Michelle Troconis, the Connecticut socialite who was convicted of helping her boyfriend Fotis Dulos murder his wife Jennifer Dulos and dispose of her remains, was sentenced on Friday to 20 years behind bars for her role in the plot.
Troconis, 49, was convicted in March on six criminal charges including conspiracy to commit murder, hindering the prosecution, and tampering with evidence. She narrowly avoided the 45-year sentence the prosecution sought for her after a heavy day in court, which brought her face to face with the parentless children of the Dulos family.
Emotions ran high as the children, who are now teenagers, faced Troconis and told her how her actions had upended their lives. At one point, Dulos’ son Theodore told Troconis she “will be considered evil, violent, and certainly a coward,” which caused Troconis to break down in tears.
ADVERTISEMENT
At the hearing, Dulos’ eldest son Petros, 18, described the gaping loss he felt when his mother was taken away from him five years ago.
“My mother was everything to me,” he said. “The defendant’s actions means I’ll never be able to tell my mom how sorry I am for not being a better son. I’ll never be able to tell mom how proud of her I am.”
Dulos was allegedly murdered by her husband, Fotis Dulos, in 2019 at the couple’s New Canaan home. Prosecutors say he planned the murder with the help of Troconis, his live-in girlfriend at the time, and the two of them dumped her body somewhere.
“There are feelings and thoughts that I will never be able to express again because my mom was the key to those parts of me,” Petros Dulos said.
His sister Christiane, 15, focused on the pain and damage Troconis had done to their family.
“Michelle is the reason why I am completely lost in the world. She’s the reason why I have blocked out my childhood,” Christiane said. She was 10 years old at the time Dulos disappeared.
“She’s the reason that kids in school look at me. The reason why my teachers say guardians are not parents. She’s the reason I have to sit on the bathroom floor with my little sister and try my best to comfort her.”
Investigators never found Dulos’ remains, but declared her dead last year.
Theodore Dulos, 18, told the court Troconis deserved the maximum sentence for her role in the murder plot.
“An appropriate sentence would be 50 years: 10 years for each child who lost their mother,” Theodore told Troconis, who was crying at that point. “I will never forgive you for what you’ve done.”
The five Dulos children lost both of their parents in the nightmare murder-scandal that consumed their childhoods: just a few weeks after their father was charged with their mother’s murder, he died by suicide, leaving a note that maintained his innocence.
