A Fitbit led him to be convicted of murdering his spouse – NBC New York

ROCKVILLE, Connecticut – A Connecticut person was sentenced Thursday to 65 a long time in jail for the 2015 murder of his spouse, who prosecutors mentioned was wearing a Fitbit physical fitness tracker with data that contradicted his statements to the law enforcement.

Richard Dabate, 46, of Ellington, was convicted by a jury in May well of murder and other prices. He maintains his innocence and intends to attraction the verdicts, his lawyer, Trent LaLima, reported after the Rockville Exceptional Courtroom hearing.

The lethal shooting of Connie Dabate, 39, at the couple’s dwelling two days prior to Xmas in 2015 although their two younger children were being in university captivated countrywide attention, with unusual Fitbit evidence and facts of Richard Dabate’s relationship with a expecting girl at the time of the murder and afterwards gave beginning to her son.

The sentencing hearing provided psychological testimony from Connie Dabate’s kin. “It lets us to shut down a bit, even if it won’t deliver Connie back. As a family members, we can shift forward, ”Connie Dabate’s brother Keith Margotta said outside the courthouse soon after sentencing.

Dabate advised law enforcement that a masked gentleman broke into his home, killed his wife and tied him up. Police observed him with superficial stab wounds, with a person arm and leg tied to a folding chair.

State police stated Dabate delivered them with a timeline of functions that conflicted with his wife’s Fitbit details, which showed she moved for about an hour just after Dabate stated she had been shot.

There were also no indicators of a struggle in the dwelling, condition police stated.

In his concluding arguments, prosecutor Matthew Gedansky stated that Dabate devised a system to eliminate his wife and arrange a raid on the home when his lifetime was about to tumble apart due to his romance with the other female and his personal. pregnancy.

LaLima questioned the reliability of Fitbit’s info. He also claimed that Dabate’s variation of occasions was reinforced by unfamiliar DNA found in the residence and by a witness who claimed to have found an unknown particular person or deer in the neighborhood on the working day of the murder.

Additional than 100 men and women testified for the duration of the five-week trial.

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