Michelle Troconis made hateful remark about Jennifer Dulos weeks before she disappeared, witness testifies
STAMFORD, Conn. - A major witness for the prosecution said Michelle Troconis offered a hateful comment about Jennifer Dulos weeks before the mother of five disappeared.
Troconis is accused of conspiring to murder Dulos and covering up the crime.
Pawel Gumienny, an immigrant from Poland, worked for Fotis Dulos's homebuilding company as a construction manager.
"He was very hard-headed. Didn't like people to say no to him," Gumienny said.
He testified a few weeks before Jennifer Dulos disappeared from her New Canaan home on May 24, 2019.
Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis were upset Jennifer would not let the five Dulos children visit their dad to say goodbye to a terminally ill family dog. Gumienny testified Troconis used a slur to describe Jennifer.
"She said that ***** should be buried right next to the dog," Gumienny said.
He told the jury the night Jennifer disappeared, Dulos was in jeans and a tee shirt and had shaved his head, similar to Gumienny's 2019 hairstyle.
"I told him, what are you doing, you shave your head, wearing dirty work clothes, trying to be as handsome as me?" Gumienny said.
The prosecution believes Dulos changed his look and drove Gumienny's red pickup truck to New Canaan on May 24, hoping to throw suspicion on his worker.
Tuesday, Gumienny disclosed another ugly comment Troconis allegedly made a few days after Jennifer disappeared.
"She said I'm gonna kill that ******* ***** when she turns up," Gumienny said.
On a day of damaging testimony, the Troconis family spoke out in her defense.
"She has nothing to do with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos," Marisela Troconis said.
Gumienny testified Dulos pressured him to change the seats in his red truck after Jennifer disappeared. That's when he began to think Dulos was involved.
While Gumienny received immunity for his testimony - investigators don't believe he played any role in the crime.