Richard Dabate is serving a 65-year prison sentence in Connecticut after being convicted in the December 23, 2015, murder of his wife, Connie Dabate, who was found shot to death in the couple’s Ellington home.
According to the Connecticut Department of Corrections, Dabate is today serving his prison sentence at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, where he is incarcerated for murder. His sentencing date was August 18, 2022, and his maximum release date is listed as May 2, 2087, according to the Corrections website.
The MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution is located at 1153 East Street in South Suffield, Connecticut, the prison’s website says.
“The MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution is a level 4/5, high/maximum security level multi-mission facility for adult males,” the prison’s website reads.
Connecticut Department of CorrectionsRichard Dabate prison record.
On January 6, 2023, an episode of “Dateline” will feature the Dabate case at 9/8 central.
According to CTInsider, authorities discovered Richard Dabate “tied to a metal folding chair while lying on the kitchen floor” in the family’s Ellington, Connecticut, home.
Connie Dabate was found dead in the basement shot in the head and abdomen, according to CTInsider, which reported that Richard Dabate blamed an intruder, saying he had encountered a man with a voice like actor Vin Diesel’s in the bedroom and believed his wife “was trying to save him by going for his guns, which were in the basement of the home,” when she was shot by the intruder. She was shot with one of Richard Dabate’s guns, CTInsider reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
Prosecutors Say Evidence, Including From Connie Dabate’s Fitbit, ‘Contradicted’ Dabate’s Claims That a Masked Intruder Killed His Wife
In a May 10, 2022 press release, Matthew C. Gedansky, Tolland State’s Attorney, announced that Richard Dabate “was found guilty by a jury today of Murder in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54a, Tampering with Physical Evidence in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-155 and Making a False Statement in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-157b.”
According to the release, Dabate was convicted in the shooting death of his wife, Connie Dabate, on December 23, 2015, inside the couple’s Ellington home.
“Evidence presented at the 22-day trial showed forensic examinations of various forms of technology, including Connie’s personal fitness tracker, Dabate’s computer tablet, the home’s alarm system and each of the couple’s cellphones contradicted Dabate’s claims that a masked intruder perpetrated the murder,” the release says.
“The thorough and thoughtful examination of technology was key to this investigation and was significant in proving that the defendant was guilty of this crime,” Gedansky said in the news release. “In the end, though, this was another case of domestic violence. And though much progress has been made in recent years to support victims and survivors and to hold abusers accountable, these domestic violence homicides are still happening so we must continue to work together to end domestic violence.”
In another press release announcing Dabate’s 65-year prison sentence, the Office of the State’s Attorney wrote, “Evidence at trial – including 600 exhibits and the testimony of 130 witnesses – showed Dabate fatally shot his wife inside the couple’s Ellington home.” Heavy has contacted the State’s Attorney’s office to obtain the criminal complaint against Dabate.
The case is sometimes called the “Fitbit murder” because, according to NBC Connecticut, prosecutors argued that Connie Dabate’s Fitbit “showed her moving around” an hour after Richard Dabate said she was killed.
On the witness stand, Richard Dabate testified that he and Connie were considering divorce, and “she knew he got his girlfriend pregnant,” NBC Connecticut reported. But he claimed that his marriage was improving when the “masked intruder” broke into the family’s home wearing camouflage and murdered Connie Dabate, the television station reported.
Prosecutors accused Richard Dabate of shooting Connie Dabate and then staging the crime scene and “harming himself,” according to NBC Connecticut. They said Connie Dabate wasn’t aware of the girlfriend’s pregnancy, the television station added.
The prosecution argued that nothing was taken, and there were no signs of forced entry to the home, NBC Connecticut reported. Surveillance video and GPS data from Connie’s cell phone indicated she went to the YMCA and returned home at 9:18 a.m. and, according to the Fitbit, was walking around at 9:27 a.m., NBC Connecticut reported, adding that her movement stopped at 10:05 a.m. The defense team argued that “the DNA of an unidentified male was found in six different locations,” NBC Connecticut reported.
Connie Dabate Was a Mother of Young Boys Who Worked as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, Her Obituary Says
Carmon Community Funeral Home obituaryConnie Dabate
Connie (Margotta) Dabate’s obituary, published by the Carmon Community Funeral Home, says she died at age 39 in Ellington, Connecticut.
The obituary calls her the “beloved wife and best friend of Richard Dabate” and “dedicated and loving mother of Richard ‘RJ’ age 9, and Connor age 6.”
She “died tragically at her home on Wednesday, December 23, 2015,” the obituary says. It says that Connie Dabate was “born in Rockville, the daughter of Kenneth and Cindi (Stuart) Margotta,” and then graduated from Ellington High School and the University of Connecticut.
“She was a pharmaceutical sales representative for Reckitt Benckiser,” the obituary says. “Connie was a past vice president, and member for many years, of the Ellington Ambulance Corp. She was a loving, cheerful and kind person. Connie was the sunshine of so many lives.”
Dabate Insisted He Was Innocent During a Sentencing Hearing
When a judge sentenced Dabate in the fatal shooting of his wife, she described the murder as a “brutal, calculating and incomprehensible act,” CTInsider reported in August 2022.
CTInsider reports that Dabate claimed his wife died in a home invasion, but a jury rejected the argument and convicted him.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Dabate’s father, Richard Dabate Sr., said after the sentencing, according to CTInsider. The newspaper reported that Connie Dabate’s brother, Keith Margotta, said he thought the 65-year prison sentence “was appropriate. And just. It enables us to get a little bit of closure — although nothing will bring Connie back — so that as a family we can move forward.”
CTInsider reported that, when it was his turn to speak during the sentencing hearing, Dabate maintained his innocence.
“I’m here before you as an innocent man,” he told the judge, according to CTInsider. “I will never stop fighting for justice for my wife Connie, who I think about every single day.”
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