Michelle Troconis, the Venezuelan socialite who conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos, has broken down in tears as the murdered mother’s teenage son spoke out for the first time at her sentencing hearing.
The 49-year-old former TV anchor faces up to 50 years in prison. Stamford Superior Court heard heartbreaking statements from Jennifer’s family including her eldest son Petros, 18, on Friday.
Petros, who was only 13 when his mother died, said Troconis had ‘helped destroy’ his family and ‘should be punished’. ‘I have been left with a hole inside of me that I know I will never be able to fill,’ he said while paying touching tribute to his ‘hero’ mother.
The sentencing is being live-streamed, but Judge Kevin A. Randolph forbade the media from showing any of Jennifer’s children on camera. Cameras instead showed Troconis breaking down in tears as Petros spoke.
Venezuelan socialite Michelle Troconis (center) who conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos has broken down in tears as the murdered mother-of-five’s teenage son gave a heartbreaking tribute
Eviscerating Troconis, who has a daughter of a similar age, Petros said: ‘Your honor, I understand that sitting over there is a mother with a child, and a family who love her.
‘My mom once had that. We once had that. She helped destroy it. That woman appeals to our sympathy under the guise of being a mother. She has desecrated the meaning of that word for me…
‘I want to end with a lesson my mom taught me: leave everything the same or better than you found it. Michelle Troconis, you did the opposite and you should be punished.’
‘The defendant’s actions in conspiring to murder my mother have had irreparable effects on my life, many that I’m still figuring out each and every day,’ he added.
‘I have been left with a hole inside of me that I know I will never be able to fill.
‘Losing my mother tore me from the joyful innocence of my youth and made me confront the horrors of the world at an early age.’
Jennifer, 50, was brutally attacked by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos in her Connecticut home when she returned from dropping their five kids at school, and his new lover Troconis helped conceal the crime . Fotis killed himself before facing trial
Jennifer’s eldest son, Petros, was only 13 at the time of her death. Now aged 18, he told Stamford Superior Court Troconis had ‘helped destroy’ his family. (Pictured: a photograph of Jennifer and Petros when he was a child)
Petros added that his mother was ‘everything’ to him, but during her acrimonious divorce, he ‘became very bitter with everyone around me – especially mom, because she was always trying to help me.’
‘This meant that I hurt the person closest to me because I didn’t know how else to voice my pain,’ he told the court.
‘The defendant’s actions mean that I will never be able to tell my mom how sorry I am for not being a better son when she needed me.
‘I will never be able to tell mom how proud of her courage I am, most importantly how much I love her. This fact haunts me every day.’
The sentencing is being live-streamed, but Judge Kevin A. Randolph forbade the media from showing any of Jennifer’s children on camera. Cameras instead showed Troconis breaking down in tears as Petros Dulos spoke
Police say Jennifer was brutally attacked by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos on May 24, 2019. He killed himself ahead of trial, but in March this year jurors found his glamorous girlfriend Troconis guilty of helping conceal the horrific slaying
‘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,’ he added.
‘I am upset that I will never know the man I would have become if my mom was still here to guide me.
‘She was my hero, and now I often feel lost without her comforting smile and her meaningful discussions.
‘I wish I could share my victories with her, but I can’t because she is not here any more. I wish I knew she was in the stands watching me play.
‘I wish I could come home and show her my grades and feel a genuine pride in me that I only got from her.
‘I wish she could see me mature from a boy into a young man. I wish I could hug mom again, but I can’t now.’
Michelle Troconis (left) and Fotis Dulos (right) were living together in his Farmington CT home at the time of Jennifer’s disappearance on May 24, 2019
Jennifer Dulos (left) vanished on May 24, 2019, amid a divorce from her husband Fotis (right), who was later charged with her murder. Fotis killed himself in January 2020, leaving his new lover Michelle Troconis to face trial alone for allegedly helping him conceal the killing
Jennifer’s mother, Gloria Farber, 88, who gave heartbreaking testimony earlier in the trial, said her daughter’s friends had been helping take care of her five orphaned children like ‘blended families’.
Gloria added that her daughter ‘lived in fear of her life and fear that her husband might abduct her children’ during her final years.
Jennifer’s older sister, Melissa Farber, remembered her as a ‘beautiful and precious baby sister’ who was a ‘talented writer and a beautiful person’.
She also recalled feeling ‘shaken to the core’ on the day Jennifer died before they even heard the devastating news.
‘At 8.45 in the morning of May 24, 2019, I awoke with a startle,’ Melissa told the court. ‘I did not realize at this time that my sister Jennifer’s life was ending, but there was something in me that was shaken to the core.’
The prosecutor blasted Troconis for her ‘failure to show any remorse’. The judge is set to sentence Troconis later today. Her sentencing hearing continues.
