True Crime with Kendall Rae - Connie Dabate’s Cheating Husband Is Found Guilty After Activity Tracker Helps Reveal the Truth

Episode Date: February 23, 2023

In 2015, a few days before Christmas, Richard Dabate was allegedly on his way to work when he got an alert that his home’s security alarm had been tripped. Upon returning home, he says he found an intruder who attacked him and killed his wife, who had also just returned home. In follow-up interviews with Richard, the story started unraveling, and he was seemingly changing his story every time he was asked about what happened. He even admitted to an affair he was having, but in one version of the story, his wife encouraged it, while in another, she didn’t know anything about it or the baby that this other woman was going to be having with Richard. Richard Dabate Arrest Warrant: https://www.trbas.com/media/media/acr... Donate to NCMEC through my campaign!  https://give.missingkids.org/campaign... Shop my charity merch! https://milehighermerch.com/  All profits from this charity merch will be donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: https://www.missingkids.org/  This episode is sponsored by: ZocDoc Daily Harvest Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail]

Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are whenever we need it. Download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier it, download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier, or pay subscription starting at 12.99 per month. Hello everyone and welcome back. Thank you for joining me to discuss yet another case.

And if you're new, then welcome. So today's case, wow, this one is totally insane. We're gonna be talking about the murder of Connie debate. There are so many wild elements to this whole case and this is another really long one. So let's go ahead and jump in. So Connie debate who was originally Connie Margoda was born July 31st, 1976 in Rockville, Connecticut to her parents, Kenneth, and Cindy. She was one of four siblings with two sisters, Marliese and Leslie and one

brother named Keith. Connie and her siblings were raised in Vernon and Allington, Connecticut, and she attended Allington High School where she graduated in 1995. And then after that, she went on to attend the University of Connecticut and graduated four years later in 1995. And then after that, she went on to attend the University of Connecticut and graduated four years later in 1999. And in her adult life, Connie worked in pharmaceutical sales and she was also a member and vice president of the Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps. So obviously that alone says a lot about her

and she is described by everyone that knew her as someone who is extremely kind, generous, giving, and loving. Obviously, as you can tell from her years of volunteer work, Connie was someone who was willing to give you the shirt off her back. And she was always doing things for people that she loved. And this was just one of the many reasons why she was so popular. Connie had a lot of friends, and most of these people considered her their best friend. And people say whether you knew her for years or had just met her, you instantly got the

sense that she was a good person. She was known to be trustworthy, kind, giving, warm, and had the ability to make those around her feel really good. So in the early 2000s, when she told her friends that she had met someone, they were all really happy for her. And that someone was a Richard debate. She was excited that she had met this handsome Italian man, and her loved ones say that once the two of them got together,

it was game over for anyone else. Richard, who also went by Rick, was also a very family-involved person, and his parents said from the moment they met Connie, they knew that she was going to be the one. And the two of them ended up getting married in 2003 and went on to have two sons, RJ and Connor. And they also bought a big beautiful house in Ellington located at seven Birchview Drive. And on the outside, everything about their lives looked picture perfect. But as we know, in so many other cases,

sometimes things are very different than they appear. So two of Connie's best friends lived in the neighborhood as well, Peggy and Darleen. And it was really convenient because their husbands really got along with Rick, and they all spent a bunch of time together. And Peggy and Darleen have talked a lot about how they always had seen Rick as the perfect husband that he traded Connie like a queen and put their own husbands to shame. Rick really dooded on Connie for many many years and made her feel very happy. But obviously there's only so much that people can truly know a marriage from the outside looking in. And I don't know exactly when things started to change in their marriage, but Rick and Connie's

perfect life slowly started coming apart. It wasn't all at once, but from what I can tell, Connie started to become unhappy in the marriage. even though she was always loyal to her husband and did everything she could to keep their family together. But the same cannot be said about Rick. So that brings us to the morning of December 23rd, 2015. This was a normal day for them, a morning like any other, as far as Connie knew at least. Around 8-10am, Rick took his two sons to the nearby bus stop, and meanwhile Connie was at home getting dressed to go to a cycling class at their local YMCA. And according to one of Rick's versions of events, which buckle up because there are many,

he returned home from the bus stop and changed into his work clothes before getting into his car and starting his 40-minute drive to work. He says that he had left the house around 8-30, but it didn't take him long to realize that he had actually left his laptop back at home and obviously he needed that for work so he turned around and went back to get it. But at the same time that he realized he had left the laptop at home, he said he also got an alert that his home security system had been triggered and the alarm was going off. Rick says that he then pulls over and emails his supervisor to let them know that he is

going to be late to work. In his email, he writes that the alarm system had gone off at home, and that standard protocol for the security company was to alert the authorities, and then they would send an officer to the scene. Basically, he just needed to get home, check things out, let the officer know that everything's okay, and then he would be on his way to work. Rick then states that he got home sometime between 8.45 and 9 AM and immediately upon returning home,

he heard a sound coming from his upstairs bedroom. At first he says that he thinks the sound was caused by one of their cats, who typically knocks things over as cats do and he thought maybe she could have triggered the alarm system. But when he gets to their bedroom, he is shocked to see a very large man dressed in all camouflage, going through he and Connie's closet. And it didn't take long for this intruder to see Rick

and he starts to manhandle him, as Rick said. He said that this intruder tossed him around a bit and threatened him, telling him that he needed to hand over his wallet, debit cards, and pin number, or he would wait inside the home for Rick's family to return, and then he would kill them. So meanwhile, Connie is coming home from the gym early because her class actually was canceled. So Rick said that they were only talking him and the intruder for about one minute when he heard the garage door and Connie got back to the house. Rick said that he screamed out to her, letting her know that someone was in the house and that she needed to run. And that's when the intruder turned his attention to finding her. He said the two of them

ran to her and that they kind of fought at the top of the stairs and the intruder ends up pushing Rick down the stairs, which gives him the advantage of getting to Connie first. And this intruder ends up following Connie into the basement. She ran downstairs to get one of the two guns that their family kept down there. And by the time Rick is able to pick himself up and run down to the basement, it's too late. He hears a sound of a gunshot and he says that it was so loud that he was unable to hear anything else for the next few minutes. And he actually thought he heard a second gunshot maybe, but he's unsure because he can't hear anything after the first gunshot.

And something important to note here, at first, Rick says that he did not see how the intruder was able to get the gun from Connie. Then Rick says that the intruder was able to overpower him by doing some sort of pressure point thing which caused him to collapse. And the next thing he knows, Rick has been zip tied to a metal folding chair in the basement, and the intruder begins stabbing him with a pair of box cutters from his very own toolbox. And after he had been stabbed a handful of times, Rick says that the intruder took his own blowtorch and began putting things inside a box and burning them. However, it is unclear what these items were and why the intruder wanted to burn them.

And after that, the man attempts to burn Rick. But because he only had one arm and one leg zip tied, he says he's somehow able to get the blowtorch from the attacker and use it on him. And even though this man is wearing a mask, Rick says that he's somehow able to burn this guy's face. And then after that, he flees the scene. And according to Rick, all of this takes place in five minutes. From the second he walks through the door till when the intruder leaves, all of this happened in five minutes. So keep in mind, according to his story, if he returned home between 845 and 9, all of that couldn't have taken place any later than 905. Have you ever been trying to find a cause for some symptoms that you were experiencing

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Again, that ZockDock-ZoC-DOC.com-slashkendleray. However, it wasn't until 10-16 that morning that Connecticut State Police received a call from the Live Watch Security Company, alerting them that an alarm had been triggered at 7 Birchview Drive. Troopers were dispatched and five minutes later, a 911 call came in from Rick Debate's cell phone, stating that he needed help. An remember of the Elrington Fire Department was the first to arrive at the scene, and he noticed that the front door was left open, but the storm door was still shut. And he knocked, and no one answered, so he entered the property.

And when he did, at first he noticed that it was somewhat smoky in the house. And then he noticed that the basement door was open, and there was a trail of blood leading from the basement to the kitchen. And when he gets to the kitchen, he sees Rick, who is still zip tied to the folding chair, and he's lying face down on the kitchen floor.

He asks if Rick can hear him and Rick responds and says he's still in the house. And obviously when he hears that, he immediately requests backup and he reports the crime as a home invasion. And it wasn't long until dozens of officers were processing the scene and looking outside for this person. And even Darleen, one of Connie's closest friends who lived nearby, had her home searched, and they actually had her and her family hide in the bathroom while this was going on, and they're thinking that there's an intruder running around so they're terrified. And at the house, officers made note of everything that they saw. Rick was still lying

on the ground when investigators took photos of his condition, noting that only his left wrist and his left ankle had been tied to the chair, leaving his right arm and right leg completely free. And he also had a zip tie around his neck, which was restricting his breathing, but that was not connected to anything else. And before he was even brought to the hospital, canine units were brought in to search the home. If there was an intruder in the house, one of the three dogs should have been able to detect an unfamiliar scent and hopefully lead police in the direction that he took off. But instead of detecting the scent of an intruder, one of the dogs Rocky alerted to someone else.

Rocky was first brought out to the backyard where Rick's wallet was found on the ground. It was just lying in the grass and because he had told investigators that the man had asked for his wallet, it was believed that he must have taken it from him and then dropped it while he was running away. So Rocky begins tracking the scent and he leads his handler through the house and to the front door, right where Rick was being treated. So his handler has him try two more times to track the scent of the intruder and on the third try, he literally jumps into the back of the ambulance where Rick is now being treated and alerts directly to him. The other two canines were asked to track a scent, but neither of them could pick up an unfamiliar scent. And investigators were

pretty confused by this. And if you consume a lot of true crime, you know that dogs are incredibly talented when it comes to picking up scents. So for multiple dogs to not pick up anything and for one to be alerting to Rick is extremely weird. And so investigators had their guard up immediately. So soon after this, Rick is rushed to Hartford Hospital and was treated for his injuries, which only ended up being minor superficial wounds. And it was right there in his hospital bed that Rick was questioned for the first time. So as he's sitting there describing his attacker to police, he says that this person was very large,

six to bulky and sounded like Vin Diesel. Yeah, Vin Diesel, actor Vin Diesel, fast and furious Vin Diesel. And he wasn't able to provide too much information about what this person looked like other than their build and their height because they were wearing camouflage, a mask and gloves. So he didn't see his race,

or what hair color he had, or anything like that. Then Rick tells investigators that he witnessed this person shoot his wife in the basement. And Connie's body was found in the boiler room of their basement. She had been shot once through the stomach and again through the back of her head. And sadly, she was pronounced dead on arrival. And Rick said that he had no idea she was dead until he heard Detective say that the body was DOA. And the questioning of Rick did not stop after his first initial run-through events. Investigators had a lot of clarifying questions and they were already starting to see Rick's story change. The version of events that I just went over with you

was just Rick's first story. The more questions they brought up, the less his story made sense. For starters, Rick began to say that he was no longer certain what time he actually left for work. He just said it was some time between 810 and 830. And after he left, he then turned around to grab his laptop, which is also when he got that notification that the alarm system inside his home had been triggered. And when he was asked if he had set the alarm system that morning, he didn't have an answer. He said that he played around with it, turning it on and off, but he couldn't remember if he was the one to turn it on before leaving, or if Connie was the one to do it. It would make sense for Connie to have turned on the alarm system when she left for the

YMCA because, right, originally, he said that he left first and then she left after him. But he changed his story and said he couldn't remember who left first, so therefore he couldn't remember who turned on the alarm. He then goes on to say that when he first entered the home to see what was going on with the alarm, he didn't see or hear anything at first. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he walked upstairs and saw his bedroom door and a light on that he went inside to check it out. And it was then that he came across the intruder going through their closet.

And then his story changes again when it comes to the stairs. You know how he originally said the intruder pushed him down the stairs? Well, he changes his mind and says that he tripped down the stairs and that the intruder jumped over him and ran to Connie. And then he has a total change in his story when it comes to the gun. At first he said he wasn't able to see how the intruder got the gun from Connie,

but he changes his mind and says that he saw the two of them fighting over the gun and then he was able to get it from Connie and shoot her. And what makes his story even more fishy to investigators is he also tells them that it was pitch black in the basement and that he couldn't see anything So how did he watch the two of them fight over the gun? He also claimed that he tried running up to the attacker and was going to try and wrestle the gun out of his hands But it was too late the man had already shot Connie after this his story stayed relatively the same as it was originally

He says that this man used, quote, some type of pressure point thing to get him to collapse, and then he ties him up to the chair with zip ties. This is followed by the man jabbing at him with the box cutter, burning some papers with the blowtorch. Then he attempts to burn him, but Rick somehow manages to get the blowtorch and burn the intruder himself.

Lastly, Rick explained to investigators that once he gained some consciousness, he was able to drag himself upstairs with his free arm and leg and get to his cell phone so that he could call for help. And he says that he shouted out for Connie many times, hoping to hear a response, but he didn't know for certain that she was dead until officers arrived at the scene. Now of course, it would be one thing if he had just a minor inconsistencies in his story considering he had just been through such a traumatic event. But they said that it was the way he was telling the story to investigators and how his story kept changing pretty drastically that they started to realize that something wasn't adding up. And not only that, it was his injuries and them looking through the crime scene that gave them all the confirmation they needed.

First Arters, Rick had only suffered some very minor injuries. A few cuts to the left side of his chest and cuts to the top of both sides of his thighs. And they realized that every injury he received was located in a place that could have been self-inflicted. Now, of course, it wouldn't be impossible for his attacker to have hurt him in the places that he could also reach himself, but investigators found it interesting that most of his wounds were on the left side of his body because Rick was right-handed

and that was also the hand that was left untied. Again, this is not for sure proof of anything but it definitely made them suspicious and it also made them suspicious that he didn't have any bruising on his body, which they expected to see considering he had fought with the attacker in the closet and fallen down the stairs.

Whether he fell down the stairs or was pushed, there would have been bruising to back this up, but there wasn't. Investigators also looked at the clothing that he was wearing because blood spattered, doesn't lie, and they noticed that his shorts only had blood on the top side of them, and nothing to indicate that blood had dripped down the side of his thigh.

They also expected to see a lot of blood on the backside of his shorts because, in Rick's story, the intruder had stabbed him while he was sitting down in the chair, and gravity doesn't lie. So if he's sitting there while he's being stabbed, obviously the blood is going to be dripping down the side. But let's just take the shorts out of the equation for a second and look at the crime scene to see if it matches Rick's story. When investigators started processing the basement for evidence, there was not a large pool of blood where Rick said he had been stabbed. Instead, there were only droplets. Again, had he been seated in the chair and sat there like he

said, the blood would have looked much different on the basement floor. The only pool of blood that they found was underneath Connie's body. And like I said, gravity and blood don't lie. And by following the movement of the blood, investigators were able to find another inconsistency in Rick's story. My life can get a little hectic sometimes, especially being a new mom, keeping track and taking care of 10 pets on top of that, plus running two businesses. Thankfully, daily harvest does more so I can do less, and I'm all about doing less. Think stress-free meals delivered to your doorstep.

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That's dailyharvest.com slash kennel ray for up to $40 off your first box. dailyharvest.com slash kennel ray. Rick had stated that after the intruder left and after he regained consciousness, he drags himself upstairs to get his cell phone. However, police found no blood in the areas where he said he was dragging his body. Obviously, there would be blood left behind. The only place in the house where there were bloody drag marks was in the kitchen. Everywhere else, it was just droplets, indicating that he'd walked up the stairs.

And yes, again, this doesn't necessarily prove guilt, but why would you lie about this? If he managed to walk to the top of the basement stairs and then collapsed once he got to the kitchen, why wouldn't you just say that? Also, investigators started wondering why he would have the energy to get himself up to the kitchen, but didn't have the energy or the interest to go and check on his wife. And this wasn't the only interesting thing that investigators found while they were processing the crime scene. It was also noted that a window in the basement was open, making detectives believe that this was likely how the intruder got into the house. Because besides this, there was no sign of forced entry,

but something about this window seemed off. First of all, the locks on the windows had been removed from the inside and had just been left there. Unless Rick and Connie were replacing the locks, I don't see why the locks would be left off of the windows. Also, for someone to open the window from the outside, they would need to use some force to get through. And knowing this, one of the detectives demonstrated opening

another one of the basement windows from the outside and this window also had locks that were removed. And when he did this, the glass completely shattered. So obviously if the intruder did come through the window, there would have been glass underneath. Also, the crime scene investigators found the stainless steel revolver that was used to shoot Connie, and this did belong to Rick. And I know it sounds like a lot happened that day and it did, but it doesn't stop there. I know I just went through some of the crime scene and what they found, but I wanna jump back

to Rick in the hospital being interviewed because it gets more interesting. After he finishes describing what had happened that day, investigators start asking him about his relationship with Connie and he starts saying that things between them were pretty good, but he mentioned that she'd been angry lately, specifically that she'd been struggling with depression,

but seemed to be slowly coming out on the other end of it. So detectives asked him if their investigation would reveal any more problems in their relationship. And Rick said yes and no. And then he went on to describe in detail the affair that he had been having. Rick explains that he and Connie wanted to have a third child together, but due to health reasons,

Connie was unable to get pregnant. And after several failed attempts, the two of them came up with an alternative idea. Rick then explained that he had an old friend from high school who had recently gotten divorced but was wanting to have a baby of her own. Now I'm going to give this woman a different name for the sake of protecting her identity although I know her name is out there so if you really try you can find it. I'm going to be calling

her Hannah. So Rick says that the three of them, Hannah, Connie and Rick, as a group decide that they're going to use Rick's sperm to get Hannah pregnant. But Rick tells investigators that the process of donating sperm and then inseminating her was too expensive. So they decide to do things in a bit of an untraditional way. The three of them decide together that they're going to do this the old-fashioned way. So if it's not already obvious, Rick explains that he had sex with Hannah

and gets her pregnant and that Connie is completely fine with all of this. And not just completely fine, he explains that in a way the whole thing was her idea, and that the three of them would be co-parenting this baby. And if you are thinking what the fuck, you are not alone. This is so bizarre that he even tried to convince

investigators that this is how it went down. Detectives also could not believe what they were hearing and they had quite a few follow-up questions. And of course, because why wouldn't it? His story started to change once again. Rick starts to explain in more detail that he had known Haneson's high school and that the two of them had only ever been friends. He tells investigators that their baby is due February of 2016, but when he's asked if his wife knew about the baby, he couldn't give a straight answer. Literally just minutes before, he's telling them that all of this was Connie's idea in a way.

And then, as he's questioned further, he can't really tell them whether or not she even knew about the baby in the first place. Then he starts telling investigators that the two women had never spoken, which literally makes no sense, because minutes before this, he is telling them that the three of them are gonna raise this baby together. And when they asked if Hannah was okay with this whole co-parenting situation, Rick says yes, but also she was not.

Which one of these stories is true? Was she okay with it? Was she not? Did Connie know? Was it Connie's idea? Did she have no idea? He's making no sense at this point. In the end, he admits that he had been cheating on Connie with Hannah for several years,

and that the pregnancy was not planned, it was unexpected. And if you have 100 alarm bells going off in your head at this point, you are not alone. Detectives even told Rick that everything he had been saying since they got to the hospital didn't match up with the crime scene, and they were basically skeptical of everything he said. And you know what his initial response was? He said, okay. Okay, that's it. That's all he said.

He did go on to state that he wasn't responsible for shooting his wife and that he understood that detectives had to grill him anyway. But like, really dude? Obviously, to better corroborate his story, detectives track down Hannah and ask her for a statement. And she actually gets them a statement that same day by 9.45 Hannah and ask her for a statement. And she actually gets them a statement that same day by 9.45pm. This is a written statement and Hannah said that

their romantic relationship first started in spring of 2015. And even though she did know he was married, she was under the impression that he and Connie were getting a divorce. And of course, she was under that impression because that's what Rick told her. He said that they had both been unhappy for years and it was a mutual divorce. Hannah said that she found out she was pregnant on June 18th, 2015, and confirms that it was unexpected and that she waited until August to tell Rick.

And once she did, he told her that he had just hired a divorce attorney and another spoiler alert, he didn't. And she also explains to the best of her knowledge, Rick and Connie were not planning on having any more children together, which basically throws away the whole notion that the three of them planned to co-parent this new baby together. Hannah even tells detectives that the two of them went to Vermont together a week before Connie was murdered. And during this little trip, she and Rick planned how they were going to tell Connie about the baby. And Rick told Hannah

that he wanted to wait until after the holidays, and this is also when he'd be serving her with divorce papers. And detectives wouldn't learn this until February 23, 2016, when they interviewed this divorce attorney, Brian Murphy. But they found out that not only did Rick not have divorce papers drafted, but he only met with this guy once and never even hired him. So clearly, they know at this point that there was no pending divorce. It's safe to say that the investigation into Connie's murder took a very specific direction right away. However, the intruder theory was all that the public knew, and people that knew Rick said that they never would have thought he would be involved in Connie's murder, and they just had assumed that an intruder had actually done this.

But from the beginning, investigators had a strong sense that the person responsible for her murder was her own husband. But of course, they need to look into all possibilities, so they did look into one person that was kind of an enemy to the debate family. That year, Connie and Rick had actually sued their contractor in small claims court. They had had a ton of issues with this contractor, you know, normal contractor bullshit that most of us have probably dealt with, but a little more extreme, he was a pretty difficult person for them to deal with. From what I gathered, there was a dispute

with the cost of the work, the work not being done correctly, and it caused some drama between all of them. And Connie had even expressed to her friends that she was afraid of this contractor, especially after her car had been vandalized two times that year, and she thought it was the contractor. They couldn't confirm that it was the contractor who vandalized the cars, but they ramped up their security. That's when they got their alarm system and also purchased guns. In fact, he told investigators that purchasing the guns was Connie's idea. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're

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The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting or underwriting an income criteria and may require collateral, first Franklin financial corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLSN-14141464, not available in North Carolina. So when they were interviewing friends and family and asking if there was anyone out there that would want to hurt Rick and Connie, several people brought up this contractor, but

they were able to rule him out very quickly. Not only did he have a strong alibi for the morning of the attack, he also did not fit the description of the attacker. So once again, they're back at looking into Rick. And they kept all their suspicions and their investigation into Rick, private from the public for a long time until they had enough solid information to make it a rest. And throughout 2016, detectives began interviewing people in their life to get a better sense of this couple and their personal lives. And several people said that there is absolutely no way in hell that Connie would have been

okay with him having a baby with another woman. That is just completely out of the question. To their knowledge, Connie had no idea that this was even happening. Her closest friends, who she confided everything in, believed that Connie would have told them if she had ever found out that her husband was cheating on her.

They also expressed that she was extremely against guns and did not believe the idea that Connie was the one who wanted to get the guns in the first place. Connie's friends also have spoken about how Rick just was acting so weird when friends were coming around to comfort him after his wife had died. And he even asked them, how did you know my wife when he very well knew who they were?

And they kind of thought that that was because he was so traumatized. They tried to explain this to themselves because of course they thought he was an amazing husband and the idea that he killed Connie never crossed their minds. Also when she was buried, her friends stayed at her grave for a while

and they said they couldn't even remember if Rick had in there. If he'd even gotten out of the car when she was actually lowered into the ground, which they said that they assumed he did But it was all kind of blurry. They had a lot of emotion going on But they know that they were the last ones there and they just felt like they could not leave her that it was so upsetting And they couldn't understand how Rick was able to walk away so easily and there were a lot of strange things about his behavior

Just he did not have the emotion that you would expect when your wife was just brutally murdered. And at one point, he texted a bunch of the neighbors and asked them where they normally get takeout and they just thought that was so weird. Why is that your concern right now? When your wife was just murdered, you're wondering where to get some food

and while interviewing their loved ones, they also found out that Rick and Connie had been experiencing some financial trouble. Basically, money was disappearing and Connie had no idea where it was going. She told her friends she wasn't happily married and she was tired of taking on all the responsibilities. It's unclear if Connie had an actual plan in place to leave her husband, but we later learned that she was highly contemplating it. They ended up looking through her phone and they found a section in her notes app that was titled Why I Want a Divorce and reading through this list is heartbreaking. She wrote things like, he lies, he treats me poorly, he takes money that

isn't his, he's not good with the kids, he cares more about himself, he doesn't share his passwords, there is no trust, and much more. There was also a small section titled The Good, but this list was a fraction of the size of the why I wanted divorce list. Now Rick's behavior after Connie's murder was totally bizarre. Her family said that just one day after her murder, he wasn't even expressing how much he loved and missed his wife. All he said to them was, it wasn't me. Rick's friends and family were also interviewed of course, and it became clear that some people did in fact know he was cheating on his wife and that he got another woman pregnant. One friend said that Rick told him about the affair and the pregnancy and how much he loved Hannah, but that he was afraid his wife would leave him.

Seems to me like Rick just wanted the best of both worlds for as long as possible. And on January 11th, 2016, detectives reached out to Protective Life Insurance Company about the two policies the debates had, and that's when they learned that each of them had a policy for $475,000, and the other was listed as the beneficiary. And although Rick's policy was canceled back in 2012 for lack of payment, Connie's policy was still active. And of course, what do you know? Only five days after her murder, Rick made a claim on her policy and was looking to cash in on half a million dollars. And on top of that, only one month after her death, Rick collected over $75,000 from her employer.

So as 2016 and early 2017 went by, detectives executed several search warrants, including the records of Hannah and Rick's phones, the records for the home security system, Rick's Microsoft tablet, and most importantly, the records from Connie's Fitbit. And ultimately, it was information from these records that proved who the killer actually was.

And I'm gonna break this down piece by piece. While looking into the records on Hannah's phone, detectives were able to dig super deep into the lies that Rick was telling. And he was constantly telling Hannah, reassuring her, that he was going to leave his wife and that they were going to live happily together in the end. Just days before the murder, Hannah had asked Rick

why he and Connie had taken a trip together earlier that month without the kids. And she had seen photos from Facebook and thought it looked pretty romantic. But of course, Rick has the perfect story to calm her nerves. He told her that his uncle died and they had to go collect some of his belongings. Rick told Hannah that the only reason Connie went was so that he could bring up the divorce and the reason she posted to Facebook was because she wasn't ready

to go public with their breakup yet. And get this. Rick tells her that he and Connie were reading a book about modern divorce and that one of the steps it tells you to take is to post pictures on Facebook and social media like everything is fine and then delete them after. He told her that it helps with putting the past in the past and somehow Hannah bought this and actually apologized to him for questioning him. Of course, Rick's phone records were also looked at and once again detectives could see what a liar this man was because he was texting his wife, I love you, and at the same time texting Hannah, I love you. And Rick's final text to Hannah was the night before he murdered his wife, and he wrote, I'll see you tomorrow, my little love nugget. So now I'm going to talk about the records that were really the nail in Rick's coffin. First of all, I want to explain the security system, tablet, and the Fitbit records all together because doing so

really paints a very specific timeline of Rick and Connie's movements that morning. And you'll also be able to see how these records completely contradict the story that Rick gave detectives that morning. At 8.44, on December 23, at their residence, one of the garage doors registers as opening and closing, which is consistent with the time that Connie left for the YMCA in her spin class. This is confirmed shortly after because Connie can be seen arriving at the Y on surveillance video at 8.53 a.m.

and her Fitbit begins registering movement, indicating that she was walking into the building. Minutes before at 8.50, Rick is using his login to disarm the whole security system, including all of the motion sensors in the home. Then within the same minute, he rearms the system, along with the motion sensors, and gets a text confirming that the alarms are on. This would suggest that he is leaving for work. Nine minutes later at 8.59am, Rick disarms the security system and uses his key fob to do so. Now this fob can only be effective if it's in within 500 feet of the home, meaning that Rick had to be home or at least very close to home by 9am.

And this would suggest that Rick was returning home to check out why the alarm had been activated. And that would mean that this 9- home to check out why the alarm had been activated. And that would mean that this 9 minute window would be when the intruder would have entered the home. But not only did the alarm system NOT indicate an intruder, it didn't indicate motion in the house at all. And if that weren't suspicious enough, what you're about to hear definitely is. At 9.02 a.m., data from Rick's tablet confirms that he was at home and using the internet

because the IP address shows that he was signed into his outlook account from seven Birch View Drive. At 904AM, the same tablet records indicate that Rick sent an email to his supervisor from the IP address at seven Birch View Drive. But if you remember, Rick told detectives that he pulled his car over before returning home to send this email.

And he also said the same thing in the email that he pulled over to let them know that he was on his way home, not that he was already home. Plus, like I said earlier, Rick said the whole attack lasted five minutes. If the alarms indicate that he returned at 9 a.m., and he sent the email at 9.04 a.m., that would mean that the entire attack

would have to have taken place in one minute, which is just not possible. And this is where Connie's Fitbit comes into play and ends up being a massive piece of evidence in this case, and why it is referred to by so many as the Fitbit murder. When Connie got to the why, she actually only stayed for a few minutes, because like I said, her class ended up being canceled, and her Fitbit shows no movement for eight minutes starting at 9.08 a.m., which is when she was driving home. And Rick was adamant that his wife was shot almost immediately when returning home. But her Fitbit shows that she moved a total distance of 1,217 feet inside her home between 9.18 and 10.05 a.m. Even her Facebook records indicated that she was online and active for six minutes during this time as well.

If Connie had come home from the YMCA and basically ran right into the basement once she got home, it maybe would have tracked like 200 feet. And there would have been zero movement after she was murdered. Her last registered movement wasn't until 1017 AM, just 17 minutes before 911 was murdered. Her last registered movement wasn't until 10, 17 am. Just 17 minutes before 911 was called. And this is believed to be her true time of death. And something small, but important that I read in the arrest affidavit was that Rick canceled his contract

to have the home security system only 12 days after Connie was killed. If an intruder really did just come into your house 12 days earlier and killed your wife and was still on the loose and you have two small kids, why would you do this? It makes no sense. And speaking of the kids is just heartbreaking thinking of the pain and suffering that they have had to go through through all of this, losing their mother and obviously I'm not quite sure if they have been filled in on exactly how all of this played out,

but the reality of the situation eventually will come to light for them. And RJ was only 9 years old when his mother died. Conor was only 6. And since then, they've been put in the care of another family member, and my heart just breaks for them. So after listening to all of that, I'm sure you feel the same way that I do about Rick. This guy is a total piece of shit. But even as investigators were uncovering all of this incriminating information, I'm sure you feel the same way that I do about Rick. This guy is a total piece of shit.

But even as investigators were uncovering all of this incriminating information, the public still had no idea at this point who Connie's killer was. And it actually wasn't until April 14, 2017, when Rick was arrested that everyone learned the truth. Richard debate was arrested and charged with murder, tampering with evidence,

and making a false statement. Husband arrested charged with murdering his wife more than a year ago. Thank you so much for staying up with us at 10 o'clock. I'm Lorenzo Hall. And I'm Audrey Kuchin, Connie debate an Elenton mother of two brutally murdered in her home two days before Christmas. Well, tonight finally a break in that case. Standing stone cold before a judge in Rockville Superior Court, Rick debate was a rain this afternoon on charges of murder, tampering with evidence, and providing false statements to police. Debate was arrested Friday accused of murdering his wife Connie in their Ellington home two

days before Christmas in 2015. The arrest warrant reveals details of debates affair with a friend from high school whom he got pregnant. Police do not believe Connie knew about the pregnancy and say she and Rick were arguing about a cable bill the night before her murder. During a status hearing, the state argued that the bail should be set at five million dollars, considering the fact that his entire family comes from wealth. The defense, however, of course reminded the judge that he was a father with no criminal history and deep ties to the community. Mr. The Bay is no criminal record. 40 years of age,

he has deep roots in the community. In the end,ate is no criminal record. 40 years of age. He has deep roots in the community. In the end, his bail was only set at $1 million, which he posted right away. DeBate is charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence, and making a false statement in the killing of his 39-year-old wife, Connie, two days before Christmas in 2015. He remains free on bail after being arrested in April 2017 and debate has maintained his innocence telling investigators a masked man shot his wife at their home and tied him up. Prosecutors say debates stage the home invasion and as for a motive they believe he had

affairs and was concerned about the consequences of a potential divorce. And even though you probably think that this case is pretty straightforward and so the trial would be, it actually took five years to get a conviction Rick's trial ended up being postponed two times before finally beginning in April of 2022 His trial was first postponed in 2020 because it was supposed to start right when COVID hit and then his trial was postponed again When his lawyer Hubert J. Santos passed away, when things were supposed to pick up again, the judge decided a new jury needed to be selected because too much time had passed since the last group

was chosen. In the nearly six years since Connie died, the case has faced setbacks. One of debate lawyers died in June. Then in August, the judge dismissed all jurors and order new ones be selected. Reasoning it had been too long since they were seated before the pandemic shut down courts. Those matters need to be dealt with before the case finally makes it to trial.

And as the years went by, the media attention on this case got bigger and bigger. And the fact that Connie's Fitbit was a major piece of evidence was something that the public really lashed on to. Obviously, now the use of personal health trackers was only getting bigger. So for con the reasons why her killer was put in jail was a re deal. The story also ca

because of the fit bit act as evidence. Police say fit bit contradicts debate she was moving around an killed. And I do want to family has come out and said that they don't like the fact that the media started calling this the Fitbit murder because it's not about a Fitbit. This case is about a mother who was murdered horrifically by her husband. And yes, the Fitbit played a big role and shouldn't be ignored, but it's important to note that Connie's memory and legacy is what's remembered at the end of the day. Finally, the trial started.

Throughout April of 2022, Rick debate sat on trial for the murder of his wife as well as tampering with evidence and making a false statement. The trial went on for almost a month and it wasn't necessarily smooth sailing for the prosecution. The defense brought forward some undeniable information

that the jury just couldn't ignore. It turns out that there was unidentified DNA found in six places in the home and the location of the DNA matched the story of someone being in the closet and making their way down to the basement. They also noted that there was an insignificant amount of gunshot residue found on Rick. He did test positive for G.S.R. particles, however, you would expect this to be more significant if he had been the one to pull the trigger. But the prosecution was able to say that the gunshot residue test wasn't administered until hours after he'd been brought to the hospital, and as possible, his hands had been wiped during that time.

The prosecution also drilled him about the whole Vin Diesel thing. But on May 10th, after 22 days, it took the jury only three hours to come back with a guilty verdict after years of waiting for a trial. The family of Connie debate says she finally gets the justice she deserves. Fox 61's Tony Black is live outside Rockville

Superior Court in Vernon with their message after the verdict. Tony, what they say, Yeah, Brian Sarah. It took the 12 jurors inside this courthouse today about three hours to find her husband, Rick DeBait guilty of killing Connie in 2015 in their Ellington home, about three hours

of deliberations following five weeks of trial shocking both the defense and Connie's family. The pain of Connie's loss and the length of this trial has been especially hurtful to the family. I didn't expect the verdict to happen so soon. I was really skeptical, but it was kind of surreal. It was a relief.

And Connie's mom spoke publicly about what a relief this verdict was further family. She even publicly talked about the conversation that she had with her daughter the morning she was killed. First thing she said on the phone

was mom, I love you. You're my best friend. And I said, I didn't know what's going on. I said, I love you too. And you're a good friend of mine. But there was more. She says, I just want to let you know Rick is a mess today. And I just wish I had said, well, if he's such a mess,

why don't you come to my house? We'll have breakfast. Just feel like I don't know, surge from up above. I just feel the strength coming to me, you know, right now. But despite the guilty verdict, Rick maintains that he is innocent. He even told the judge during the sentencing that he is a victim of those who seek victory over truth. But in the end, Rick, or Richard debate, was sentenced to 65 years in prison. Of course, he and his lawyers say that this is just the beginning and they're going to fight

for his freedom, but we will see about that. But this is just such a sad case, especially knowing how loved Connie was. She deserved so much more in life than she got. And for Rick to have stolen her from her friends and family and her children is just horrible. So we can only hope that Rick's appeals are continually denied and that he remains in prison for what he did. If you want to know more about this case, the arrest affidavit is one of the most well-constructed legal documents that I've ever seen, and it will take you through this story a minute by minute. So I will have that linked below if you're interested. That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode.

And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcast. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendal Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All loan terms and APRs depend on meeting are underwriting an income criteria and may require

collateral. First Franklin financial corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS, and the 14165 for not available in North Carolina. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first-Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting our underwriting and income criteria and may require

collateral. First Franklin Financial Corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS, and the 14165 Fort, not available in North Carolina. last number 1416-64, not available in North Carolina.