Jennifer Dulos case: Michelle Troconis travel issues focus of brief court hearing

Michelle Troconis, left, arrives at the Stamford courthouse on Thursday with her mother, Marisela Arreaza. Michelle Troconis, left, arrives at the Stamford courthouse on Thursday with her mother, Marisela Arreaza. Photo: Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 80 Caption Close Jennifer Dulos case: Michelle Troconis travel issues focus of brief court hearing 1 / 80 Back to Gallery

STAMFORD — Michelle Troconis — charged in the disappearance of New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos — had her court-approved trip out of state cut short after just one day because of issues with her GPS monitoring device.

State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo raised the issue during a 90-second pretrial hearing in Troconis’ case Thursday.

Judge Gary White last month granted defense attorney Andrew Bowman’s request to allow his client to travel out of state from June 30 to July 17. Colangelo had requested Troconis to be on a “tight leash” and confined to the property where she was staying.

“Apparently, she was back in Connecticut the next day,” Colangelo said in court Thursday. “No one notified the state and I don’t think anyone notified the court of that, either.”

Bowman said his client’s GPS monitoring device had a weak signal, so she returned to Connecticut and stayed.

“She was back here because the GPS was not working,” he said.

Stamford Superior Court Judge John Blawie said there should be no further issues with the device.

“I don’t think there will be any issues with GPS going forward,” he said. “She’s going to remain in the state of Connecticut.”

Earlier in the hearing, the judge said he discussed the case with Colangelo and Bowman in his chambers.

Bowman said his client has been in compliance with her bond conditions and requested a continuance to Aug. 19, which was granted.

Troconis, 44, and Fotis Dulos, 51, have each pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges.

Troconis has met with authorities at least twice since being released on $500,000 bond. She met with investigators for several hours at Bowman’s Westport office and was seen guiding authorities to a wooded area behind the Farmington home she shared with Fotis Dulos.

Kevin Smith, an attorney for Fotis Dulos, attended the hearing on Thursday. He said he was in court for another matter and decided to stop by Troconis’ hearing, declining to comment further.

Defense attorney Norm Pattis, who is also representing Fotis Dulos, has called for the charges to be dropped against Troconis, who he claims can provide an alibi for his client.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen around 8 a.m. May 24 dropping off her children at school.

Police believe the 50-year-old mother of five was the victim of a “serious physical assault” after blood spatter was found in the garage of her New Canaan home.

Search warrants in the case will remain sealed until September at Colangelo’s request. A judge granted the request, saying “there is information contained in the search warrant affidavits that is not known to the general public and any potential suspect(s), the disclosure of which would jeopardize the investigation and chances of successfully solving any crimes involved.”

Police have also said they will not release Hartford surveillance videos they say show Fotis Dulos and Troconis making more than 30 stops in a four-mile stretch the night of the disappearance. According to arrest warrants, the videos also show Fotis Dulos dumping trash bags, which were later found to contain his estranged wife’s blood.

Colangelo said Fotis Dulos’ DNA was also found mixed with his wife’s blood on the faucet of her kitchen sink.

Pattis sent a motion to Stamford court on Wednesday, requesting Jennifer Dulos’ medical records. Pattis said the records could support his theory that Jennifer Dulos authored her own disappearance a la the novel “Gone Girl.” During a court appearance days later, Pattis suggested that Jennifer Dulos might have perpetrated a “revenge suicide” plot.

His theories have drawn sharp rebukes from Jennifer Dulos’ family and friends and “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn.

The motion noted the couple was engaged in a highly contentious divorce case and says Jennifer Dulos told her estranged husband, “she would do anything she had to to make sure he did not get custody of their children.”

Fotis Dulos’ next court date is scheduled for Aug. 2.

As part of the conditions of his release on $500,000 bond, Fotis Dulos has been banned from contacting his children. The five Dulos children, who range in age between 8 and 13, have been staying with Jennifer Dulos’ mother, Gloria Farber, since the disappearance.

Farber filed a motion seeking to intervene in the divorce case after she was granted temporary custody of the children by a probate court.

On Wednesday, attorneys for Farber filed a response to Fotis Dulos’ motion for a family court judge to dismiss the 85-year-old’s request to intervene in the divorce. In their response, Farber’s attorneys said Fotis Dulos is not a fit parent and has a history of lying to the court.

"The defendant is not a fit parent and there is more than ample evidence on which the court can base that determination," her attorneys wrote in the court document.