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Murdered Woman's Fitbit Nails Cheating Husband (nydailynews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the fitness-tracking dept.

BarbaraHudson writes: A murdered woman's Fitbit data shows she was still alive an hour after her husband claims she was murdered and he was tied up, contradicting her husband's description of events. New York Daily News reports: "Richard Dabate, 40, was charged this month with felony murder, tampering with physical evidence and making false statements following his wife Connie's December 2015 death at their home in Ellington, Tolland County. Dabate called 911 reporting that his wife was the victim of a home invasion, alleging that she was shot dead by a 'tall, obese man' with a deep voice like actor Vin Diesel's, sporting 'camouflage and a mask,' according to an arrest warrant. Dabate alleged her death took place more than an hour before her Fitbit-tracked movements revealed."

66 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We've heard all about doctors not knowing what to do with fitness tracker data but now we're finally seeing a valid use case: recording your time of death! The police must be thrilled. ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      This kind of thing was predicted long ago, though it was supposed to be a warning:

      "We'll know you're dead when you don't answer your phone".

      Well, we showed those prognosticators, and we ignored their warnings and went leagues beyond what they foresaw. We voluntarily wear electronics that spy on us regardless of whether we activate them or not.

    2. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by networkBoy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually....
      Tie fitbit tracker "heartbeat" data with a deadman switch...

      Fitbit says you died, time to delete the crypto keys to the computer.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    3. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by Baron_Yam · · Score: 2

      You're going to want a LONG fuse on that deadman switch, or any number of accidents or incidents of forgetfulness could cause you some serious annoyance.

      I have a friend who would wipe or destroy my digital media for me if I died, after migrating any family photos or videos my wife wanted to keep. My stuff is locked down for the sake of it, and not locked down well enough to keep law enforcement or a decent hacker out anyway.

      Security vs. convenience. By the time you've gone to deadman switches you're so far beyond 'inconvenient' you need a new word for it.

    4. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have a friend who would wipe or destroy my digital media for me if I died

      I'm willing my collection of ASCII porn to the Smithsonian in the case of my death.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by Hylandr · · Score: 1

      Fitbit says you died, time to delete the crypto keys to the computer.

      Fitbit says you died, time to delete my browser history, porn folder, and Google account.

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
    6. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      Well yes...
      And actually I already have a system I use.
      Like you I have a friend(relative) who is responsible for my primary computer stuff, but there is one machine that requires a ping at least once a week or it goes dark, after a month it wipes its keys and my CA signed private key as well.
      I'll notice when it goes dark... and if I don't I have *way* bigger problems.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    7. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by wasteoid · · Score: 1

      Make sure to include a 1541 floppy drive to read your box of floppy disks.

    8. Re:Finally a good use for fitness trackers. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Make sure to include a 1541 floppy drive to read your box of floppy disks.

      I have a 5.25" floppy.

      But I keep my ASCII porn on Bernoulli tape.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  2. DST? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Are DST adjustments automatic on a Fitbit? Asking as I don't own one.

    1. Re:DST? by Streetlight · · Score: 1

      Or time zones?

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    2. Re:DST? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Found the defense attorney!

      Disclaimer: was thinking the same thing myself.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:DST? by EvilSS · · Score: 3, Informative

      Are DST adjustments automatic on a Fitbit? Asking as I don't own one.

      Very good question! Unfortunately for the husband they also have video of the woman leaving the gym at around the time she was supposed to have been murdered. So based on that it sounds like the time on the fitbit is correct. Well, unless the gym also didn't set their clock correctly on their video, but that would be easy to verify. The FitBit is just icing on the cake.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    4. Re:DST? by zlives · · Score: 1

      so the fitbit ... bit is just clickbait

    5. Re: DST? by mSparks43 · · Score: 1

      Do people have automatic DST adjustments? I ask because I don't own one.

    6. Re:DST? by GNious · · Score: 1

      I'd expect electronics like this to just record UTC/GMT, and not bother with timezones or daily saving.

    7. Re:DST? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      Except the user usually checks the time on it.

      Tap to activate it, and the time is either the first or second item displayed. Most people don't want to translate from UTC to local time when they glance at their timepiece.

      --

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      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    8. Re:DST? by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Pretty much. I mean it gives the cops more of the timeline since they know when it stopped recording movement but it's not the key ..um.. bit of evidence here.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    9. Re:DST? by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Or the husband was just wrong about the time. People do that.

      Or he lied about it. Murders do that. I mean he said he got the notification for the home alarm on his way to work. I'm sure he would notice if he was running an hour late.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    10. Re:DST? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Is that a rhetorical question or did you not know that police are able to pretty damn accurately determine the time of death when someone dies from fairly ordinary wounds and the body hasn't been excessively tampered with?

    11. Re:DST? by GNious · · Score: 1

      Pretty much all devices handle time as e.g. UTC, counting time-units since a defined Epoch, and then translates that into date/time for humans.
      I'd wager that this is also the case for everything FitBit.

    12. Re:DST? by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Regardless he will hang for it.

      This is yet another reason why, no matter what, innocent as an angel or guilty as sin, never, ever, neverever talk to the police. Any misstatement is "changing your story." Any hazy memory is construed as obstruction.

      Anything you say will be used to prosecute you, whether you are guilty or not. Nothing you say to police will be used to help you. That's not their job.

      Get a lawyer. Shut your mouth.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  3. Re: First by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Funny

    it's always the tall, obese man.

    That's what the short obese man wants you to think.

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  4. Re:First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Tall obese lives matter!

    Tall obese man who sounds like Vin Diesel? Doesn't this sound made up?

    OMG I think the murderer sounded like Joe Pesci and was like skinny but had fat ankles you know?? Cankles is what he had yes.. in fact it might have been a transexual woman.. so Caitlyn jenner if Caitlyn jenner was originally Joe Pesci but got a sex change but didnt do anything about her/his fat ankles..

    only a human mind could come up with such stupid crap.

  5. Stupid cops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    DUNNo where this happened at, but it sounds to me like this guy is getting Deliverance'd by the cops. One hour discrepancy in his version of events doesn't mean anything at all, especially if he was traumatized. The cops on the other hand sound stupid so they're probably inbred.

  6. Frame Job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How do we know the killer didn't wear the fitbit himself for an hour and put it back on the corpse to frame the husband?

    Captcha: executor. LOL

    1. Re:Frame Job by jandersen · · Score: 1

      How do we know the killer didn't wear the fitbit himself for an hour and put it back on the corpse to frame the husband?

      Very often in any investigation, science- or criminal-, there isn't one clear "Proof" of what happened, but there are many, independant sets of data that all agree, and which together point to the same conclusion. It is quite possible that each data set is not all that conclusive, when they all point the same way, it would be amazingly hard to imagine that they would all be wrong.

  7. Detectives? by networkzombie · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It took 15 months to figure this out and now the guy is out on bail? His gun matches, he had major insurance, and the husband is always the prime suspect. This investigation should have taken weeks. Ellington seems to have had 4 murders in the past 12 years, including this one. Must have been a high priority case. I'll bet the crime scene had over a dozen cops onsite eating donuts. The next day they went back to their speed traps.

    1. Re:Detectives? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
      So you have never been in trouble with the law before. Despite what you see on TV it takes a while for a case to be made and I promise you its longer then a commercial break.

      Wow I swear some people just need to watch a little less CSI.

    2. Re:Detectives? by Falos · · Score: 2

      In all earnest, without any trace of cocked brow or wry grin, I submit that they have done more for our fear culture than most terrorists ever will.

      Not that pointing it out helps much.

    3. Re:Detectives? by networkzombie · · Score: 1

      I don't watch CSI, but I do know quite a few cops. I vent here because if I criticized them to their faces they would put me in jail for resisting arrest. No joke.

    4. Re:Detectives? by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      pfft shows what you know. 3 years prison, good job, family, and i have everything i need, including extra money to build pc's. nerd.

    5. Re:Detectives? by parkinglot777 · · Score: 2

      It took 15 months to figure this out and now the guy is out on bail? His gun matches, he had major insurance, and the husband is always the prime suspect. This investigation should have taken weeks. Ellington seems to have had 4 murders in the past 12 years, including this one. Must have been a high priority case. I'll bet the crime scene had over a dozen cops onsite eating donuts. The next day they went back to their speed traps.

      If you see at least some real investigation shows, you would have an idea that often times a murder case takes months to years to collect enough evidence in order to charge someone. I am sure that the husband was in their suspect list, but they did not charge him until now because they wanted to have as much evidence as they could to fight in the court. They might have asked their DA (or someone who has the authority to make the decision) whether they should charge him, and the person said NO and told them to look for more evidence. Circumstantial evidence is easy to collect (or make up -- logical sense), but that could easily fail to convince (to juries if it is a jury court) in court because the evidence, often times, would be struck down with doubt. You have to prove beyond reasonable doubt in order to convict on a murder crime.

    6. Re:Detectives? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've always been annoyed that in the US showing half a tit is a criminal offense while showing people getting raped/murdered/abused/attacked is good entertainment.

    7. Re:Detectives? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      They probably wanted clear evidence that his claims were false before going to trial. Because if you don't, that's how guilty men walk. They must discredit his story beyond a reasonable doubt.

      And since the court system insists on fairness, both sides would have access to the Fitbit data. Both sides would have an opportunity to have experts examine it. Maybe they could agree on a single independent expert, but either way it takes time.

      If it takes a year or two to nail a murderer, I see that as time well-spent. If they rush it and he walks on a technicality, they don't get to try again.

      --

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      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    8. Re:Detectives? by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      I was walking through our customer waiting area earlier this week and saw something very upsetting. There were roughly 10 people in the waiting area, sitting in chairs all facing the flat panel TV on the wall.

      On the TV: a guy in a business suit places a bag over another guy's head in the foreground. He then smashes the guy's head in with a bat. Not one hit mind you, but like 10 or 15 hits. The bag gets bloody, the body falls off of a chair to the floor.

      It was not what was on the TV that upset me. Well it upset me a bit. That aside, it was the vacuous and accepting looks in the eyes of everyone else who just witnessed the faux blunt object murder. No one cared. No one was surprised or upset. Not even a flicker of emotion passed their eyes.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  8. Kind of a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately. by mellon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The wife is still dead, whether this story is true or not.

    1. Re:Kind of a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately. by quonset · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The wife is still dead, whether this story is true or not.

      So every time someone is murdered we shouldn't look for their killers because the person will still be dead? We should let criminals roam free?

    2. Re:Kind of a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't "Pyrrhic victory" apply to the husband here? In that case, the "unfortunately" seems inappropriate.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Kind of a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A pyrrhic victory would imply that the police somehow harmed their case by discovering this, intentionally.

      Pyrrhic Victory:
      noun
      1.
      a victory or goal achieved at too great a cost.

    4. Re:Kind of a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately. by freudigst · · Score: 1

      Your point being...?

  9. LawAndOrder Plot by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    such possibilities

  10. Re: First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The tall obese man was Barbara Hudson. Barbara submitted the article in an attempt to deflect guilt. There's even photographic proof clearly identifying the suspect.

    https://d3qvyul2tp4j8.cloudfront.net/i/Ws0-S1Zysrt.jpg

    Notice the "B" is for Barbara.

  11. Jesus christ people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Haven't we all seen enough episodes of CSI to avoid making these mistakes?

    Summer is coming up. HINT: If you're going to murder your kids by leaving them in a hot car, wipe your browser cache after Googling "how to kill my kid in a hot car"

  12. Re:16 Months Ago! by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

    did you see the guy's house in the story? he clearly has money, and as such at least one of these applies
    1) arrogant in thinking he'd get away with it in the long term
    2) has much to lose by fleeing the US for some third world country (do any first world countries lack extradition?)
    3) he didn't do it, that whole presumption of innocence thing strikes again.

  13. Re: How old was the fitbit holder? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    On its leg. "And here, we guess she was being chased. Her heartbeat suddenly doubles and the GPS shows her running down the street, then through people's gardens, jumping over fences but then she stops outside the burger joint and just waits. Can't figure it out".

  14. yup, sounds fishy to me too by FudRucker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    why would the home invader shoot the wife dead but only tie the husband up, when it would be just as easy to shoot him too which also eliminates him as a witness to the intruders identity and crimes

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    1. Re:yup, sounds fishy to me too by n3r0.m4dski11z · · Score: 2

      "why would the home invader shoot the wife dead but only tie the husband up"

      Perhaps the first death was an accident. People don't exactly behave cool headed and rational in these sorts of situations. Anything could have happened. The wife stepped up and got killed, the husband cowered in a corner. The killer realized what he did and didn't want to be in jail for the rest of his life. The killer hated women, or recognized her and knew she could ID him. Who knows.
      Thats why we have courts and rule of law. 'It wasn''t me, it was the one armed man' and all that.

      --
      -
  15. Tolland County, got it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "...at their home in Ellington, Tolland County"

    Who wrote this summary, Forrest Gump?

    Seriously, I don't care what the county is, I just want to know the state. And I don't want to read TFA FFS.

    1. Re: Tolland County, got it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Good point. What state could the New York Daily News possibly be talking about?

  16. People really sext like that? by bongey · · Score: 1

    "I'm ready for u big boy." Are we sure there was even another woman? Only time have seen messages like that is reading my spam messages .

    1. Re:People really sext like that? by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      "I'm ready for u big boy." Are we sure there was even another woman? Only time have seen messages like that is reading my spam messages .

      Well if you had a girlfriend other than your right hand, maybe you'd have seen a text like that.

  17. Murdered Woman's Fitbit Nails Murdering Husband by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Who edits this crap anyway ?

  18. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  19. Fitbit Nails? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm confused by the headline - what's a Fitbit Nails?

    1. Re:Fitbit Nails? by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

      It's a type of Fitbit which won't fall off. They starting selling them a few days before Easter.

      --
      "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  20. Re:Cheating Husband by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Murdering husband murdered wife would seem rather redundant, while "cheating" gives additional information.

  21. Re:No, he should not have had a .357 Magnum by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

    I like my guns. Fuckoff.. Thats the only excuse i need.. so Fuckoff.

  22. Re: How old was the fitbit holder? by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

    mod this up!

  23. Re:No, he should not have had a .357 Magnum by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure I can strangle a woman to death with my bare hands, and I'm not very strong. A .357 is overkill, and risky: it makes noise, it leaves chemical residue on the user's hands, it requires disposal of clothing immediately (more powder), it leaves identifiable scratches on the bullet, it causes unaccounted bullets in the gun, it links a particular type of gun that the user possesses to a particular type of round which may be fired from said gun and which other types of guns may be incapable of firing, it splatters blood, and it creates a series of specifically-verifiable facts about ownership of a gun and ammunition. Literally everyone has hands, unless they've lost them to a genetic defect or a lawn mower misadventure.

    In other countries with high violent crime rates, blunt weapons and knives are implicated. The problem here isn't that this dude used a gun; it's that he fully intended and pre-planned the murder of his wife. How do you prevent that?

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
  24. Re:Cheating Husband by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

    It hints at the motive. Based on that single word, I assume he was headed for divorce and humiliation.

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    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
  25. Also detained for questioning was by jmcwork · · Score: 1

    The Iron Giant

  26. Re:Cheating Husband by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    He hasn't been convicted (yet).

    So really, it shouldn't really be saying he's been nailed for anything, not by the Fitbit anyway.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  27. Nails him for what? Innocent until proven guilty.. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Murdered Woman's Fitbit Nails Cheating Husband

    He's not been nailed for anything yet. Still got to get that pesky trial out of the way first.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  28. Interesting choice of words by Shepanator · · Score: 1

    It nailed him? It was shoved up his ass? Finally a real use for a fitbit.

  29. Re:No, he should not have had a .357 Magnum by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    Duh?

    --
    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.