Authorities claim Fitbit contradicts man’s account of wife’s death
Connie Dabate was killed in her home only two days before Christmas 2015. Her obituary described her as “beloved wife and best friend of Richard Dabate”.
But now her “best friend” is the lead suspect in the case of the 39-year-old’s murder.
His arrest comes after police reviewed her movements as she tracked herself through Fitbit.
Richard Dabate faces murder, tampering with evidence, and making a false statement charges in the fatal shooting of his wife on December 23, 2015.
Authorities say that 40-year-old Dabate told them a masked man had entered their home, shot his wife, and tied him up before he burned the intruder with a torch.
But Connecticut state police wrote in an arrest warrant Connie’s Fitbit was logging steps after the time Richard Dabate told them she was killed.
Richard told investigators the killing took place around 9am. However, records from Connie’s Fitbit show she was moving inside their home at around 10.05am. Other online activity also indicates Connie was active in her home around that time.
There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle in the home, nothing was stolen, and three separate K-9 officers were unable to pick up any scent but Richard Dabate’s, the warrant filed by Connecticut State Police said.
Investigators also said that witness statements, text messages, information from social media, computers, the home’s alarm system, as well as data from the Fitbit contradict Richard Dabate’s initial statements to police.
The warrant claims that Richard Dabate used a credit card that his wife did not know about to pay for flowers for his pregnant girlfriend, stays at a Motel 6, and to spend over $1,200 (€1,100) at a strip club.
The other woman was about seven months pregnant at the time of Connie’s murder, according to the warrant.
