Connie Dabate, known for her vibrant personality, was cherished by her family and friends. She was a 39-year-old mother of two who brought joy to those around her.

A horrific event unfolded just two days before Christmas ten years ago when Connie was fatally shot in what came to be known as the “Fitbit murder.” This tragedy shattered her loved ones and ultimately revealed an unexpected perpetrator, as explored in the December 4 episode of Oxygen’s Dateline: Unforgettable.

Connie Dabate Found Dead in Her Connecticut Home

Connie and her husband, Richard Dabate, seemed to have the perfect life in Ellington, Connecticut, a suburb of Hartford, where they were raising their two young sons.

Richard worked as an IT technician, while Connie was employed as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Their relationship was admired by many in their community.

“Her personality was magnetic,” recalled Kim Phillips, a close friend, in the episode titled “The Secrets of Birch View Drive.” “Spending time with her was something everyone wanted to do.”

But on the morning of Dec. 23, 2015, the family’s lives took a tragic turn while the boys, then ages 6 and 9, were at school. 

Richard claimed that a hulking masked intruder with a deep “Vin Diesel-like voice” who was armed with a knife broke into their home. The perpetrator demanded his wallet and pin codes.  

At the same time, Richard heard Connie come home from a workout at the YMCA and enter through the garage. He said he hollered and told his wife to run. 

Connie rushed to the basement, presumably to get a gun kept in a lockbox there. 

The intruder chased down Connie and shot her, and then he attacked Richard. He zip-tied him to a chair, stabbed him with a box cutter and burned him with a blow torch, all from a bag of tools in the basement. 

Richard crawled upstairs, triggered the home alarm and called 911. First responders rushed him to the hospital and found Connie deceased in the basement.

Police search for clues

As a team canvassed the neighborhood, another squad dusted for fingerprints, swabbed for DNA and photographed the entire scene. 

A revolver, believed to be the murder weapon, was found near Connie’s body. She’d been shot twice, once in the stomach and the back of her head. 

Connie’s cell phone and Fitbit tracker that were tucked into her waistband were collected for analysis. 

Early in the investigation, detectives questioned whether the Dabates were the victims of a home invasion that turned deadly—or if they’d been targeted.

Police considered a contractor with whom the Dabates had had a bitter dispute. But this line of investigation quickly led to a dead end. The man in question had an airtight alibi.

Richard Dabate’s behavior draws attention

There’s no script for grief, but in the days following Connie’s murder, her friends and family members couldn’t shake questions about Richard’s actions. A moment stood out at the funeral. 

“When we went to the cemetery, me and my friends were the last people at the grave, and he left,” recounted Kim. “I’m thinking, ‘Why doesn’t he feel the same way that I feel right now—that I just can’t leave this grave.’”

Connie’s sister-in-law, Donna Judge, also noticed that Richard quickly bolted from the burial reception, while Connie’s friends Peggy Giotsas and Darlene Beaudry recalled in the episode that Richard seemed too happy for a man whose wife had just died in a brutal way.

Richard Dabate’s account of the murder raises red flags

Detectives Jeffrey Payette and Brett Langevin interviewed Richard for seven hours the day of the attack. To them, they shared with Dateline, his story wasn’t adding up due to inconsistencies. 

Initially, he said he only heard Connie get shot. In the next minute, he said he saw his wife get shot. 

Richard’s timeline proved problematic as well. Richard said he got him at 9 a.m. and that Connie got home five minutes later and was killed. But Richard’s 911 call was made at 10:19 a.m., so there was over an hour unaccounted for.

Richard’s parents chalked up conflicting facts and a missing hour up to shock—and the fact that their son’s life had been turned upside down.

Richard Dabate arrested for wife’s murder

Rumors in the community persisted about Richard’s involvement, but 18 months after Connie’s murder, no arrests had been made. 

But all that while, investigators were focused on the case. Detectives questioned Richard’s account because there was no sign of forced entry or struggle and no intruder scent was picked up by K-9 units.

In addition, data from Connie’s Fitbit contradicted his timeline: The device recorded her taking steps and moving in the house for nearly an hour after Richard said she’s been killed. 

On April 14, 2017, Richard was charged for Connie’s murder. The boys went to live with Connie’s older sister after his arrest. 

State’s Attorney Matthew Gedansky was convinced he’d found Richard’s motive for murder. “He had a long-term affair with this other woman,” he told Dateline. “She became pregnant in May of 2015.” 

While friends were shocked by the bombshell revelation, investigators had known about the affair—with his longtime friend, Sara Ganzer—for a year and a half. Richard revealed it to them while he was in the hospital.

Before the murder, Richard had texted Sarah, referring to her, per Dateline, as his “little love nugget.” In other messages, there was evidence Richard had been trashing his wife to his girlfriend.

Dateline: Unforgettable airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.