23 days and is expected to continue into next week.
