Emotions expected to run high during sentencing of woman in case of disappearance of her mother Jennifer Dulos

Family and friends of Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared from her Connecticut home in 2019, are expected to offer emotional testimony Friday as her late ex-husband's former girlfriend is sentenced after being found guilty of helped plan and cover up his murder.

Michelle Troconis, 49, faces up to 50 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Dulos' ex-husband, Fotis Dulos, killed her at her New Canaan home and left with her body, which was never found. He committed suicide in 2020 shortly after being charged with murder. He had denied killing his wife.

Troconis was the girlfriend of Fotis Dulos and was living with him at the time of Jennifer Dulos' disappearance. Troconis was convicted by a jury in March of conspiracy to commit murder, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Troconis, 49, insists he is innocent and plans to appeal his conviction. She remains in custody at the state prison for women. His family and friends, who were angry and heartbroken after his conviction, are also expected to testify at Friday's hearing.

Family and friends of Jennifer Dulos and Troconis prepared statements for the court before sentencing. It was unclear which of them would testify, including possibly the Dulos' five children, now ages 13 to 18.

The conviction comes five years and one week after Jennifer Dulos disappeared after dropping off the five children at school on May 24, 2019.

The case attracted widespread attention and was the subject of news documentaries and a television movie, Lifetime's “Gone Mom.”

Jennifer Dulos was a member of a wealthy New York family whose father, the late Hilliard Farber, founded his own brokerage firm, Hilliard Farber & Co., after running the bond trading desk at Chase Manhattan Bank. She was also the niece, by marriage, of fashion designer Liz Claiborne.

“We miss her every day, in every way,” some of her relatives and friends said last week in a statement released by Dulos' friend Carrie Luft. “For us, five years is not a milestone but a marker of cumulative loss and longing. Life goes on, but sorrow continues alongside it, a shadow, a current, the presence of absence.

Troconis, who has dual American and Venezuelan citizenship, described herself as a co-founder of equestrian therapy programs. She once had her own television production company in Argentina and hosted a snow sports show for ESPN South America. Fotis Dulos was a luxury home builder from Greece.

His attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, did not respond to messages seeking comment. When Troconis was convicted in March, he said he didn't understand how the jury could have reached a guilty verdict.

Troconis' family, including his parents and sisters, expressed the same disbelief.

“Selecting and naming my sister as guilty is not the right thing to do because she is innocent,” Claudia Troconis-Marmol said through tears outside the courthouse shortly after the convictions.

Authorities suggested that Fotis Dulos killed Jennifer Dulos because of his growing frustrations with their divorce and child custody proceedings.

At the time, Jennifer Dulos lived with the children in New Canaan while Fotis Dulos lived in the family's 10,000-square-foot home about 70 miles away in Farmington.

Hours after Jennifer Dulos was last seen alive, Troconis was recorded on surveillance video accompanying Fotis Dulos on a trip to Hartford, where he threw trash bags into the back of his pickup truck. Police later found some of the bags after seizing Fotis Dulos' cellphone, reviewing his location data and obtaining surveillance video from the scene.

In one of the most shocking moments of Troconis' trial, the prosecution and state forensic experts showed a shirt, bra and clips with blood-like stains that were found in the one of the trash bags. Tests showed that the DNA on the items was most likely that of Jennifer Dulos.

Troconis told police she didn't know what was in the bags or why Fotis Dulos was throwing them away in Hartford.

Prosecutors also said Fotis Dulos left his cell phone at home the day Jennifer Dulos disappeared and that Troconis answered a call from his friend that morning. They say this is proof that Troconis was involved in the plot and tried to help create a false alibi. She denied the allegation.

Another defendant in the case, Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos and his former lawyer in a civil case, is awaiting trial on conspiracy to murder charges. He pleaded not guilty.

Although Jennifer Dulos' body was never found, a probate judge declared her legally dead last year. The Dulos children have been in the care of Jennifer Dulos' mother in New York since her disappearance.