The first witness to take the stand in the trial of Michelle Troconis Thursday was a parenting supervisor who was ordered by a court to supervise a visit between Fotis Dulos and his children on May 22, 2019. That date was just days before Jennifer Dulos disappeared.
Sidnee Streater told jurors about the interactions between Fotis Dulos and his children on that day, as well as his interactions with Jennifer.
Up next was Christine Roy, a forensic examiner at the Connecticut State Forensic Laboratory.
Troconis, 49, has been charged in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos, the wife of the man whom Troconis was dating at the time Jennifer disappeared.
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Jennifer Dulos was last seen on May 24, 2019, after dropping her children off at school in New Canaan.
Police believe her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, killed her in the garage of her home in New Canaan after she dropped their children off at school and then cleaned up the crime scene.
Troconis is accused of helping Fotis Dulos cover up the killing of his wife, whose body has never been found.
She has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution and has pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement.
State police investigators tracked the movement of that Tacoma as it headed toward New Canaan on the Merritt Parkway on the morning of May 24, 2019 and back later that morning. It was seen on surveillance video from cameras at rest stops in New Canaan and Fairfield.
Retired State Police Detective Matthew Reilly was back on the stand for lengthy testimony about the processing of Pawel Gumienny’s red Toyota Tacoma pickup, which police seized in June 2019.
Gumienny was an employee of Fotis Dulos.
“It appeared to be very clean for an 18-year-old truck,” Reilly said.
He noted it appeared the truck was cleaned inside and out before it was seized and went on to show the contents of the truck, and the processing methods, including swabs that were taken.
There was also comprehensive testimony about the seats of the Tacoma when it was seized -- Porsche seats that investigators believed came from a wrecked Porsche SUV that came up in testimony earlier.
In the bed of the truck there were two other seats, designated as from the Ford Motor Company, that investigators believed to be the seats inside the vehicle at the time Fotis Dulos took the truck to New Canaan on the morning Jennifer Dulos disappeared.
Gumienny saved the seats, despite Fotis Dulos telling him to get rid of them, and handed those over to investigators as well.
“They cut out the area circled,” Reilly said, pointing to an area of the Ford seats investigators believed there was a blood stain.
Troconis’ defense attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, was quick to point out that no blood was later found inside the Tacoma.
The jury also saw physical evidence in the courtroom and a fingerprint expert with the state forensic lab took the stand.
Kevin Parisi, of the state Forensic Laboratory, testified about evidence pulled from Albany Avenue in Hartford trash cans.
“This is the tape removed from both bags,” Parisi said, showing the jury some of the samples he attempted to pull fingerprints from.
Three of Fotis Dulos’ fingerprints were matched to evidence from Hartford. Other fingerprints identified from evidence were either inconclusive or didn’t have a match.
There was also testimony offered from neighbors of Fotis Dulos in the spring of 2019. They testified about the surveillance video they handed over to police, but we have not seen that surveillance video.
Two retired members of the state forensics lab are expected to testify on Thursday.
How to watch the trial
Our daily special, airing weekdays at 9 a.m. on the NBC Connecticut free streaming channel is available on Roku, Samsung TV plus, Freevee, and a number of other platforms. Here is more on how to watch.
Watch full episodes of "Inside the Trial of Michelle Troconis"
Watch the full episodes of "Inside the Trial of Michelle Troconis" here.
