5 key details about the Connie Dabate case on Dateline: Unforgettable

Connie Dabate, a pharmaceutical sales representative and devoted mother of two young boys was found shot to death in her family home on December 23, 2015, just two days before Christmas.

Her husband, Richard Dabate, an IT specialist called 911 that morning describing a terrifying home invasion by a masked intruder who chased Connie to the basement and killed her before attacking him. The case dubbed the Fitbit murder became an unforgettable case that demonstrated how a simple fitness tracker became a silent witness in solving a crime.

This is a tale of betrayal and justice, as told in-depth in the Dateline: Unforgettable season 7, episode 5 titled The Secrets of Birch View Drive, presented by Andrea Canning which was released on December 4, 2025 on Oxygen. Viewers can watch the episode on the Oxygen app, Peacock and NBC.

Dateline: Unforgettable: 5 Key facts about the Connie Dabate case 

1. The morning of the shooting

On December 23, 2015, Connie Dabate left her home in Ellington, Connecticut at approximately 8:40 a.m. to run errands and take an exercise class at the local YMCA. She came back just before 9:00 a.m., according to her husband Richard, who was working from home that day.

Richard would later tell police that he heard Connie enter the house and called out to her from the basement office. Soon thereafter, he said a big masked man with a deep voice entered the residence brandishing a knife, demanding money and codes for bank accounts.

The intruder allegedly chased Connie downstairs and shot her twice, once in the stomach, once in the head with a revolver taken from the house. Richard said he briefly hid before the attacker found him, zip tied him to a chair, stabbed him with a box cutter and burned him with a blowtorch from a tool bag.

Freeing himself, he crawled upstairs and was able to activate the alarm of the house and call 911 at 10:19 a.m. First responders arrived within minutes and found Connie's body in the basement next to the gun, while there had been no signs of struggle upstairs as per Oxygen.

The Dateline: Unforgettable episode takes viewers through this chaotic scene with animations and witness accounts that highlight not only the holiday timing but also the shock to the small community.

2. Richard Dabate's detailed 911 call and injuries in Dateline: Unforgettable

During the 911 call, Richard Dabate remained on the line for approximately 13 minutes describing the intruder as a muscular man about 6 feet 2 inches tall, donning a mask, hoodie and gloves with a voice like actor Vin Diesel.

He described how his injuries were inflicted step by step, showing that his arm and leg had been slashed by the attacker, while the torch was used on his arm and leg too. Richard received treatment by paramedics at the scene for cuts and burns but was released from the hospital later that day.

Detectives immediately interviewed him for seven hours, observing that Richard was in a calm demeanour. Richard insisted the intruder had fled through a basement window after ransacking the home for valuables but police found no footprints or broken glass there.

The call recording which was played in the Dateline episode, captures Richard's laboured breathing and pleas for help, offering a firsthand glimpse into his version of events, according to Oxygen. 

3. The Fitbit data that changed everything

One of the most pivotal pieces of evidence came from Connie's Fitbit fitness tracker tucked into the waistband of her leggings. The device, synced to her phone, logged her heart rate and steps throughout the morning.

Richard's timeline, Connie arrived home around 9:05 a.m. and was shot soon after, but the Fitbit recorded activity until 10:05 a.m., more than an hour later. It showed her moving around the house, including 35 steps between 9:18 a.m. and 9:40 a.m., and an elevated heart rate consistent with distress but not immediate death.

This contradicted Richard's claim of an instant attack. Investigators also noted the tracker logged a fall at 10:05 a.m., aligning with the time Connie was likely shot in the basement. No forced entry was found at the home and K-9 dogs detected no intruder scent, as Oxygen reported.

That silent witness is revealed in the Dateline: Unforgettable episode through expert explanations and visuals of the data logs that show how this wearable tech quietly exposed flaws in her story. 

4. The investigation reveals motive and lies

The deeper the detectives investigated, the more discrepancies mounted. Richard's version of events changed ever so slightly in interviews-he first said he only heard the shots, then said he saw them.

Cell phone records showed Connie's car in the driveway well before Richard claimed and security footage from the family's home didn't show an intruder. Cops discovered Richard had been having an 18-month affair with longtime friend Sara Ganzer.

In May 2015, several months before the murder, Ganzer became pregnant, adding financial and emotional strain to the couple as they shared not only a mortgage but also childcare costs. Unidentified male DNA was found in six places at the scene but did not match Richard or any known suspects.

An alibi eliminated one earlier conflict with a home contractor. The investigation took 18 months before Richard's arrest on April 14, 2017, according to Oxygen. On Dateline: Unforgettable, detectives Jeffrey Payette and Brett Langevin described poring over texts and timelines; State's Attorney Matthew Gedansky pointed to the affair as a motive.

5. Dateline: Unforgettable: The trial, conviction and aftermath

The murder trial of Richard Dabate started in April 2022 and was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It lasted six weeks and included more than 130 witnesses and 600 exhibits. Prosecutors said he staged the scene to cover the killing of Connie in an argument, using Fitbit data, details of the affair and gaps in his timeline as proof.

The defence argued that police focused on tunnel vision on Richard, challenged the reliability of the Fitbit and pointed to the unidentified DNA as proof of an actual intruder. After two days of deliberation, the jury found Richard guilty of murder on May 10, 2022.

In August 2022, he was sentenced to 65 years in prison with no possibility of parole before the age of 100. Connie's sons, ages 6 and 9 at the time went to live with her older sister, as per Oxygen.

Watch Dateline: Unforgettable streaming on Oxygen and Peacock.