Richard Dabate Bio – Richard Dabate Wiki
Richard Dabate, the Connecticut man who was convicted in May for the 2015 “Fitbit murder” of his wife Connie, has been sentenced to 65 years in prison.
AGE:
Richard Dabate is 46 years old.
DETAIL OF INCIDENCE:
Despite this, Richard continued to maintain his innocence Thursday and plans to appeal the case, his lawyer Trent LaLima told multiple outlets, including NBC News.
During the five-week trial, which ended on May 11, jurors heard Richard claim that a 6-foot-2-inch masked intruder broke into the couple’s home in Ellington, CT. on Dec. 23, 2015, tied him up and tortured him — then shot and killed his wife.
Prior to this, Richard claimed he had taken his two sons to the bus stop, returned home to grab a “work shirt” and left for work at about 8:30 a.m. He added that Connie was still home getting ready for a fitness class at the YMCA at the time.
Evidence gathered by police contradicted his version of events, however. “His story made no sense,” a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police told PEOPLE in a 2017 interview. “So we had to begin a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it.”
Using records from Connie’s Fitbit, both of their cellphones, computers and house alarm logs, police said Richard logged into a computer at the house at about 9:01 a.m. At 9:04 a.m. he emailed his work supervisor, saying an alarm at the house had gone off and that he’d have to return to check on it, according to the arrest warrant.
Connie’s Fitbit registered movement inside the house at 9:23 a.m. She was also active on Facebook between 9:40 a.m. and 9:46 a.m., posting videos to her page on her iPhone from home, according to the warrant.
The last recorded distance her Fitbit tracked was 1,217 feet between 9:18 a.m. and 10:05 a.m. Detectives concluded that the total distance it would take Connie to walk from the car to the basement, where they found her body, was no more than 125 feet, according to the warrant.
During his interview with detectives, Richard admitted to an extramarital affair resulting in a pregnancy, although he was vague with police as to whether his wife knew about the affair or the pregnancy, the warrant said.
The trial was not about Fitbit,” Wayne Rioux, a spokesperson for Connie’s family said after the jury convicted Richard on all counts, reported The Associated Press. “The trial was about the cold-blooded, planned murder of Connie Margotta Debate.”