- Richard Dabate sentenced to 65 years for 2015 murder staged as home invasion
- Victim’s Fitbit data disproved timeline provided by Dabate
- Prosecutor cited notorious Cheshire home invasion during cross-examination
- Court ruled 6-0 that evidence outweighed prosecutor’s improprieties
The Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of Richard Dabate, whose wife’s Fitbit data became pivotal in disproving his account of a 2015 home invasion. Dabate, who claimed a masked intruder killed his wife Connie, was contradicted by her fitness tracker, which showed activity for an hour after he reported her death. The unanimous decision comes despite the court identifying multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct during trial.
Prosecutors demonstrated Dabate meticulously staged the crime scene, using zip ties and self-inflicted injuries to support his false narrative. His motive centered on a years-long affair with a woman pregnant with his child at the time of the murder. During cross-examination, State’s Attorney Matthew Gedansky drew comparisons to Connecticut’s 2007 Cheshire home invasion murders—a tactic the court deemed “unnecessarily inflammatory” but ultimately non-decisive.
The ruling emphasizes growing judicial acceptance of digital evidence, with justices validating Fitbit data reliability despite defense objections. Over 130 witnesses and 600 exhibits created what the court called “an exceptionally strong evidentiary foundation,” diminishing the impact of Gedansky’s improper remarks about jury intelligence and crime scene comparisons.
This case establishes precedent for wearable tech in criminal trials, reflecting a 23% increase in digital evidence usage in Northeast U.S. homicide cases since 2020. Legal experts suggest it may prompt revised guidelines for prosecutorial conduct, particularly regarding historical case references during testimony.
