Missing Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos Officially Declared Dead As Trial Begins

Jennifer Dulos, a missing Connecticut mother of five, was officially declared dead more than four years after she was allegedly killed. This was a victory for her family. It was Jennifer’s 88-year-old mother Gloria Farber, now the guardian of her children, who petitioned to have her declared dead prior to the current trial of one of her alleged killers.

The court declared that Jennifer had “non-survivable injuries,” reported NBC Connecticut.

Dulos had separated from her husband and filed for divorce, and they were in a custody dispute when she died. According to HuffPost, she had requested an emergency custody order for her children, stating, “I fear for my family’s safety, and I believe him to be highly capable and vengeful enough to take the children and disappear.”

On May 24, 2019, Dulos drove her five children to school, and she was never seen again. On that same day, bloodstains were found in her garage, which indicated a violent struggle, reported PEOPLE. Her black Chevy Suburban was later found abandoned several miles away from her home.

Authorities believe that her husband, Fotis Dulos, was lying in wait for Jennifer to come home that day and then attacked her. He was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with her disappearance, but he died by suicide while out on bail before his trial, according to NBC News.

Fotis’s girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. His close friend, attorney Kent Mawhinney, also faced charges for conspiracy to commit murder.

Troconis is now on trial and facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, hindering prosecution, and tampering with physical evidence, among other charges. She has pleaded not guilty. Her attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, told HuffPost that she thought Fotis’s divorce was amicable when she moved into the Farmington house that had once been the family’s home.

Troconis had admitted that she was a passenger in Fotis’s truck when he was throwing full plastic garbage bags from the bed of his ruck to a variety of trash receptacles around Hartford on the night Jennifer vanished, reported CBS News. However, she claimed that she didn’t know what he was doing and that she was on her phone and therefore “wasn’t really paying attention”, according to arrest warrants.

Carrie Luft, Jennifer’s friend, released a statement on behalf of family and friends, that said in part, "As this trial begins, it is crucial to remember who is at the center: Jennifer, whose five children have lost their mother and, as an eventuality, both parents. Jennifer's family and loved ones have lost a loving daughter, sister, cousin, and lifelong friend."