richard dabate

Richard Dabate Takes Stand in Murder Trial

Court Sketches by Alba Acevedo

Richard Dabate took the stand Thursday in the murder trial against him.

Dabate is accused of killing his wife, Connie, in their Ellington home on December 23, 2015.

He has maintained his innocence from the beginning and told police a masked intruder shot Connie to death in the basement of the home and stabbed him multiple times with a utility knife.

On the stand Thursday, Dabate told jurors about what he says happened that day in the house. He described being tied up with zip ties and stabbed in the legs and chest.

The prosecutor cross-examining Dabate asked him if he had staged the bloody crime scene and planted evidence. Debate denied both of those assertions.

At one point, the questioning became so intense, Dabate's defense attorney, Trent Lalima, asked for a mistrial. The judge denied the request.

Dabate said he and his wife had discussed divorcing in 2014 and that he had told her about impregnating his longtime friend, Sara Ganzer. But he said their relationship had improved.

Earlier in the week, jurors heard testimony from an expert about a Fitbit device found on Connie Dabate's body after the killing. Prosecutors say the Fitbit showed Connie was still moving an hour after Richard Dabate said the intruder shot and killed her.

The expert said Fitbit devices are about 98% accurate when it comes to timing.

Connie Dabate's brother and mother took the stand in Richard Dabate's murder trial. It was also the first day that the prosecution introduced the Fitbit evidence.

Lalima argued the time could have been off because of something called "Time Drift." The expert confirmed it is possible for the time to be off on Fitbit if the computer it is synced with has lost internet connection. He said he didn't believe there was a time discrepancy in the device Connie was wearing.

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