Vernon, Conn. ( Associated Press) — A Connecticut man was convicted Tuesday of manslaughter in the 2015 murder of his wife — a case built partly on evidence provided by his Fitbit exercise activity tracker.
A jury in Rockville Superior Court found Richard Dabbett guilty of all three charges – murder, tampering with evidence and making false statements to officers – after a five-week trial and a second day of deliberation. The charge of murder carries a prison sentence of up to 60 years. He is to be sentenced on 16 September.
Court marshals handcuffed Dabet and escorted him out of the courtroom after Judge Corinne Klatt increased his bond to $5 million. He was freed after his arrest posted $1 million bail.
Dabet’s lawyer Trent Lalima said that the appeals of the convicts have been planned.
“I think we put together a very strong case for why Rick didn’t commit this crime,” he said outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced.
Wayne Rioux, spokesman for Connie Dabet’s family, said justice was served with Richard Dabet’s sentence.
“The test was not about Fitbit,” he said. “The trial was about the ruthless, planned murder of Connie Margot Dabate. … There will be no closure for the Margot family, but there is justice for Connie in the end.
Dabate maintained his innocence and testified that a large masked man with a voice resembling actor Vin Diesel shot his wife, Connie Dabate, and tied her up at the couple’s Ellington home in December 2015.
Police said Connie Dabbett’s Fitbit information contradicted her husband’s story and showed she was walking around an hour after he was killed.
Prosecutor Matthew Gedansky said in his closing argument that Dabet planned to kill his wife and invade the home because his life was about to be exposed with the birth of a child with another woman.
Lalima questioned the reliability of the data from the Fitbit tracker, saying the device was not designed with the accuracy required for court testimony.
Lalima also pointed to unidentified DNA found in Dabbets’ home, including the gun that killed Connie and the testimony of a house cleaner, who said he found a dark green paint behind the window at the time of the crime. would have seen the shape. ,
A jury was selected for the case in early 2020, before state courts were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. A judge dismissed that jury last August, saying it had been made a too long panel and that some jurors had moved out of state, and a new panel was selected in late February.
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