Judge allows Fitbit evidence in Connecticut murder trial
VERNON, Conn. (AP) — A judge has rejected the request of a Connecticut man charged with killing his wife to keep evidence about his wife’s Fitbit out of his murder trial.
Judge Julia Dewey also denied defense motions to have Richard Dabate's trial moved out of Tolland County, or to bar Ellington residents from sitting on the jury because of extensive media coverage surrounding the case, the Hartford Courant reported Tuesday.
The judge did exclude from the trial the last 50 minutes of Dabate’s s 6 1/2-hour interview with state police detectives after the killing because he asked if he needed a lawyer.
His lawyers made the requests last week. The trial is scheduled for April.
Dabate, of Ellington, has maintained his innocence since he was charged in the shooting death of his wife, Connie Dabate, in 2017.
She was found shot to death in the basement of the couple's home in 2015. Richard Dabate told investigators at the time that a masked man shot his wife and tied him up.
But state police found information from his wife's Fitbit activity tracker that contradicts his story and shows she was moving around an hour after he said she was killed.
Dabate is free on $1 million bail.