Richard Dabate was ‘ticking time bomb’ in love with two women, running out of time, state says; jury expected to begin deliberating Monday in ‘Fitbit murder’

At the time of his wife’s slaying, Richard Dabate was allegedly “a ticking time bomb” who was in love with two women and running out of time, state prosecutors said in the final days of the trial for the so-called “Fitbit murder.”

Dabate, who is charged with murder in his wife’s death, staging a crime scene and lying to police more than six years ago, took the stand last week and stuck fervently to his story that a masked, camouflage-wearing intruder with a Vin Diesel-like voice broke into his house and killed his wife.

During an intense hours-long cross examination that prompted multiple moves for a mistrial, several dismissals of the jury and repeated, stern “last warnings” from the judge — he also admitted that he had lied repeatedly about the lengthy affair he had with Sara Ganzer.

Ganzer, who testified in the trial, gave birth to Dabate’s child in February 2016, less than two months after Connie Dabate was killed.

Connie Dabate was shot to death on Dec. 23, 2015, in their Ellington basement just days before they had planned to celebrate Christmas with their families. Richard Dabate testified that at that point in 2015 he was “in love with two women and didn’t want to push either of them away.”

To keep them both close, he strung together different stories for different audiences, according to his testimony. He told his wife that he worked late often, that his card games ran long, he testified. He told his lover that his divorce papers — which did not exist — were always on the cusp of being filed, he testified.

He told friends that he had a one night stand with Ganzer, and told police he’d impregnated her as part of a surrogacy plan that was never real, he testified.

He told the jury last week that the truth was that he was in love with her.

“She’s one of my best friends. I’ll always love her,” he said.

As he was peppered with questions about the affair by State’s Attorney Matthew C. Gedansky, Dabate admitted to lying to multiple people to keep his affair and his marriage going.

He told the jury that just days before his wife died he had “absolutely lied to Sara” about the nature of the recent travel he had done with Connie..

The couple had just returned from a weekend getaway in Vermont that Dabate described as a romantic one.

“It was a very romantic weekend. We were having a hard time and trying to fix things,” he told the jury.

It was supposed to help them solve some of their problems, he testified. Even if it had, it created others.

Connie Dabate, an active Facebook user, posted about the trip on her social media.

Dabate’s lover, who he’d been telling for months that his marriage was on the rocks, saw photos of the romantic weekend and was upset, he testified.

She was at home, carrying their child, under the impression that the man who fathered her baby was in the midst of a “slow moving divorce” with his wife, he testified. Though the Dabates had begun to talk about the logistics of divorcing — their finances, a co-parenting plan — their divorce was by no means underway, according to the prosecution.

Gedansky said the weekend trip, and Ganzer’s reaction, must have put pressure on Dabate to decide between the two women, between the baby on the way and the family he had at home.

“You needed to make a decision, and you hadn’t made one yet,” he said.

After the slaying, when Dabate was at the hospital being treated for cuts to his legs he claimed were caused by a box-cutter wielding intruder, police asked him if there were any issues in his marriage. He said no, at first. Then, he told them that there was a woman named Sara who was pregnant with his child.

He told police a story of a planned surrogate pregnancy, saying that his wife knew about the baby and was prepared to co-parent. He told the jury last week that that was never the case.

He lied, he said, because he was terrified.

Though Dabate maintains that he had come clean to his wife about the affair and the baby, no one in their family or close circle knew, according to Dabate. The summer before, Connie Dabate had drafted an email to herself with a long list of reasons she wanted to leave her husband, and infidelity was not among them, according to trial testimony. The list included financial issues, such as Dabate’s poor credit, and a lack of trust, but never mentioned an affair.

The day before she was killed, Connie had sent her husband a text, according to court testimony.

“You lied to me again,” it said.

Debate testified that the two were arguing about Comcast.

Over the course of their affair, Dabate told Ganzer multiple times that he was filing divorce papers within days, that they were filed, but the process was a long one. He admitted on the stand that he lied to her, that the divorce was not in the works.

Debate told his friend that he was worried about what a divorce would mean for him; he said he “had a joke” with his cousin about becoming “a black sheep” in the family and that he was afraid of losing his status in the community, according to prosecutors.

Gedansky accused him of “hatching a crazy plan” to solve those problems.

Debate has adamantly denied any involvement in the crimes.

Over the last five weeks, jurors heard from about 100 witnesses and were asked to consider dozens of pieces of evidence, ranging from text messages, emails, Fitbit data, cellphone GPS data and the weapon used.

Prosecutors and investigators have poked holes in Dabate’s story, providing forensic evidence that doesn’t match his timeline. Connie’s Fitbit device showed her moving around after the time her husband said she was killed. Cellphone data shows that he did not leave the house that day like he said he did, except to bring their children to the bus stop at the end of their long driveway.

At the time he says he was running from an intruder, he was listening to ESPN sports radio and lounging in the living room, surfing the web on his laptop — looking up, among other things, what time his wife would be home from the scheduled spin class that she’d just left for, according to testimony.

Attorneys for both sides will give their hour-long closing arguments Monday morning at Superior Court in Rockvlle. After that, the jury is to be given their instructions from Judge Corinne L. Klatt and begin deliberating.