Life in Prison for Former ESPN Host Found Guilty on Conspiracy to Commit Murder?

In a case that has deeply affected and shocked the New England region and beyond, former ESPN host Michelle Troconis was found guilty on Friday of assisting her now-deceased boyfriend in the murder of his estranged wife nearly five years ago.

According to CBS News, a jury convicted Troconis in the murder of Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five entangled in a bitter divorce and custody dispute with Fotis Dulos, a Turkish-born American businessman.

CBS News reported that Troconis was found guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with physical evidence, and hindering prosecution.

Her sentencing is scheduled for May 31, and her bond is set at $6 million, according to NBC News.

At 49, the 50-year sentence facing Troconis is essentially a life sentence.

In a statement, the family of Jennifer Dulos referred to the verdict as "a crucial attribution of accountability, not a victory."

“There can be no victory when five children are growing up without their mother,” the statement said.

Troconis’ lawyer plans to appeal.

“I truly just don’t see how the jury could have reached this verdict,” attorney John Schoenhorn said, according to CBS. “We’re going to challenge whether or not the trial had errors that should be reconsidered. And if not reconsidered in this court, then we’ll go to the appellate or Supreme Court.”

Troconis’ family denounced the outcome as a “tremendous injustice,” according to CBS, maintaining her innocence and vowing to continue fighting to prove it.

Jennifer Dulos disappeared on the morning of May 24, 2019, after dropping off her five children at school.

Investigators discovered evidence of blood in multiple locations in her vehicle parked at her New Canaan, Connecticut, home.

Authorities detailed Fotis Dulos’ movements on the day Jennifer went missing, including his alleged attack on her in their garage and subsequent efforts to dispose of her body.

Despite extensive searches, Jennifer Dulos was presumed dead, and her body was never found.

CNN reported that despite her body never being discovered, a Connecticut judge declared Jennifer Dulos dead in October 2023, concluding she likely endured “traumatic, blunt-force injuries.”

Evidence against Troconis included her presence in a vehicle with Fotis as he disposed of garbage bags containing items linked to Jennifer through DNA evidence, a crucial aspect of the prosecution’s case against her. Fotis’s friend and attorney, Kent Mawhinney, also faces allegations of involvement in the conspiracy to murder Jennifer.

He has pleaded not guilty. (In a statement after the Troconis verdict, Mawhinney reiterated his claim of innocence, according to WTIC-TV in Hartford.)

The arrest warrant for Troconis also accused her of providing inconsistent statements to police regarding Fotis’ whereabouts on the day of the murder, further implicating her in the conspiracy.

Fotis, who was deeply in debt, became the prime suspect in Jennifer’s murder.

In January 2020, Fotis, 52, apparently attempted suicide from carbon poisoning. He was revived but pronounced dead two days later.

Troconis is a dual citizen of the United States and Venezuela, according to CBS. Her work for ESPN was based in South America, according to Sports Illustrated.