12 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2017 Tech making it much easier to catch the killer In a lot of ways, the job that law enforcement of- ficers have has never been more difficult. But in some ways, espe- cially when you consider social media and electronic devices like cell phones and heart rate monitors, catching bad guys is easier because of technology. For instance, there’s a guy in Connecticut that told po- lice a horrific story about his wife’s murder. Richard Dabate described the attack to police. He said a masked intruder barged into his Connecticut home and tied him up. Then the suspect allegedly tortured him. When the wife came home, the masked invader shot and killed her without a second thought. But there was a problem with this story and police eventually charged the Da- bate with the murder of his wife. The evidence they re- lied on was not the murder weapon or statements from eye witnesses. The fact of the matter was that the wife was wearing one of those Fitbit devices that tracks heart rates and distances covered on foot. And the device said that the wife was still moving af- ter the time the husband said she had been murdered. If you’re a detective, it’s an interesting case. Back in December 23, 2015, Dabate told detectives he put his two kids on the bus to school and kissed his wife goodbye. His wife Connie then left for work. A little after that the wife headed for a fitness class at the local YMCA, wearing her Fitbit. Dabate told police he then went back home because he’d realized he’d forgotten his laptop. This was between 8:45 and 9 AM, according to Dabate. Then he said he heard a noise and went upstairs to check it out. Upstairs he says he found an intruder – a large man wearing a camouflaged suit with a mask. At this point Abate says he heard his wife come home and he yelled out to her to run for her life. After a brief struggle, the intruder shot and killed the wife, Dabate said. Then Abate says the in- truder tied him up and start- ed burning him with a torch of some kind. At that point, he told de- tectives the intruder half tied him to a chair and began burning him with a torch. It gets weirder. Abate says he then wrestled the torch out of the intruder’s hands and started burning the in- truder. Abate says at that point the intruder “dropped the torch, put his hands to his face, and ran out.” Dabate says he then man- aged to hit the panic button on his alarm and also called 911. He says that was at around 10:11 AM. Police responded and searched the area but never spotted a suspect. Then the guy’s story starts falling apart. K-9’s were brought in to locate any evidence that someone fled the property but they only seemed in- terested in Dabate, police said. There were no signs of forced entry. Nothing had been taken. Then investigators got search warrants for Connie Dabate’s Fitbit, both of their cell phones, their computers and house alarm logs. After checking the devices against each other, police say they determined the fol- lowing. 9:01 AM: Richard Dabate logged into Outlook from an IP address assigned to the internet at the house. 9:04 AM: Dabate sent his supervisor an e-mail saying an alarm had gone off at his house and he’s got to go back and check on it. 9:23 AM: Connie’s Fitbit registered movement at the same time the garage door opened into the kitchen. Connie Dabate was active on Facebook between 9:40 and 9:46 AM, posting videos to her page with her iPhone, and she was also utilizing the IP address at their house. While she was at the residence, her Fitbit re- corded a distance of 1,217 feet between 9:18 AM and 10:05 AM, when movement stops. If the husband was telling the truth, detectives say the total distance it would take the victim to walk from her vehicle to the basement, where she died, would be no more than 125 feet. Dabate later admitted to having an extramarit al affair where he impreg- nated a woman. And here’s the kicker – just five days after the murder, Dabate tried to file a claim for his wife’s life insur- ance policy which is worth $475,000, police said. Dabate now stands charged with murder, tam- pering with evidence, and providing a false statement. As people use more and more technology, police will have an easier time get- ting evidence in cases like these. Just last year, Ohio inves- tigators used evidence re- trieved from a pacemaker to build an arson case against a suspect. Unlike human witnesses, our Fitbits and digital assistants like “Alexa” don’t lie (unless they’re programmed to) Battle of the Police 420 memes Many local law enforcement agencies have started celebrating 420 Day. The unofficial cannabis holiday is now frequently acknowledged by local law enforcement agencies on social me- dia. The “munchies” jokes are truly a testament to the fact that times and attitudes about the so-called drug war are changing. Richard Dabate and Connie Dabate during happier times.