Dateline- Unforgettable - Season 7 Episode 05- The Secrets of Birch View Drive - video Dailymotion

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Transcript

00:00:00We heard it was a break-in.

00:00:02It was an alarming scene.

00:00:04He was in the kitchen, bound to a folding chair, moaning.

00:00:07She was located in the basement, dressed in workout gear.

00:00:11There was obvious signs of gunshot wound to her.

00:00:14It was like a sick feeling. God, he didn't make it.

00:00:17There's this big mystery in town of who came in and did this.

00:00:21One big clue? The killer apparently had a voice similar to a huge Hollywood star.

00:00:26Based on the description, it's one I definitely wouldn't forget.

00:00:30I just heard this deep, in diesel-like voice.

00:00:35We had unidentified DNA in six key places.

00:00:39A lot of information started coming out, including a big bombshell.

00:00:43Unbelievable.

00:00:44She really became one of your key witnesses.

00:00:48She was not a willing witness.

00:00:50It was difficult.

00:00:51You took a number of electronic devices from the house.

00:00:54It took the Fitbit transmitter off of her body.

00:00:57That little device had quite a story to tell.

00:01:00We all leave digital footprints today.

00:01:02This one became an investigator's best friend.

00:01:05It was a silent witness.

00:01:07Correct.

00:01:07Digital evidence is powerful.

00:01:09This was a big twist that you were not expecting.

00:01:12No.

00:01:13It's devastation. It's betrayal.

00:01:15How could this happen?

00:01:16My jaw almost dropped to the floor.

00:01:18I just kept on thinking, oh my God.

00:01:21This is Dateline Unforgettable.

00:01:30I'm Andrea Canning with a fresh look at the secrets of Birchview Drive.

00:01:35Every so often you meet someone who has a certain energy,

00:01:39the kind everyone gravitates toward.

00:01:42Connie DeBate's loved ones told me she was that person.

00:01:46They said she instantly made you feel like her best friend.

00:01:50And as I went from house to house in her tiny cul-de-sac,

00:01:53I sensed that love in every Connie story I heard.

00:01:57So imagine the devastation when they learned she was murdered.

00:02:01Now all those friends and her family wanted answers.

00:02:09Birchview Drive was a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood

00:02:12in a quiet Connecticut town called Ellington.

00:02:17It was also home to three boisterous friends,

00:02:20Darlene Beaudry, Peggy Giotzis, and Connie DeBate.

00:02:23You all lived so close to each other.

00:02:26Yeah, we did.

00:02:26We did.

00:02:27We do.

00:02:27That's my house over there.

00:02:30That's my house there.

00:02:31And Connie lived right back there.

00:02:34Close houses, even closer friends.

00:02:38Connie always knew how to make herself at home.

00:02:39My favorite thing that she did is she would,

00:02:43back then we would always leave the garage doors open.

00:02:45So she'd come through the garage, she'd say,

00:02:47honey, I'm home.

00:02:49And then just like Peggy did today,

00:02:51she would just, she'd just walk right in.

00:02:53There was no knocking.

00:02:54There was, she'd just throw the door open.

00:02:56I think you three have a friendship that

00:02:58so many of us ladies would love to have.

00:03:02We actually really did become like family.

00:03:04We cooked together, hung out together.

00:03:07Peggy would offer endless advice about babies.

00:03:10And you guys had a name for yourselves?

00:03:12Either the three musketeers or the three amigos.

00:03:15Depending on whatever day.

00:03:17We had a lot of fun together.

00:03:20Fun.

00:03:21Connie was all about the fun,

00:03:23especially with the holiday season upon them.

00:03:26But on the morning of December 23rd, 2015,

00:03:29there was only chaos at Connie's house.

00:03:32I came to the sink and I look over

00:03:36and I'm like, holy cow,

00:03:38there's a state trooper with his rifle

00:03:40drawn on the house.

00:03:42Peggy immediately called Connie,

00:03:44but she didn't pick up.

00:03:45So Peggy tried Darlene.

00:03:47And asked her if she knew what was going on

00:03:50and had she heard from Connie.

00:03:52And she said there was a first responder car

00:03:55and a sheriff at Connie's house

00:03:57and he was outside the car with his rifle.

00:04:00That's really scary.

00:04:02It was like, what?

00:04:04Before we can say another sentence,

00:04:07this entire street was full of state troopers.

00:04:11The driveway had about a thousand of them coming up.

00:04:14I mean, it just seemed like it's...

00:04:15Are they screaming?

00:04:16They're screeching in.

00:04:17They're screeching in one by one.

00:04:19But yes, yes.

00:04:20I mean, it was like...

00:04:21Full speed.

00:04:22Something you would see out of the movies.

00:04:24Yeah.

00:04:24The massive police presence

00:04:27was in response to an alarm trigger

00:04:29that the house Connie shared with her husband,

00:04:3239-year-old Rick DeBate,

00:04:33and their two children.

00:04:35That and a cryptic 911 call.

00:04:38911.

00:04:38Hello?

00:04:40Hello?

00:04:42Hello?

00:04:44David Lamoureux and Ryan Luther raced to the scene.

00:04:48Back then, they were Connecticut state police detectives.

00:04:52What do you see as you pull up

00:04:53in this, you know, quiet suburban neighborhood?

00:04:56There was numerous uniform troopers there.

00:04:58It was our K-9 unit troopers there

00:05:00with their K-9s out.

00:05:02And they had the scene secured at the time

00:05:04with crime scene tape.

00:05:05I believe media was actually starting to show up.

00:05:08What are you being told by the first responders

00:05:10about what they saw in the house?

00:05:12Initially, that it was called in as a home invasion

00:05:14and that there was a deceased person in the basement.

00:05:17Troopers were already scouring the neighborhood,

00:05:20pounding on doors up and down the street.

00:05:22They were saying there was home invasion

00:05:24and the intruder has fled on foot

00:05:26and is somewhere in the neighborhood.

00:05:28And your children are home.

00:05:29My children are home.

00:05:30The panic that you must have felt,

00:05:32just the fear.

00:05:35One of the troopers said they needed

00:05:36to clear Darlene's house

00:05:37to make sure the intruder wasn't inside.

00:05:40And he said, I want you to get in the bathroom

00:05:41with your children.

00:05:43I took them off the couch.

00:05:44They were with their iPads.

00:05:46And I put them back behind the toilet

00:05:48and I just shut the door.

00:05:51I put my back against the door

00:05:53and the trooper said, I'm going to clear the house

00:05:55and I don't want you to come out

00:05:57until you hear me knock twice.

00:05:59And you hear me knock twice,

00:06:01then you'll know the house is clear.

00:06:03When they finally got the all clear,

00:06:05Darlene and her children came out of the bathroom.

00:06:08But they were ordered to stay inside the house.

00:06:11He came out and he stood here and he said,

00:06:13I'm going to go out that door.

00:06:14I want you to lock the door behind me.

00:06:16Do not open the door under any other circumstance.

00:06:20So that's what we did.

00:06:21Meanwhile, across the street,

00:06:23Peggy was still trying to reach Connie.

00:06:25I was feeling anxious.

00:06:27I didn't know what was going on.

00:06:29I called there.

00:06:30I'm like, what is going on?

00:06:31Please call me back.

00:06:32Let me know that you guys are OK.

00:06:34No one answered.

00:06:35It went straight to voicemail.

00:06:38She was standing by her window

00:06:40when she heard the crackle of a police scanner.

00:06:42I heard DOA going to Hartford Hospital.

00:06:47I called her and I was like,

00:06:49I couldn't breathe.

00:06:50I was screaming.

00:06:50I was like, someone's dead.

00:06:52Like, what's going on?

00:06:53I don't understand.

00:06:55And so...

00:06:55Everyone knows what DOA means.

00:06:57Exactly.

00:06:59An apparent home invasion.

00:07:01An intruder on the loose.

00:07:03Someone dead.

00:07:05What had happened at Rick and Connie's house?

00:07:07And why on earth wasn't Connie picking up her phone?

00:07:10Coming up...

00:07:14For investigators,

00:07:16the chaos outside the house

00:07:18was about to give way

00:07:19to a series of chilling discoveries inside.

00:07:22He was in the kitchen,

00:07:24bound to a folding chair.

00:07:26She was located in the far corner of the basement.

00:07:29When Dateline Unforgettable continues.

00:07:40Birchview Drive,

00:07:43normally peaceful,

00:07:44was in upheaval.

00:07:46An apparent home invasion

00:07:47at Connie and Rick DeBate's house.

00:07:49Police cars all over the place.

00:07:52Detectives Lamoureux and Luther

00:07:53had to make sense of it all.

00:07:57What do you see?

00:07:58Well, a large house.

00:08:01We were able to just do a walk,

00:08:02general walk through the house

00:08:03before we begin processing

00:08:04to get a feel for what's going on.

00:08:06It was two days before Christmas.

00:08:08You have this Christmas tree

00:08:09and presents and decorations, you know,

00:08:11and we later learned about

00:08:12the two boys that they had.

00:08:14Thankfully, the boys,

00:08:16just six and nine years old,

00:08:17were at school.

00:08:18But Rick and Connie had been home.

00:08:21First responders found Rick in the kitchen.

00:08:25He was partially bound to a folding chair.

00:08:29There was what looked like blood

00:08:30on the floor,

00:08:32smeared on the floor.

00:08:33He was reportedly just moaning

00:08:35when they got there.

00:08:37He was injured, but alive.

00:08:40The responders rushed him to the hospital.

00:08:43But Connie...

00:08:45She was located in the far corner

00:08:48of the basement,

00:08:49in the unfinished portion.

00:08:50She was dressed in what looked like

00:08:52workout gear,

00:08:53like sweatpants and a sweat top,

00:08:55wearing sneakers.

00:08:57She was obviously deceased.

00:08:59There was obvious signs

00:09:00of gunshot wound to her.

00:09:01Connie DeBate had been shot to death.

00:09:05She was the DOA.

00:09:06Peggy had heard mentioned

00:09:07on that police scanner.

00:09:09Darlene got the news from Rick's dad.

00:09:11He said there was a home evasion

00:09:13and Connie didn't make it.

00:09:17It was like a sick feeling,

00:09:19like Connie didn't make it.

00:09:22What are you saying?

00:09:24Connie's brother, Keith Margotta,

00:09:26and his wife, Donna,

00:09:27found out from Keith's father.

00:09:28He called and said that there's been

00:09:30a tragedy or a home invasion

00:09:34at my sister's house in Ellington

00:09:37and that Connie was gone,

00:09:39is what he said.

00:09:41I felt like I was just going to collapse.

00:09:42Yeah, we're just trying to process

00:09:44what we've been told.

00:09:45We can't fathom it

00:09:47because we've just seen her.

00:09:50You know, it's not real.

00:09:51It can't be real.

00:09:52Soon, word of Connie's murder spread.

00:09:57One of her oldest friends,

00:09:58Kim Phillips, got the news by text.

00:10:01She says she crumbled.

00:10:02My kids were five and six,

00:10:04so I just remember, like,

00:10:06I don't want them to see me

00:10:07getting so upset.

00:10:09So I'm upstairs and just screamed

00:10:10into the pillow.

00:10:12And I hate that I'm saying this,

00:10:15but I was like, why is it her?

00:10:16And why couldn't it be somebody else?

00:10:18It was your, you know,

00:10:21natural reaction in the moment.

00:10:22It really was the worst,

00:10:24worst news I could ever hear

00:10:25and the worst person

00:10:26that I could ever be.

00:10:29Connie, who would have murdered her?

00:10:31She was the sweetest person,

00:10:33the baby in the family

00:10:34with two older sisters and a brother.

00:10:36I teased her a lot as a big brother,

00:10:38as big brothers might.

00:10:41You know, as adults,

00:10:43she had reminded me of that.

00:10:45How would you tease her?

00:10:45What kind of,

00:10:46how would you torment

00:10:47your little sister?

00:10:47She says I put her

00:10:49out the window one time.

00:10:50Ooh.

00:10:51But it was just,

00:10:51it was maybe her feet.

00:10:54Don't you love how little siblings

00:10:56can exaggerate like that?

00:10:57They do exaggerate, yeah.

00:10:58When they want to get you in trouble?

00:11:00Yeah.

00:11:00Yeah, she thought my father,

00:11:02you know, I'd get in trouble

00:11:03with my father

00:11:03when I was 40 or something.

00:11:06And Donna,

00:11:07you came in to Connie's life

00:11:09when she was quite young.

00:11:10Yes.

00:11:11She was six years old.

00:11:13I met Connie,

00:11:14I was dating her brother.

00:11:16Connie took dance

00:11:17from the same dance teacher I did.

00:11:19She was like a little sister.

00:11:21Family for Connie

00:11:22also included her friends,

00:11:24like Kim.

00:11:26I met Connie

00:11:27my sophomore year of high school.

00:11:28She had just moved to Ellington,

00:11:30and we just got along from the start.

00:11:34This is everything

00:11:34I keep hearing about Connie.

00:11:36It's just her way

00:11:37of putting people at ease,

00:11:39getting to know people very quickly,

00:11:41having those instant connections.

00:11:42Yeah, absolutely.

00:11:44She was someone that

00:11:45the first time you would meet her,

00:11:47you would automatically

00:11:48just be attracted to her personality.

00:11:50You would want to spend

00:11:51more time with her.

00:11:53It's that quality,

00:11:54Kim says,

00:11:55that made everyone who knew Connie

00:11:56think of her as a best friend.

00:11:58You know, usually,

00:11:58it's like maybe a small group

00:12:00of best friends.

00:12:01This was like everybody was,

00:12:02Connie was my best friend.

00:12:03It makes me feel so good

00:12:05to know that so many people

00:12:06thought of Connie

00:12:08as their best friend.

00:12:09And I just think it's, again,

00:12:10she was able to reach into people.

00:12:13She put everyone else

00:12:15before herself.

00:12:17And that made it easy

00:12:18to root for Connie

00:12:19when she gushed over

00:12:20a new man in her life.

00:12:22She met Rick at a party

00:12:23while home from college

00:12:24one summer.

00:12:26She's like,

00:12:26I met this great guy,

00:12:28and he's Italian,

00:12:29and, you know,

00:12:29she loved Italian men.

00:12:31And so I was like,

00:12:33okay, you know,

00:12:34if Connie loves him,

00:12:35I'll love him.

00:12:36What did you think

00:12:37about initial impressions

00:12:39of Rick and Connie

00:12:41and Rick together?

00:12:42I really liked Rick.

00:12:43I thought he was a good fit

00:12:46for Connie.

00:12:46I mean, he was fun.

00:12:47She was fun.

00:12:48Richard and Julie debate

00:12:49say their son

00:12:50had always been that way.

00:12:52He was easy going.

00:12:53He was always like a joker.

00:12:57And when he brought Connie home,

00:12:59I said to my husband,

00:13:01this is different.

00:13:02I think she's the one.

00:13:04What was different about it?

00:13:05But he was glowing,

00:13:08and Connie fit right in.

00:13:11Connie was the one.

00:13:13The two married,

00:13:14had the boys,

00:13:15and their house

00:13:16on Birchview Drive

00:13:16became the happy center

00:13:18of their social lives.

00:13:19It was funny

00:13:20because we actually called

00:13:21Connie's house

00:13:23the debate estates

00:13:25because we used to

00:13:26always go there.

00:13:27Sounds like a winery.

00:13:28But it was true

00:13:29because that's where

00:13:30people would just congregate

00:13:31at that house.

00:13:32But now the debate house

00:13:35was a crime scene.

00:13:37Connie was dead,

00:13:38and the people congregating

00:13:39there were state

00:13:40police investigators.

00:13:42We are a team

00:13:43of five detectives

00:13:44that will investigate

00:13:45the most serious crimes

00:13:47that occur.

00:13:48Detective Sergeant

00:13:49Brett Longevin,

00:13:51Lieutenant Bill Udermark,

00:13:52and Jeff Payette

00:13:53were detectives

00:13:54at the time

00:13:54and also assigned

00:13:55to the case.

00:13:57Job one for Payette

00:13:58and Longevin

00:13:59get over to the hospital

00:14:00where doctors

00:14:01were treating Rick.

00:14:02What do you want

00:14:03to find out

00:14:03from the husband

00:14:04since he was in the house

00:14:06when the police arrived?

00:14:08Everything he knows.

00:14:09He's the best witness.

00:14:11He's a victim.

00:14:13He could potentially

00:14:14tell us who did it.

00:14:15Or at least provide

00:14:17a description

00:14:17of the intruder.

00:14:19The sooner we get

00:14:19that information

00:14:20and get it out

00:14:21to everybody,

00:14:21the better off

00:14:22everyone is.

00:14:23The question was,

00:14:25how soon could they get it?

00:14:27Rick was lying

00:14:27in a hospital bed.

00:14:28What, if anything,

00:14:31would he be able

00:14:31to tell police?

00:14:35Coming up,

00:14:37Rick recounts

00:14:38walking into a closet

00:14:39and discovering

00:14:40a masked man.

00:14:42It was big.

00:14:43And there was

00:14:44one other thing

00:14:45the man's mask

00:14:46couldn't cover.

00:14:46I just heard

00:14:48this deep

00:14:49indiesel-like voice.

00:14:53When Dateline

00:14:54Unforgettable

00:14:55continues.

00:14:58Hours after the attack

00:15:07at Connie and Rick

00:15:08DeBate's house,

00:15:09detectives were

00:15:09inside an ER.

00:15:11Rick had suffered

00:15:12wounds to his legs,

00:15:13shoulder,

00:15:14and the back

00:15:14of his head.

00:15:15But he was conscious.

00:15:17He seemed well-spoken,

00:15:19coherent.

00:15:20We could see

00:15:20a little bit of blood

00:15:21from the side of his cheek,

00:15:22some blood on his hands.

00:15:24Detectives Jeff Payette

00:15:25and Brett Longevin

00:15:26needed Rick

00:15:27to tell them

00:15:28what happened.

00:15:33With the recorder

00:15:34rolling,

00:15:34the detectives

00:15:35listened as Rick

00:15:36went back over

00:15:37that morning.

00:15:39Getting the kids

00:15:39off to school.

00:15:41Watching Connie

00:15:42get ready for the gym.

00:15:43Driving off to work.

00:15:45He said he wasn't

00:15:4610 minutes down the road

00:15:47when he stopped.

00:15:48I didn't realize

00:15:50I needed to go back

00:15:51for my laptop.

00:15:53At the same time,

00:15:54he said the alert

00:15:55notifications

00:15:55on his phone went off.

00:15:57Trouble with his

00:15:58home security system.

00:16:00Shout out an email

00:16:01to my boss

00:16:02saying that I'll be late.

00:16:04Told her I needed

00:16:05to check out

00:16:05some things

00:16:06on my security system.

00:16:09He drove back home,

00:16:11headed inside,

00:16:11and heard a noise upstairs.

00:16:14The cats make

00:16:14a loud,

00:16:15obnoxious mess.

00:16:17I figured it was

00:16:17just the cats.

00:16:19He thought that

00:16:19it was the cats

00:16:20because it wasn't

00:16:21uncommon for them

00:16:22to knock things over

00:16:24and make noise.

00:16:26So we went

00:16:27to check it out.

00:16:28He says the cats

00:16:29weren't there,

00:16:30but someone was.

00:16:33When you first

00:16:34walk into our bedroom,

00:16:36there's a walk-in closet

00:16:37right in front of me.

00:16:38That's not that

00:16:41that light was on, too,

00:16:42and I opened up

00:16:43and there's this

00:16:43camouflage unit.

00:16:48In your closet?

00:16:49Yes.

00:16:49Just looking around,

00:16:51trying to find

00:16:51something.

00:16:53I don't know.

00:16:54Something of value.

00:16:56Did you watch him

00:16:56for a little while?

00:16:57No.

00:16:58No, I opened

00:16:59the door pretty quick.

00:17:01This is where

00:17:02it all just gets so...

00:17:05I never had a night

00:17:06this happening.

00:17:07I just...

00:17:07Take your time.

00:17:10Rick said the man

00:17:11was a huge,

00:17:12hulking guy.

00:17:13He was big.

00:17:14But that was all

00:17:15he could share

00:17:16as far as physical appearance,

00:17:17because he said

00:17:18the intruder

00:17:18wore a mask.

00:17:19He did not describe

00:17:21skin color

00:17:23or any other

00:17:24descriptors.

00:17:25But if Rick

00:17:26couldn't describe

00:17:27the man's face,

00:17:28his voice,

00:17:29that he could describe.

00:17:31I just heard this

00:17:32deep Vin Diesel-like voice.

00:17:37Yes,

00:17:37that Vin Diesel,

00:17:39the huge Hollywood

00:17:40action star

00:17:41from the Fast

00:17:42and Furious movies.

00:17:43I haven't seen

00:17:44all of them,

00:17:45but if you're like me,

00:17:46you'd know that

00:17:46deep, gravelly voice

00:17:48anywhere.

00:17:48The word on the street

00:17:49is you got locked up.

00:17:51I haven't come across

00:17:52many cases

00:17:53where a victim

00:17:54had such a detailed

00:17:55description of what

00:17:56their assailant

00:17:57sounded like.

00:17:58It seemed like

00:17:59a great lead

00:18:00for detectives.

00:18:01It's an interesting

00:18:02way to describe

00:18:03a voice.

00:18:04Very specific.

00:18:05So you're looking

00:18:06for a large man,

00:18:08deep voice,

00:18:09in camouflage.

00:18:10Obese,

00:18:11to stocky,

00:18:11over six foot tall,

00:18:13covered in green

00:18:14camouflage

00:18:14with a deep voice.

00:18:16That's scary.

00:18:18Yes.

00:18:19He told detectives

00:18:20the Vin Diesel

00:18:21intruder was holding

00:18:22a knife,

00:18:23demanding Rick's

00:18:24wallet and pins.

00:18:26You said you were

00:18:27going to give me

00:18:27what I want.

00:18:28or I'm going to

00:18:29sit here quietly

00:18:29and wait for your

00:18:30family to get home.

00:18:31That's when he heard it,

00:18:33the garage door

00:18:33opening below,

00:18:35Connie walking

00:18:35into the house.

00:18:37So I yelled to her

00:18:39to get out of the house.

00:18:40My wife didn't run.

00:18:43She must have ran

00:18:44into the basement

00:18:44because we have

00:18:45two guns in the house.

00:18:48One was in the basement

00:18:49and a lockbox

00:18:50and one's in our closet.

00:18:52She ran downstairs.

00:18:54Rather than saving

00:18:55herself, Connie was

00:18:57apparently trying to

00:18:57save her husband.

00:18:59Rick said the intruder

00:19:00knocked him to the ground

00:19:01and chased after Connie.

00:19:02He said he staggered

00:19:03behind,

00:19:04catching up with them

00:19:05in the basement.

00:19:09Around the corner,

00:19:11I just,

00:19:12I just hear like

00:19:13the loudest bang

00:19:14and I saw my wife go.

00:19:17I think I saw her

00:19:18laying in the ground.

00:19:19I don't know.

00:19:22I didn't hear her

00:19:23at all after that.

00:19:23Suddenly, he said,

00:19:25the man was back on him.

00:19:29My ears were ringing

00:19:30and then he puts me

00:19:32in this neck,

00:19:36arm thing.

00:19:39I couldn't get out of it.

00:19:40He just guided me

00:19:41over to the other side,

00:19:44threw me in a chair,

00:19:46started using my own

00:19:47tools.

00:19:48What type of chair was it?

00:19:49Then, Rick described

00:19:55how the intruder

00:19:55tied him to the chair

00:19:56with zip ties,

00:19:58stabbed him with a box cutter

00:19:59and burned him

00:20:00with a handheld blowtorch,

00:20:02all from a bag of tools

00:20:04Rick kept in the basement.

00:20:05I'm sitting in the chair,

00:20:07half,

00:20:08I was kind of half tied up

00:20:10in shock,

00:20:12I guess.

00:20:13What do you mean

00:20:14half tied up?

00:20:16I had one leg free

00:20:17and an arm free.

00:20:18He tied one leg,

00:20:20tied one arm,

00:20:21and he tied my neck

00:20:23fairly tight

00:20:24with tie wrap.

00:20:26Rick said he used

00:20:27his free arm

00:20:27to fight back.

00:20:29I got a torch

00:20:30to kind of just

00:20:31blow in his mask

00:20:32a little bit

00:20:32and it caught in fire.

00:20:34He dropped

00:20:34the blowtorch.

00:20:36Dropped the blowtorch

00:20:37and ran.

00:20:38I was starting

00:20:38to scream for help,

00:20:40I screamed for help.

00:20:42I couldn't hear a soul.

00:20:44I got really,

00:20:45really dizzy.

00:20:47Rick said he then

00:20:47crawled upstairs,

00:20:49still partially

00:20:49zip-tied to the chair,

00:20:51triggered the home alarm

00:20:52and called 911.

00:20:55You have a lot of things

00:20:56you have to check out.

00:20:57We do.

00:20:58And corroborate

00:20:58from his story.

00:20:59We have to process

00:21:00the scene,

00:21:01we have to talk to people,

00:21:02interview people,

00:21:03look up electronic

00:21:04data,

00:21:05explore every option.

00:21:07As Rick was speaking

00:21:08to the detectives,

00:21:09his parents were

00:21:10trying to find him.

00:21:12All they knew

00:21:12was that he'd been

00:21:13taken to the hospital.

00:21:15When I finally got

00:21:15to the hospital,

00:21:16to the emergency room,

00:21:19they asked to see him

00:21:20and they still

00:21:22wouldn't let us

00:21:22see him yet.

00:21:23We waited in the emergency room

00:21:24for a couple more hours

00:21:25before they were

00:21:27leading him out of the room.

00:21:28He was asking me,

00:21:28where are the boys?

00:21:29I says,

00:21:30Mom has the boys,

00:21:31they're at the house.

00:21:32To his parents' relief,

00:21:35Rick's injuries

00:21:35were not severe

00:21:36and he was discharged

00:21:37from the hospital

00:21:38the same day.

00:21:39His first stop

00:21:40was his Aunt Janice's

00:21:41house to clean up.

00:21:43He didn't want his sons

00:21:43to see him bloody

00:21:44and bruised.

00:21:46His cousin Lori

00:21:46was also there.

00:21:48He was devastated.

00:21:50He was in tears.

00:21:52He was just a mess.

00:21:53He was stunned

00:21:55by everything too.

00:21:56If he said it once,

00:21:57he must have said it

00:21:5850 times.

00:21:59How are my boys?

00:22:00How are my boys?

00:22:02Later that night,

00:22:03Rick went to his parents'

00:22:05place.

00:22:06He sat his two boys down

00:22:07and told them

00:22:08what happened

00:22:08to their mom.

00:22:10It wasn't easy

00:22:11and they were very young

00:22:13to understand

00:22:14something like that

00:22:15and Rick told them

00:22:17that someone came

00:22:18into the house

00:22:19and hurt mommy

00:22:21and I couldn't help her

00:22:22and she's gone

00:22:25and one of them,

00:22:27I think,

00:22:28said mommy's dead

00:22:29and Rick said yes.

00:22:31It must have broken

00:22:32your heart to see

00:22:33those little boys' faces.

00:22:37Tragic and heartbreaking.

00:22:39Meanwhile,

00:22:40back at the debate house,

00:22:41the crime scene tape

00:22:42was up

00:22:42and the floodlights

00:22:43were on.

00:22:45It was going to be

00:22:45a long night

00:22:46scouring for evidence

00:22:47and clues

00:22:48and talking to neighbors.

00:22:50Neighbors who had

00:22:51stories to tell,

00:22:53stories that could

00:22:53possibly lead detectives

00:22:55to that deep-voiced intruder.

00:22:59Coming up,

00:23:00one story was about

00:23:02the debates

00:23:03and someone they hired.

00:23:04This contractor

00:23:05was so out of control

00:23:06that maybe

00:23:07they should get a gun.

00:23:10When Dateline

00:23:11Unforgettable

00:23:12continues.

00:23:22In the search

00:23:23for Connie DeBate's killer,

00:23:25police had fanned out

00:23:26and canvassed

00:23:27the neighborhood

00:23:27looking for anyone

00:23:28who had seen

00:23:29something.

00:23:31Were you surprised

00:23:31that no one

00:23:32saw anything?

00:23:33I don't know

00:23:34if I was surprised.

00:23:35I mean,

00:23:35that time of morning

00:23:36at the scene,

00:23:37you know,

00:23:37a lot of people

00:23:37work in that neighborhood,

00:23:39so there could have

00:23:40been a very good chance

00:23:41that just nobody

00:23:42was around at that time.

00:23:45While the canvassing

00:23:46troopers had struck out,

00:23:47the major crime squad

00:23:49was gathering evidence

00:23:50at the house,

00:23:51dusting for fingerprints,

00:23:52swabbing for DNA

00:23:54and photographing

00:23:55the entire scene,

00:23:57including where

00:23:58the intruder

00:23:58may have sneaked inside.

00:24:00You just noticed

00:24:01that it was,

00:24:01the window was open?

00:24:02Yes,

00:24:02into the basement.

00:24:05The basement door

00:24:06was also open.

00:24:08This is where Rick says

00:24:09the assailant came

00:24:10out of the house,

00:24:11right here?

00:24:12Yes, yes.

00:24:12And they were actually open.

00:24:14One door was open

00:24:15at the time

00:24:15when we processed the scene.

00:24:16And just outside that door,

00:24:19police found this.

00:24:21This is the wallet

00:24:22found in the backyard.

00:24:23Rick had talked about

00:24:24the assailant

00:24:25taking his wallet.

00:24:25Yes.

00:24:26Yes.

00:24:27And in the basement...

00:24:29This is the area

00:24:29that Rick had told

00:24:31detectives

00:24:32where he was

00:24:32seated in the chair

00:24:34being abused.

00:24:35This is like

00:24:36a bad game of Clue,

00:24:37all these

00:24:38potential weapons.

00:24:40Yes.

00:24:40Many of them had

00:24:41what appeared

00:24:42to be blood on them.

00:24:43Did you know

00:24:44where these droplets

00:24:45came from?

00:24:46Who they came from

00:24:46at the time?

00:24:47Not at that point.

00:24:48We didn't know.

00:24:48It could have been

00:24:49an assailant.

00:24:50It could have been

00:24:50from Rick.

00:24:50We didn't know

00:24:51at that point, no.

00:24:53A revolver,

00:24:54the presumed murder weapon,

00:24:55was found near Connie's body.

00:24:57She had been shot twice,

00:24:59once in the stomach

00:25:00and once in the back

00:25:01of the head.

00:25:02Any other clues

00:25:03around her,

00:25:04around the body,

00:25:05in the basement

00:25:06that you could see?

00:25:07She did have

00:25:07her cell phone on her,

00:25:09tucked into her

00:25:10right waistband,

00:25:11and she also had

00:25:11a Fitbit tracker.

00:25:13Clipped to her

00:25:13left waistband.

00:25:15A cell phone

00:25:17and a Fitbit tracker.

00:25:19Detectives bagged them

00:25:20along with other

00:25:20electronic devices

00:25:22in the house.

00:25:23And though the troopers

00:25:24hadn't found any witnesses,

00:25:26they did uncover

00:25:27a substantial clue

00:25:28while talking

00:25:29to the neighbors.

00:25:30The debates,

00:25:31it turned out,

00:25:32may have had an enemy.

00:25:35They were having

00:25:36an argument

00:25:36with a contractor

00:25:37over work

00:25:38that had not

00:25:39been done right,

00:25:41according to Rick,

00:25:42and they were

00:25:45worried that

00:25:45the contractor

00:25:46would break

00:25:47into the house.

00:25:48His name

00:25:49was Ken Sweeney.

00:25:51Kim had gotten

00:25:52a text message

00:25:52from Connie

00:25:53venting about him.

00:25:55Just that

00:25:55he wasn't

00:25:57finishing the work

00:25:58and I think

00:26:01they were looking

00:26:02to sue him

00:26:03and there was

00:26:04a lot of

00:26:05discussions

00:26:06with him

00:26:07and arguments

00:26:08and I just

00:26:12specifically

00:26:12remember it

00:26:13seeming like

00:26:14it wasn't

00:26:14a good situation.

00:26:16A bad situation

00:26:18that seemed

00:26:18to get worse

00:26:19in the weeks

00:26:20before the murder.

00:26:20they had found

00:26:21some towels

00:26:23that were

00:26:23in one of

00:26:24the vehicle's

00:26:25mufflers

00:26:25and they found

00:26:26that suspicious

00:26:27and thought

00:26:28that that could

00:26:29be associated

00:26:30with this

00:26:30contractor.

00:26:32A week later

00:26:33in the driveway

00:26:34their car's

00:26:35windshield

00:26:35was smashed.

00:26:37That was when

00:26:37Connie confided

00:26:38in her friends

00:26:39that she and

00:26:40Rick were so

00:26:40scared they were

00:26:41considering

00:26:41buying a gun.

00:26:43Connie was

00:26:44deathly afraid

00:26:44of guns

00:26:45but this contractor

00:26:46was so out

00:26:47of control

00:26:48that maybe

00:26:49they should

00:26:49get a gun.

00:26:50Did they think

00:26:50that the contractor

00:26:51was the one

00:26:51who vandalized

00:26:52the car?

00:26:52Yep.

00:26:53That's what

00:26:53they told everyone.

00:26:54Did you think

00:26:54that the contractor

00:26:55had killed

00:26:56Connie?

00:26:57When they questioned

00:26:57us they asked

00:26:58is there anybody

00:26:59that you could

00:27:00think of that

00:27:00had a grudge

00:27:01or didn't like

00:27:03Connie and Rick?

00:27:05Is there anybody?

00:27:06And then

00:27:07it hits you.

00:27:09You're like

00:27:10yeah there is

00:27:10so many.

00:27:11The contractor.

00:27:12I mean

00:27:12most people

00:27:14on Birchview

00:27:15said

00:27:15the contractor.

00:27:18I actually

00:27:20had the text

00:27:22and I remember

00:27:22when the detectives

00:27:23came to interview

00:27:24them I'm like

00:27:24I'm going to show

00:27:25them this text

00:27:25because I think

00:27:27this is going

00:27:27to help.

00:27:28I think they

00:27:28need to look

00:27:28into this person.

00:27:30You're thinking

00:27:30the contractor

00:27:31could be a suspect.

00:27:32Yeah I just

00:27:33remember them

00:27:33having a lot

00:27:34of tensions

00:27:34with him and

00:27:35I thought like

00:27:36maybe this is

00:27:37who did this.

00:27:39The thought

00:27:39also occurred

00:27:40to Rick.

00:27:41He mentioned

00:27:41it when talking

00:27:42to the detectives.

00:27:44Do you know

00:27:44of anybody

00:27:44who would want

00:27:45to do this?

00:27:46When our

00:27:48cars were

00:27:48vandalized

00:27:49my wife seemed

00:27:49to think

00:27:50it was a

00:27:50contractor

00:27:51that we took

00:27:51the small

00:27:52claims for

00:27:52because he

00:27:53took some

00:27:53of our

00:27:53money.

00:27:55We have

00:27:55zero way

00:27:56to boot

00:27:56them.

00:27:58The state

00:27:59police had

00:27:59a lead

00:28:00to pursue.

00:28:01Maybe this

00:28:01wasn't a home

00:28:02invasion gone

00:28:03wrong.

00:28:04Maybe the

00:28:04debates had

00:28:05been targeted.

00:28:07Detectives

00:28:08were sent

00:28:08out right

00:28:09away to find

00:28:09him and

00:28:10talk to

00:28:10him.

00:28:14Coming

00:28:14up at

00:28:16Connie's

00:28:16wake, a

00:28:17curious

00:28:17encounter

00:28:18triggers

00:28:19questions

00:28:19about

00:28:19someone

00:28:20in the

00:28:20family.

00:28:21That was

00:28:22the most

00:28:23bizarre thing

00:28:24we've ever

00:28:24been involved

00:28:25in.

00:28:26When

00:28:27Dateline

00:28:28Unforgettable

00:28:28continues.

00:28:39Investigators

00:28:40had a tip

00:28:40to run

00:28:41down in

00:28:41the brutal

00:28:42murder of

00:28:4239-year-old

00:28:43Connie

00:28:43debate, a

00:28:45theory about

00:28:45the killer

00:28:46that was

00:28:46almost

00:28:47universally

00:28:47held among

00:28:48family and

00:28:49friends.

00:28:50It was the

00:28:50contractor.

00:28:51That's

00:28:52exactly who

00:28:53I thought

00:28:53was at

00:28:55the house

00:28:55at the

00:28:56time in

00:28:56the morning

00:28:57of the

00:28:57murder.

00:28:58Had Rick

00:28:58and Connie

00:28:59talked to

00:28:59you about

00:29:00the

00:29:00contractor?

00:29:01They sued

00:29:02him.

00:29:02I mean,

00:29:02they had

00:29:03assumed

00:29:03because they

00:29:04didn't finish

00:29:04the job,

00:29:05so they

00:29:05knew he

00:29:05wasn't

00:29:06happy.

00:29:06He was

00:29:07very ugly

00:29:08to them,

00:29:08and there

00:29:09was always

00:29:10things happening

00:29:11there that

00:29:12I thought,

00:29:13oh my

00:29:13God,

00:29:14this must

00:29:15have been

00:29:15the contractor.

00:29:16State

00:29:17police sought

00:29:18out this

00:29:18contractor,

00:29:19Ken Sweeney,

00:29:20speaking with

00:29:21him at his

00:29:21house.

00:29:22He admitted

00:29:22to having

00:29:23issues with

00:29:23the debates.

00:29:24The contractor

00:29:25said that

00:29:26he had agreed

00:29:28to do work

00:29:28in the bathroom

00:29:29of the

00:29:29residents,

00:29:31and that as

00:29:31the job

00:29:31went on,

00:29:32some of the

00:29:32specifics as

00:29:33to what they

00:29:33wanted done

00:29:34may not have

00:29:35been aligned

00:29:36with the

00:29:36price,

00:29:37and he

00:29:38backed out,

00:29:38and then there

00:29:39was a civil

00:29:39suit.

00:29:40The case

00:29:41was settled

00:29:41for a few

00:29:42thousand dollars

00:29:43in small

00:29:43claims court

00:29:44before Connie

00:29:45was killed.

00:29:46Did this

00:29:46contractor have

00:29:47a record,

00:29:47any violence

00:29:48in his past?

00:29:49Nothing.

00:29:50Nothing would

00:29:51go to this

00:29:51level.

00:29:52Yeah,

00:29:53nothing as

00:29:53violent as

00:29:54this.

00:29:55Ken Sweeney

00:29:56denied breaking

00:29:57into the

00:29:57debate home

00:29:58and killing

00:29:58Connie,

00:29:59and said he

00:30:00had an

00:30:00alibi.

00:30:01He was

00:30:01working at

00:30:02another job

00:30:02site that

00:30:03morning.

00:30:04As

00:30:04detectives

00:30:04interviewed him,

00:30:05they noticed

00:30:06something straight

00:30:06away.

00:30:07He wasn't an

00:30:08overly large

00:30:09man,

00:30:09as Rick

00:30:10described,

00:30:10and there

00:30:11was another

00:30:11thing that

00:30:12didn't match,

00:30:13his voice.

00:30:14Did he sound

00:30:15like Vin

00:30:15Diesel?

00:30:16No.

00:30:17So he didn't

00:30:18fit Rick's

00:30:19description at

00:30:19all.

00:30:20Police asked if

00:30:21they could

00:30:21photograph his

00:30:22face,

00:30:22hands,

00:30:23and body for

00:30:24signs he had

00:30:24been in an

00:30:25altercation.

00:30:26They didn't see

00:30:26anything.

00:30:28But it was

00:30:28possible the

00:30:29contractor had

00:30:29someone else

00:30:30break into the

00:30:31debate home.

00:30:32Detectives would

00:30:33have to check out

00:30:33that angle and

00:30:35confirm his

00:30:35alibi.

00:30:36As

00:30:37investigators

00:30:37worked on

00:30:38that,

00:30:39Connie's

00:30:39family was

00:30:40mourning her

00:30:40death and

00:30:41thinking of

00:30:41all she had

00:30:42left behind.

00:30:43Your heart

00:30:44must have

00:30:44just ached

00:30:45for your

00:30:46nephews to

00:30:49lose their

00:30:49mom that way

00:30:50at that age

00:30:50when they

00:30:51need her the

00:30:52most.

00:30:52Yeah.

00:30:55It's

00:30:55devastating.

00:30:57Did you

00:30:57think about

00:30:57all those

00:30:58things that

00:30:59she won't

00:31:00be there

00:31:00for them?

00:31:01Yeah,

00:31:01definitely.

00:31:03I thought

00:31:04that there's

00:31:05no more

00:31:05holidays,

00:31:05no more

00:31:06birthdays.

00:31:07We think

00:31:08about it

00:31:08every day.

00:31:09We live

00:31:09it every

00:31:10day.

00:31:10They weren't

00:31:11alone in

00:31:12their grief.

00:31:13On a

00:31:13blustery late

00:31:14December day

00:31:15of what is

00:31:15normally a

00:31:16festive week

00:31:17between

00:31:17Christmas and

00:31:17New Year's,

00:31:19hundreds braved

00:31:19the cold in

00:31:20Ellington to

00:31:21say goodbye

00:31:21to Connie.

00:31:22So,

00:31:23obviously,

00:31:23whenever a

00:31:24young person

00:31:24dies,

00:31:24there's a lot

00:31:25of people

00:31:25that come

00:31:26to the wake,

00:31:27but multiply

00:31:28that by a

00:31:29hundred just

00:31:29because of who

00:31:30Connie was,

00:31:31and how

00:31:31many people

00:31:32viewed her

00:31:33as a best

00:31:34friend.

00:31:34The line

00:31:35was just

00:31:36out the

00:31:36door.

00:31:37It was

00:31:37horrible

00:31:38weather.

00:31:39Lines and

00:31:40lines of

00:31:40people.

00:31:41I mean,

00:31:41just hundreds

00:31:43of people.

00:31:44Shows how

00:31:44much Connie

00:31:45was loved.

00:31:45Right.

00:31:46She was

00:31:47very much

00:31:47loved.

00:31:48And now,

00:31:49very much

00:31:50missed.

00:31:51Connie's

00:31:52fellow

00:31:52musketeers,

00:31:53Peggy and

00:31:53Darlene,

00:31:54were eager to

00:31:55offer their

00:31:55condolences to

00:31:56their good

00:31:56friend's husband,

00:31:57Rick.

00:31:58But as the

00:31:58women approached,

00:32:00he seemed

00:32:00confused.

00:32:02That was the

00:32:03most bizarre

00:32:04thing we've ever

00:32:04been involved in.

00:32:06Peggy and I

00:32:06went together,

00:32:08we waited in

00:32:08like a three-hour

00:32:09line.

00:32:11He greeted us

00:32:13by asking us

00:32:14who we were

00:32:15and how we

00:32:16knew Connie.

00:32:17What?

00:32:17How did you

00:32:19know my wife?

00:32:21Did you think

00:32:21that maybe he

00:32:22was just so

00:32:23out of it

00:32:23from everything

00:32:24that had

00:32:24happened?

00:32:25I think at

00:32:26that moment,

00:32:27we were like

00:32:27he was in

00:32:28shock.

00:32:29But at

00:32:30that time,

00:32:30we also

00:32:31looked at

00:32:31each other

00:32:32and were

00:32:32like,

00:32:33he doesn't

00:32:34have a

00:32:34scratch on

00:32:34him.

00:32:35Yeah.

00:32:37He didn't

00:32:37have one

00:32:38bruise on

00:32:38the face,

00:32:39not one

00:32:39anything.

00:32:40I've reported

00:32:41on dozens of

00:32:42stories for

00:32:42Dateline,

00:32:43and it's

00:32:44always those

00:32:44little signs,

00:32:46those confusing

00:32:47gut feelings

00:32:47that family

00:32:48members and

00:32:49friends notice

00:32:50after a loved

00:32:51one dies under

00:32:52suspicious

00:32:52circumstances.

00:32:53When the

00:32:54killer is still

00:32:55at large,

00:32:56they'll tell

00:32:56you anyone

00:32:57can become

00:32:58a possible

00:32:58suspect.

00:33:00In Connie's

00:33:00case,

00:33:01her friends

00:33:01couldn't shake

00:33:02questions about

00:33:03Rick's behavior,

00:33:04questions that

00:33:05only grew sharper

00:33:06in the days

00:33:06that followed.

00:33:08The day after

00:33:09the wake,

00:33:09Connie's family

00:33:10and closest

00:33:11friends gathered

00:33:12again for her

00:33:12funeral.

00:33:13A continuation

00:33:14of mourning

00:33:15for most,

00:33:16but according

00:33:16to Connie's

00:33:17friend Kim,

00:33:18it was also

00:33:19a continuation

00:33:19of strange

00:33:20behavior by

00:33:21Rick.

00:33:22When we went

00:33:22to the cemetery,

00:33:24me and my

00:33:25friends were the

00:33:25last people at

00:33:26her grave,

00:33:28and he left,

00:33:28and I'm thinking

00:33:29that's odd,

00:33:30like, why isn't

00:33:31he still here?

00:33:32Why doesn't he

00:33:33feel the same

00:33:33way that I feel

00:33:34right now,

00:33:35that I just

00:33:35can't leave this

00:33:36grave?

00:33:37And I thought

00:33:37that was weird.

00:33:39Connie's

00:33:39sister-in-law

00:33:40Donna noticed

00:33:41Rick also cut

00:33:42short his stay

00:33:42at the reception

00:33:43after the burial.

00:33:45In the middle

00:33:45of the luncheon,

00:33:46he just disappeared

00:33:48with his male

00:33:49family members.

00:33:50He didn't stay

00:33:50to the end.

00:33:52He was maybe

00:33:52there for an

00:33:53hour or so,

00:33:53and then just

00:33:54everybody got up

00:33:56and left.

00:33:57So that was

00:33:57very odd to me.

00:33:59Like, where did

00:33:59they go?

00:34:00Where are they

00:34:00heading off to?

00:34:01That was very,

00:34:02very, that was

00:34:03a moment for me

00:34:04where I sat there

00:34:04and said,

00:34:05this is,

00:34:05this is strange.

00:34:06There is no

00:34:07script for grief,

00:34:09no one-way

00:34:09roadmap for

00:34:10mourning the dead,

00:34:11especially when

00:34:12it's your wife,

00:34:13the mother of

00:34:14your children.

00:34:15Then again,

00:34:16does anyone

00:34:16ever really know

00:34:17what's going on

00:34:18inside someone

00:34:19else's marriage?

00:34:22Coming up,

00:34:23the debates

00:34:25in the days

00:34:25before tragedy

00:34:26struck.

00:34:28My friends say

00:34:29their relationship

00:34:29was one they

00:34:30envied.

00:34:31He doted over

00:34:32her,

00:34:32he would tell

00:34:33us, hey,

00:34:33you know,

00:34:34she's having a

00:34:34bad day,

00:34:35like, go out

00:34:35for drinks.

00:34:36He's putting

00:34:37all the husbands

00:34:37to shame

00:34:38in the neighborhood.

00:34:39Yeah, he really

00:34:39did, he did.

00:34:41When Dateline

00:34:42Unforgettable

00:34:43continues.

00:34:55It was the

00:34:55holiday season,

00:34:56a time for joy,

00:34:58celebration,

00:34:59family gatherings.

00:35:01Connie's family

00:35:02wanted to hang

00:35:03on to some

00:35:03semblance of that

00:35:04for her boys.

00:35:06So they did

00:35:06their best,

00:35:07wrapped their

00:35:08gifts,

00:35:09wiped their

00:35:09tears,

00:35:10put on their

00:35:11coats.

00:35:12Connie hadn't

00:35:12even been dead

00:35:13two days.

00:35:15We still wanted

00:35:15to bring presents

00:35:16to the children.

00:35:17And he was

00:35:18staying at his

00:35:18parents' house,

00:35:19so our family

00:35:20went to visit

00:35:22with his family

00:35:23at his parents'

00:35:23house.

00:35:25And what was

00:35:25that like?

00:35:26It was very hard.

00:35:27We were all

00:35:28together.

00:35:29Everybody was

00:35:29very emotional.

00:35:30everybody Donna

00:35:32noticed,

00:35:33but Rick.

00:35:34And it was a

00:35:35very strange

00:35:36evening.

00:35:38His demeanor

00:35:38of not being

00:35:40able to look me

00:35:40in the eye

00:35:41was very telling

00:35:42to me that

00:35:43night.

00:35:45Talking,

00:35:46telling jokes,

00:35:46telling stories.

00:35:49We were all

00:35:50very devastated.

00:35:52And, you know,

00:35:53right or wrong,

00:35:54I didn't sense a lot

00:35:55of sadness

00:35:56or emotion

00:35:56from him.

00:35:57I would say

00:35:57that the pain

00:35:58and grief

00:35:59that was on

00:35:59our family's

00:36:01faces,

00:36:02along with his

00:36:03family,

00:36:04was different

00:36:04than his

00:36:05demeanor.

00:36:06His demeanor

00:36:07was like,

00:36:08you know,

00:36:08it's like,

00:36:09like,

00:36:09it's a,

00:36:10just a party.

00:36:12Peggy and

00:36:12Darlene felt it

00:36:13too,

00:36:14that something

00:36:14was just off

00:36:15with Rick

00:36:16in the days

00:36:16after Connie's

00:36:17death.

00:36:18He would text

00:36:18us and say,

00:36:20like,

00:36:20hey,

00:36:21good neighbors,

00:36:22where do you

00:36:23guys get

00:36:23takeout?

00:36:25Like,

00:36:26where do we

00:36:27get takeout?

00:36:27You've lived

00:36:28here all these

00:36:28years,

00:36:29and who's

00:36:30worried about

00:36:31takeout?

00:36:31We're in the

00:36:32middle of this,

00:36:32like,

00:36:33this horrible

00:36:34time.

00:36:36And why was

00:36:36Rick so willing

00:36:37to engage

00:36:37over text,

00:36:38but not in

00:36:39person?

00:36:40Peggy remembers

00:36:41him playing

00:36:41the artful

00:36:42Dodger at a

00:36:42hardware store.

00:36:43I was at

00:36:44the register,

00:36:45and I had to

00:36:45just sign the

00:36:46form to get

00:36:48a refund,

00:36:49and then I

00:36:50saw him,

00:36:51I waved,

00:36:51I, you

00:36:52know,

00:36:52looked down,

00:36:53I signed,

00:36:53I looked back

00:36:54up,

00:36:54and he was

00:36:55gone.

00:36:56I immediately

00:36:56called her,

00:36:57and I was like,

00:36:57I'm looking for

00:36:58him,

00:36:58where is he?

00:36:59He's trying to

00:37:00avoid me,

00:37:00and I don't

00:37:01understand why.

00:37:02Then again,

00:37:03Connie's friends

00:37:04didn't want to

00:37:05judge.

00:37:06Others?

00:37:06Not so

00:37:07charitable.

00:37:07quickly, the town

00:37:09gossip picked up,

00:37:11and most folks

00:37:12were saying,

00:37:13Rick did this.

00:37:14Why?

00:37:14What was

00:37:15leading them?

00:37:16His behavior

00:37:16got so

00:37:17strange.

00:37:18Like, he,

00:37:19you know,

00:37:19he's out at

00:37:20bars,

00:37:21hanging out

00:37:21during the

00:37:22holiday,

00:37:23having dinner,

00:37:25drinking,

00:37:26and looking,

00:37:28having people

00:37:28over his house.

00:37:29jolly,

00:37:30having a party

00:37:30at his house.

00:37:31Too happy for

00:37:31someone who's wife

00:37:33had died in a brutal

00:37:35way.

00:37:35Everything.

00:37:36Yeah, right before

00:37:37Christmas.

00:37:37It was just odd

00:37:38behavior that started

00:37:40to put question

00:37:41marks.

00:37:42This story had me

00:37:43thinking back to a

00:37:44case I covered as a

00:37:45local reporter many

00:37:46years ago.

00:37:47A husband and wife

00:37:48said they were

00:37:49victims of a home

00:37:50invasion.

00:37:51They recounted their

00:37:52harrowing experience

00:37:53to the detectives.

00:37:55But after I got the

00:37:56chance to interview

00:37:56the husband for my

00:37:57news report, I left

00:37:59with a strange

00:38:00feeling that he

00:38:00wasn't telling me

00:38:01the whole story.

00:38:03Police later accused

00:38:04him of orchestrating

00:38:05the whole thing for

00:38:06insurance money.

00:38:07Was Rick telling

00:38:08the truth?

00:38:09Peggy and Darlene

00:38:10resisted thinking

00:38:11the worst.

00:38:12They didn't want

00:38:13to go there.

00:38:14Did you think that

00:38:15it was possible that

00:38:16Rick killed Connie?

00:38:17No.

00:38:19No.

00:38:20Why not?

00:38:21Because he was

00:38:22just loving.

00:38:24He doted over her.

00:38:25He was checked in

00:38:25on her.

00:38:26He would tell us,

00:38:27hey, you know,

00:38:27she's having a bad

00:38:28day.

00:38:28Like, take her away.

00:38:30Go out for drinks.

00:38:33Always rubbing

00:38:34her shoulders or...

00:38:35Can I make you a

00:38:36plate?

00:38:37Like, if there's a

00:38:37party, can I make

00:38:39you a plate?

00:38:39Go sit down.

00:38:40Like, you know.

00:38:41Then we'd be like,

00:38:42okay, can somebody

00:38:43make us a plate?

00:38:45He's putting all the

00:38:46husbands to shame

00:38:46in the neighborhood.

00:38:47Yeah, he really did.

00:38:48He did.

00:38:49The way Kim Phillips

00:38:50saw it, Rick and Connie

00:38:52were always in lockstep,

00:38:54partners on life's

00:38:55dance floor.

00:38:56We spent a lot of time

00:38:57together as couples

00:38:58with my husband,

00:39:00and the more and more

00:39:00time we spent together,

00:39:01the more and more,

00:39:03you know, he grew on us

00:39:05and we loved him and, you

00:39:07know, we just, and we

00:39:08thought he was perfect

00:39:09for her.

00:39:10Which is why the nasty

00:39:11rumors flying through

00:39:12town landed like daggers

00:39:14for Rick's family.

00:39:15Two days before Christmas,

00:39:17you take your wife down

00:39:18into the basement and

00:39:19shoot her.

00:39:20No.

00:39:21No, Rick would not do

00:39:24anything like that to

00:39:25Connie.

00:39:26He would never hurt

00:39:27Connie.

00:39:28No.

00:39:29I don't think anyone

00:39:31who knows Rick well

00:39:33would ever believe

00:39:34that he'd be capable

00:39:36of murder.

00:39:37It's just not his nature.

00:39:39But a town's rumors

00:39:40aren't much use

00:39:41to a major crime squad.

00:39:44Facts, on the other

00:39:44hand, are.

00:39:46Detectives Jeff Payette

00:39:47and Brett Longevin

00:39:48had interviewed Rick

00:39:49in the hospital for

00:39:50nearly seven hours

00:39:51the day of the attack.

00:39:53And to them,

00:39:54Rick's story wasn't

00:39:55adding up.

00:39:55Rick's accounts

00:39:56varied as the progression

00:39:58of the interview

00:39:59went on.

00:40:00Do you think that

00:40:00just with all that

00:40:02had happened that

00:40:03morning, that it was

00:40:04hard for him to get it

00:40:04out just, you know,

00:40:06because it was such

00:40:07a terrorizing event?

00:40:08The details he was

00:40:09providing us weren't

00:40:11details that should

00:40:13have had different

00:40:14answers.

00:40:15Whether or not he saw

00:40:16his wife get shot,

00:40:16that was changing.

00:40:18At first, he said

00:40:19he only heard Connie

00:40:20get shot.

00:40:22I heard it fire

00:40:23I think twice.

00:40:25Once for sure.

00:40:27But a minute later,

00:40:28his story was this.

00:40:29Did you actually see

00:40:31him shoot your wife?

00:40:33Yes.

00:40:34And then he wasn't

00:40:35sure Connie had been

00:40:36shot at all.

00:40:38You're not actually

00:40:39sure if she got shot?

00:40:40I didn't know at that

00:40:40point.

00:40:41We started having

00:40:43questions as far as

00:40:44trying to get a

00:40:46consistent story from

00:40:47him.

00:40:48There were other times

00:40:49during the interview

00:40:50that the detectives

00:40:50thought Rick was

00:40:51overly descriptive,

00:40:53something they also

00:40:54found suspicious.

00:40:55generally, people

00:40:57will recall events

00:40:59differently, but when

00:41:01they're giving very

00:41:02specific answers, it

00:41:04can lead us to

00:41:05believe that that

00:41:06person may be trying

00:41:06to convince us of

00:41:07something.

00:41:08Is there a moment in

00:41:09the interview where

00:41:10you two look at each

00:41:11other and it's like,

00:41:12what are we dealing

00:41:14with here?

00:41:15Because he's supposed

00:41:16to be the victim.

00:41:17Are you starting to get

00:41:18a pit in your stomach

00:41:19a little bit?

00:41:19Like, mm.

00:41:20One of the biggest

00:41:21things was the timeline

00:41:22he was providing us.

00:41:23He's saying he gets

00:41:24home at 9 o'clock.

00:41:25His wife gets home,

00:41:28say, five minutes

00:41:28after him, and then

00:41:30everything happens.

00:41:31The chase down the

00:41:32stairs, he witnesses

00:41:34his wife murdered.

00:41:35But the 911 call is

00:41:371019, so we're missing

00:41:38over an hour.

00:41:41That was one of the

00:41:42biggest red flags.

00:41:44Red flags, but not

00:41:45evidence that Rick

00:41:46killed Connie.

00:41:47Did we have suspicions

00:41:48that he could be

00:41:49involved?

00:41:50Sure.

00:41:50Of course we did,

00:41:51but we couldn't have

00:41:52said definitively that's

00:41:54our guy at that

00:41:54particular time.

00:41:56Coming up, frustration

00:41:58grows as the community

00:42:00demands answers.

00:42:01Who could be this person

00:42:02responsible who came in

00:42:04and did this?

00:42:05There's a lot of fear,

00:42:06there's a lot of

00:42:06frustration as to why

00:42:08the answers are not

00:42:09coming fast enough.

00:42:12When Dateline

00:42:13Unforgettable continues.

00:42:15Detectives had suspicions

00:42:25about Rick DeBate's

00:42:26account of his wife

00:42:27Connie's murder, but

00:42:28Rick's family believed

00:42:30the police were dead

00:42:30wrong.

00:42:31His mom said anyone

00:42:32who had endured what

00:42:33her son had could be

00:42:34forgiven for a hazy

00:42:36memory or a changing

00:42:37story.

00:42:37Well, he had six hours

00:42:40at that hospital to be

00:42:44interrogated and to think

00:42:46about what happened to

00:42:47Connie.

00:42:48And he's like, he can't

00:42:50even think.

00:42:51You know, my wife is dead

00:42:52and someone broke into

00:42:54our house and this is a

00:42:56life that totally turned

00:42:58upside down.

00:42:59I think he was in shock.

00:43:00In shock and well aware

00:43:02that the police were

00:43:03suspicious of him.

00:43:04He told his father before

00:43:05they'd even left the

00:43:06hospital that day.

00:43:08He says, dad, they

00:43:09think I did it.

00:43:10Oh, wow.

00:43:11This is the day it

00:43:12happened.

00:43:12I said, they're thinking

00:43:13you did something.

00:43:15So he says, you have to

00:43:16stop talking to him right

00:43:17now.

00:43:18Rick's family believes

00:43:19tunnel vision had already

00:43:21set in.

00:43:22It's that they just only

00:43:24had one person in mind.

00:43:25They never did anything

00:43:27to look for anybody else.

00:43:30Rick hired a prominent

00:43:31defense attorney and they

00:43:32waited, anticipating the

00:43:34worst.

00:43:34But there were no arrests.

00:43:37Spring came, then summer.

00:43:39The leaves began to fall.

00:43:41The holidays approached

00:43:42once again.

00:43:43So as the weeks and

00:43:45months go on after

00:43:46Connie's murder, there is

00:43:48a lot of speculation going

00:43:49around because police have

00:43:51not named a person of

00:43:52interest, a potential

00:43:53suspect.

00:43:54Debate maintains that it

00:43:55was a masked intruder.

00:43:57Shannon Miller reported

00:43:58on the story for NBC in

00:43:59Connecticut.

00:44:00So there's this big mystery

00:44:01in town.

00:44:02Who could be this person

00:44:03responsible who came in and

00:44:05did this?

00:44:06There's a lot of fear.

00:44:07There's a lot of frustration

00:44:08as to why the answers are

00:44:10not coming fast enough.

00:44:12Rick's family wanted an

00:44:14arrest, too, partly to put an

00:44:16end to all the rumors.

00:44:17We were hopeful that there would

00:44:20be some other evidence to

00:44:22someone, to point to someone

00:44:24else because we knew it

00:44:28couldn't possibly be Rick.

00:44:30So there has to be something

00:44:31else out there proving that

00:44:33it's not him.

00:44:35By the first anniversary of

00:44:37Connie's murder, her killer was

00:44:38still out there.

00:44:39All her family and friends could

00:44:41do was gather to honor that

00:44:43bright light that had been

00:44:44extinguished from their lives.

00:44:46Thank you so much for coming

00:44:48out tonight.

00:44:48It's amazing to see all the

00:44:51support from Connie's friends

00:44:52and family in the Ellington

00:44:54community.

00:44:54We wanted to do something

00:44:55special for her, primarily

00:44:58because we knew that she would

00:44:59do that for us.

00:45:01Friends spoke about Connie and

00:45:02sang one of her favorite songs,

00:45:04Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

00:45:05Somewhere Over the Rainbow

00:45:12Last time I saw her, she was

00:45:15singing Somewhere Over the

00:45:15Rainbow.

00:45:17Just days before Connie's

00:45:18murder, Darlene ran into her at

00:45:20their children's school.

00:45:22Connie wanted to go get a coffee

00:45:23and chat.

00:45:24Darlene was in a rush.

00:45:26And she was like, I wish you

00:45:27would just go and get a cup of

00:45:29jar.

00:45:30And then as she went by me, she

00:45:32started to sing Somewhere Over

00:45:33the Rainbow.

00:45:33Wow.

00:45:34She turned around and she was

00:45:36just like, she kind of gave me

00:45:37this smile she used to always go

00:45:38like, and I was like.

00:45:41When someone close to us dies,

00:45:43our minds rewind back to the last

00:45:45time we saw them.

00:45:46The final frame we can't help but

00:45:48replay.

00:45:50For some, it's what if, haunted

00:45:52by the thought that one different

00:45:54choice might have changed

00:45:55everything.

00:45:57For others, it's a keepsake.

00:45:59That's how it was for Darlene and

00:46:01her tight circle of friends.

00:46:02Live every moment, laugh every

00:46:05day, love beyond words.

00:46:07This is how Connie Morgata debate

00:46:09lived in her life every day.

00:46:11How hard was it having that

00:46:12vigil when you're trying to

00:46:15celebrate Connie and you know

00:46:18that her killer is still out

00:46:20there?

00:46:20Yeah, yeah.

00:46:22Well, I knew it was him by that

00:46:23time.

00:46:24He just needed to get arrested.

00:46:26Him was Connie's husband, Rick.

00:46:29Kim and many others close to Connie,

00:46:31with all they'd seen and heard in the

00:46:33years since her murder, now believed

00:46:35Rick was her killer.

00:46:36Even Peggy and Darlene, who had spent

00:46:38so much time with the debates and

00:46:40observed the marriage that was the

00:46:42envy of Birchview Drive, could no

00:46:44longer ignore what had become so clear

00:46:46to others.

00:46:46We were the last two, I always say this

00:46:49to her, we were the last two ding

00:46:50dongs on that train because we,

00:46:52everybody else like jumped off a long

00:46:54time ago and we hung on.

00:46:56And with the behavior and just the

00:46:59conversations, the weird text

00:47:01messaging, we're kind of like, yeah,

00:47:03this doesn't like add up.

00:47:04And within that year, like, he never

00:47:06approached us to ask us, did you see

00:47:09anything that day?

00:47:10Was there anything odd?

00:47:12But if the authorities were focusing

00:47:13on Rick debate, they were tight-lipped

00:47:15about it.

00:47:16And Matthew Gidansky, then the state's

00:47:18attorney, had no intention of rushing

00:47:20the case.

00:47:21We're not just going to go A to Z.

00:47:23We're going to hit every letter in

00:47:24between and check every box, cross

00:47:26every T, dot every I.

00:47:28And what may have looked like a lack of

00:47:30progress was anything but.

00:47:32The neighbors on Birchview Drive were

00:47:34about to experience a case of deja vu.

00:47:39Coming up.

00:47:40Next thing I knew, there were more huge

00:47:43SUVs and cop cars and sirens.

00:47:46What was going on this time?

00:47:50When Dateline Unforgettable continues.

00:48:00More than a year after Connie DeBate

00:48:02was shot to death, state police still

00:48:05hadn't made an arrest.

00:48:06But that's not to say they weren't

00:48:08working the case hard.

00:48:10They knew it wasn't the contractor.

00:48:12His alibi checked out.

00:48:14And there was no evidence that he'd been

00:48:15the one to damage the DeBate's cars.

00:48:18He was cleared of any involvement.

00:48:20Their suspicion was firmly on Connie's

00:48:22husband, Rick DeBate.

00:48:24They were having trouble with his account

00:48:26of what happened.

00:48:28This was being called a home invasion.

00:48:30Suspicion arose in those crucial first hours of the investigation.

00:48:36As neighbors hid in their houses or huddled on the street,

00:48:39Trooper First Class Ryan Klukey and his canine Rocky were called to the scene to try to pick up the

00:48:45scent of that elusive intruder.

00:48:46One thing that did not make the final version of this episode was a little experiment we conducted to test out Rocky's tracking skills.

00:48:55I was impressed.

00:48:56I'm going to leave my makeup bag here on this little road

00:48:59and disappear, and we'll see if Rocky can find me.

00:49:03Sure enough, it only took a few minutes for Rocky to find me in the woods.

00:49:20The police were hoping that Rocky could work his magic to track down the masked man who Rick said

00:49:26had most likely fled from the open basement door.

00:49:29They had left something behind.

00:49:31There was a wallet lying on the grass pretty much right outside of that entry basement door.

00:49:40Trooper Klukey put Rocky to work.

00:49:42I brought him up to that basement door where I started him,

00:49:45and he initiates a track with his head down tracking into the rear yard area

00:49:51where he comes up to that wallet that was lying on the ground.

00:49:56And he continues that track pretty intensely around the deck area of the residence on the grass

00:50:02until he makes his way to the front of the house.

00:50:06According to Rocky's nose, whoever had left the basement did not run into the woods or flee the property,

00:50:12but rather went around the house and right back in the front door.

00:50:16Was that odd to you? Because you almost think if it was an intruder who ran away and was trying to get away,

00:50:22then they would have kept going away from the house instead of back into the house.

00:50:26Yeah, it's noteworthy at the time.

00:50:28What made it even more noteworthy was what Rocky did once he got inside the house.

00:50:33He comes in very close proximity to where Mr. DeBate was in the house receiving medical attention.

00:50:41It appeared that Rocky had tracked Rick's scent, which indicated to his handler, Trooper Klukey,

00:50:47that Rick was the one who left through the basement door.

00:50:50Could that be right?

00:50:53So I want to proof that trail that we just ran.

00:50:56Did we miss something?

00:50:57It was abnormal, so let's try it again.

00:51:00Rocky followed the same trail from the basement door to the front of the house.

00:51:05However, this time, instead of going onto the porch and into the house,

00:51:09Rocky takes a left turn instead of the right and goes into the ambulance, essentially,

00:51:13right to the stretcher in the ambulance in those tight quarters where Mr. DeBate was laying.

00:51:20And it wasn't just the canine that had sniffed something out that day.

00:51:23Because when detectives processed the scene, they felt the whole thing look staged.

00:51:28What did you think in particular?

00:51:31What was really sticking out to you as looking staged?

00:51:33This was a burglary where someone's in there to steal your stuff.

00:51:39It didn't appear like anything was really disturbed.

00:51:41The drawers weren't pulled out.

00:51:43The upstairs closet where the intruder reportedly was with Rick DeBate,

00:51:48where you could see all of Connie's jewelry right there, not disturbed.

00:51:51None of the drawers were opened.

00:51:52So, their conclusion, no masked intruder, no Vin Diesel-sounding madman.

00:52:00Could there have really been an intruder?

00:52:02No, definitely not.

00:52:03He wanted to come out looking like he survived a home invasion,

00:52:07but his wife, unfortunately, was murdered.

00:52:11But what it comes down to is it's a domestic homicide.

00:52:14Good Friday, April 14th, 2017.

00:52:19It had been almost a year and a half since Connie's murder

00:52:21when Darlene looked out her window and saw Rick DeBate driving up toward his house.

00:52:26Next thing I knew, same thing as the day of the murder.

00:52:29There were more huge SUVs and cop cars and sirens,

00:52:33and they forced him, you know, out of the car.

00:52:38Rick DeBate was led away in handcuffs

00:52:40and charged with the murder of his wife, Connie.

00:52:42I thought it's over.

00:52:44But for Rick's parents, it was far from over,

00:52:48because now a new nightmare had just begun.

00:52:52What do you say to your son after he's been arrested for murder?

00:52:56Say, we'll get through this.

00:52:57We're going to get through it.

00:52:58We're going to try to stay positive.

00:53:00Yeah, I couldn't believe it.

00:53:02The boys went to live with Connie's older sister after Rick's arrest.

00:53:07How's he handling it?

00:53:09Lousy.

00:53:10He lost his job.

00:53:13Right away, he lost his boys.

00:53:17Lost his wife.

00:53:19He was alone.

00:53:22He was terrified.

00:53:23He was scared about how the boy's going to handle this news.

00:53:29And it was not good.

00:53:33Did you believe Rick's story about the intruder, the, you know, being zip-tied to the chair,

00:53:40and the intruder shoots Connie?

00:53:42Yes.

00:53:44We had no reason to doubt it.

00:53:46No reason at all.

00:53:47The arrest had come as a shock to Rick's Aunt Janice as well.

00:53:51I honestly thought they were looking elsewhere.

00:53:54I really didn't think they were looking at Rick.

00:53:57But the authorities had been looking very closely at Rick.

00:54:01And pretty soon, everyone would know about a secret they'd discovered.

00:54:05My jaw almost dropped to the floor.

00:54:07I couldn't believe it.

00:54:08Coming up, what had Connie's friends and family floored?

00:54:15I just kept on thinking, oh my God.

00:54:17Rick was living a secret life.

00:54:19Absolutely.

00:54:19When Dateline Unforgettable continues.

00:54:32When Rick DeBate was arrested for killing his wife Connie,

00:54:35many wondered how this seemingly perfect marriage could have possibly ended in murder.

00:54:41Did Rick DeBate have any history of domestic violence that you could find?

00:54:46No.

00:54:47Criminal record?

00:54:48No.

00:54:49No.

00:54:50It seems odd that someone would, you know, go from having a clean slate to kill her.

00:54:56It does.

00:54:57And that was certainly a hurdle I considered on this case.

00:55:00I've got to convince a jury that this normal, suburban, professional guy with no record killed his wife.

00:55:11State's attorney, Matthew Ganansky, felt confident he could overcome that hurdle

00:55:16because he believed he had found the motive.

00:55:18He had a long-term affair with this other woman.

00:55:21He had a long-term affair with this other woman.

00:55:21She became pregnant in May of 2015.

00:55:25An affair, the prosecutor was convinced Rick killed Connie to be with the other woman.

00:55:32Investigators had kept this bombshell quiet during the course of their nearly 18-month investigation, but Rick had only kept it quiet from them for a couple of hours.

00:55:43He must have guessed they'd find out soon enough, so he brought it up right there on day one from his hospital bed.

00:55:49He told you this in the interview?

00:55:51He did.

00:55:51This is huge.

00:55:53It is.

00:55:54Her name was Sarah Ganser, and she and Rick had been friends since junior high.

00:55:59She had even done a reading at Rick and Connie's wedding.

00:56:03And the way Rick told it to detectives, it all sounded above board.

00:56:07Sarah, his newly single, longtime friend, wanted to have a baby, and he and Connie offered to help.

00:56:12We were going to donate sperm to her to have a kid.

00:56:19But it became too expensive, so that in order for her to conceive a child, they had to do some untraditional things.

00:56:27Rick had to sleep with Sarah?

00:56:29Yes.

00:56:29Instead of doing it a different way?

00:56:31Yes.

00:56:31Like the science route?

00:56:34Correct.

00:56:34Old-fashioned?

00:56:35Yes.

00:56:37Untraditional, but traditional in the way that the baby was conceived.

00:56:42Yeah.

00:56:42Okay.

00:56:43Do you think your wife had any issues with that?

00:56:45It was her idea, in a way.

00:56:47Her idea?

00:56:49Even if Connie agreed to help Rick's friend have a baby, I don't know about you, but it's hard to imagine most wives being okay with their husbands having sex with the person to make that happen.

00:57:00It seemed like the more Rick said, the more bizarre his story was getting.

00:57:04He may have sensed the detectives weren't buying it, because then he shifted to something more believable.

00:57:09The kind of two-timing behavior we're used to hearing about on Dateline.

00:57:15There was cheating going on in the beginning.

00:57:17And then, finally, Rick settled on the real story.

00:57:21Was her getting pregnant unexpected?

00:57:23It was unexpected.

00:57:25After Rick's arrest, word got out about the affair.

00:57:28You thought they had a good marriage.

00:57:30I honestly thought I was being punked.

00:57:31I was like, this is not...

00:57:33Friends and family believe there's zero chance Connie knew about it, as Rick had claimed.

00:57:40If she had known that was happening, she would have said something to someone.

00:57:44That is something that she would have not accepted.

00:57:46It would have been very apparent, I think, if she knew.

00:57:48I think she would have been...

00:57:49Angry.

00:57:50Very angry.

00:57:51You know, she was very close to my mother.

00:57:52She would have called screaming and yelling and...

00:57:55Connie was no shrinking violet.

00:57:56No.

00:57:56So I don't believe she knew.

00:58:01And I just kept on thinking, oh my God, I was shocked.

00:58:05Rick was living a secret life.

00:58:06Absolutely, yeah.

00:58:08The prosecutor believed Rick's secret life was on a collision course with his real life.

00:58:14So the pressure was building, and he actually voiced that to the handful of people that he told about this.

00:58:20That he was worried about a divorce, that he was worried that he was going to lose his friends, he was going to lose his family.

00:58:25He needed to resolve this situation to the point that you believed he took a life, his wife.

00:58:31Well, we don't grade them on the wisdom of their plan.

00:58:34We just grade them whether they're guilty or not guilty.

00:58:36And by any stretch of the imagination, no one would think this was a good plan to resolve his problem.

00:58:42No one would.

00:58:44But this was the plan he came up with.

00:58:46The prosecutor's plan was to lay it all out for a jury.

00:58:50But as he would soon find out, things don't always go according to plan.

00:58:55I think she was a very reluctant witness.

00:58:58I think she was very reluctant to provide answers.

00:59:03Coming up.

00:59:05Is the prosecution's star witness about to throw a curveball?

00:59:09How would you describe Sarah Ganser in court?

00:59:12Was she on your side?

00:59:14I would say she was not on the state side.

00:59:16I wouldn't say she was hostile, but I would say she approached that line.

00:59:22When Dateline Unforgettable continues.

00:59:25Rick DeBate had been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Connie.

00:59:38He had planned for this possibility when, the day after Connie's murder,

00:59:42he hired Hubert Santos, one of the most highly regarded defense attorneys in the state,

00:59:47and his partner, Trent LaLima.

00:59:50And that was the morning of Christmas Eve?

00:59:53Yes.

00:59:53That's an interesting time to get a call from a potential new client.

00:59:59Sometimes in criminal defense, things are urgent, things come up.

01:00:03But a sense of urgency didn't seem to apply to the courts.

01:00:06And any notion that justice would be swift quickly evaporated.

01:00:10The trial was delayed again and again and again.

01:00:14Three years passed.

01:00:17And the entire time, Rick was free on bail.

01:00:21How did you cope?

01:00:22Not easy.

01:00:23It's not easy.

01:00:25Did you feel like he's getting this kind of free pass in the meantime, that he's out and about?

01:00:29Yeah.

01:00:30I remember one person saying the only person dancing in the streets is him.

01:00:34And so, you know, the family's devastated.

01:00:38The devastation was compounded when Connie's father died of cancer in 2019.

01:00:44I'm convinced for him, he was holding on with very bad health, hoping to see this through, just wanting to be there for all of us.

01:00:55I mean, he wanted to be the rock for us.

01:00:57And his body just gave out.

01:01:00Eventually, the opposing sides assembled in a Connecticut courtroom and selected a jury.

01:01:06It was the eve of the trial, March 2020.

01:01:09And then COVID happened.

01:01:11And then it turned into months and years.

01:01:13Rick's attorney, Hubert Santos, passed away during this time, causing a further delay.

01:01:18Trent LaLima would now try the case without his partner and mentor.

01:01:22We already knew what our strategy was, what our defense would be.

01:01:26And so, as much as he was not there for the trial, his ideas, his planning, they were.

01:01:31You believe the police really had tunnel vision in this case from the beginning?

01:01:35That was a clear part of our theory at trial.

01:01:38The state had already honed in on him from the beginning.

01:01:40And that they made their mind up and worked backwards from there.

01:01:44When the trial finally started in April 2022,

01:01:47the state, led by Matthew Gadansky, told the jury it was not tunnel vision that pointed the finger at Rick debate,

01:01:53but concrete evidence, lots of it.

01:01:57He brought in the state police to explain how the crime scene looks staged,

01:02:01how Rocky the canine had traced Rick's and only Rick's scent at the scene.

01:02:06And he spelled out what he said were holes in Rick's story about that day.

01:02:11And, of course, the prosecutor told the jury why Rick killed Connie.

01:02:15So the motive was his pregnant girlfriend.

01:02:19And who better to explain that to the jury than the woman herself?

01:02:24The state is going to call Sarah Ganser next.

01:02:28Cameras weren't allowed in the courtroom,

01:02:30but this is an audio recording of the woman at the center of the love triangle, Sarah Ganser.

01:02:36Reporters covering the trial were keenly focused on her testimony.

01:02:40When Sarah Ganser walks into the courtroom, I mean, you could hear a pin drop.

01:02:45This is the testimony that so many people had been waiting to hear.

01:02:50At some point, did you become pregnant?

01:02:53I did.

01:02:54And who was the father of the baby?

01:02:58Rick debate.

01:02:59I think the jury empathized with Sarah.

01:03:02She told the court several times this is tough testimony to do.

01:03:06She was sharing her most personal, intimate details with strangers.

01:03:10So, Ms. Ganser, even before you got pregnant with the defendant's baby,

01:03:15was the defendant indicating to you that there was going to be a divorce?

01:03:20Yes.

01:03:21The prosecution argued that despite what Rick had told Sarah,

01:03:25there was no evidence he and Connie were divorcing.

01:03:28But Sarah's time on the stand was not without its problems for Gdansky in his case.

01:03:33How would you describe Sarah Ganser in court?

01:03:36Was she on your side?

01:03:38No, I would say she was not on the state side.

01:03:41I wouldn't say she was hostile, but I would say she approached that line.

01:03:46The prosecution's theory was that Rick debate was under immense pressure.

01:03:50But that's not what Sarah said.

01:03:52Ms. Ganser, is it your testimony?

01:03:54You never conveyed that you were upset that he did not file for a divorce?

01:04:01I don't recall telling him that.

01:04:04Did you ever shut him out, so to speak, and say, that's it?

01:04:10Well, yeah.

01:04:11That's different from saying I want you to get a divorce.

01:04:13Did he complain about the pressure of your situation and his situation?

01:04:22Not...

01:04:23Not really to me.

01:04:25He never said the pressure is getting to me.

01:04:27I don't know what behaviors would characterize that.

01:04:31So I think the prosecution obviously kind of had this pregnancy as the reason,

01:04:35the motive behind this murder.

01:04:38But in Sarah's testimony, she wasn't looking to break up a family at all.

01:04:43And so I think in some cases, you know, it helps paint the picture

01:04:46that she was not putting pressure on Richard debate to make a decision.

01:04:51In the months leading up to the murder, Rick had texted tenderly with Sarah,

01:04:56referring to her as his little love nugget.

01:05:00And when investigators dug into Sarah's private Facebook messages,

01:05:03they said there was evidence Rick had been trashing his wife to his girlfriend.

01:05:07Did he ever call her names that were...

01:05:10I think that married people say, and even dating people say flippant things about each

01:05:14other all the time to other people.

01:05:15Did he ever call her names?

01:05:19I'm sure he did.

01:05:21Please don't ask me to remember any of them because it was seven years ago.

01:05:23Sarah appeared reluctant to help the prosecution.

01:05:29And in fact, defense attorney Trent LaLima believed she actually helped his client.

01:05:34It was quite clear she wasn't putting any pressure on him.

01:05:38She had told him that you just say the word,

01:05:41and I won't put the father's name on the birth certificate.

01:05:43I won't mention your name to anybody.

01:05:45No one will ever know that this is your child.

01:05:48So how is the pressure on?

01:05:51If she's telling him,

01:05:53you can just go back to her and we can pretend this never happened.

01:05:57And that was exactly the point the defense wanted to hammer home when they questioned Sarah.

01:06:02Because of your nature,

01:06:03was it often the case that you didn't regularly bring up the prospect of a divorce with Rick debate?

01:06:12That and because I did not want to be the cause of a breakup of their family.

01:06:18It was enough that I was pregnant.

01:06:21I did not want to break up their family.

01:06:26But Sarah clearly wanted to be with him.

01:06:29She told the jury her relationship with Rick continued even after he had been arrested and charged with Connie's murder.

01:06:35Well, I think Rick was arrested in 2017, in April.

01:06:40So it was again probably months after that,

01:06:44that yes, yet we started seeing each other again.

01:06:49Rick's family says the idea that Connie was killed over an affair was nonsense.

01:06:54How do you feel about that as a possible motive that,

01:06:57you know, he wanted Connie out of the way to, you know, be with?

01:07:01No.

01:07:02No.

01:07:02He would deal with it.

01:07:04He would have dealt with it.

01:07:05And Connie would have, too.

01:07:07They would have somehow managed.

01:07:11And it wasn't such a big secret after all.

01:07:14He had, in fact, confided in his cousin Lori all about it.

01:07:18I think at the time, his intention was to tell Connie and to try to keep his family together.

01:07:26And, you know, that that was going to be difficult.

01:07:30And I was going to be there to do whatever I could to help.

01:07:36Sarah Ganser's testimony had not gone as smoothly as the prosecution had hoped.

01:07:41But there was more for the jury to consider, including what could amount to the proverbial smoking gun.

01:07:50Coming up, the story told by Data was a silent witness.

01:07:55Correct.

01:07:56Multiple silent witnesses.

01:07:58Digital evidence is powerful.

01:08:00The prosecution had put a reluctant witness on the stand who provided the jury with a why in the case against Rick debate.

01:08:20But now they had perhaps an even better witness, a witness with no emotional ties to the defendant.

01:08:27It was a silent witness.

01:08:28Correct.

01:08:28Multiple silent witnesses.

01:08:31Digital evidence is powerful.

01:08:34The state had what it said was cold, hard data.

01:08:38Detective Sergeant Bill Udermark told the jury and us how the debate's electronic devices held a treasure trove of information.

01:08:46And when you're talking about electronics, you're talking about Facebook accounts, the alarm reporting.

01:08:51You're talking about cell phone downloads.

01:08:54Cameras.

01:08:55The Fitbit.

01:08:56Surveillance cameras.

01:08:56A lot of different work that came into play.

01:08:59It all added up to a timeline for both Connie and Rick.

01:09:03What they did.

01:09:04Where they went.

01:09:05Who they talked to.

01:09:07What are you learning about Connie's last day?

01:09:09What had she done that morning?

01:09:11After she wakes up, I believe the first thing she does is go on her phone.

01:09:15She messages to some friends.

01:09:16And then she starts her day.

01:09:17We have her putting on her Fitbit shortly after she got up.

01:09:21Connie's murder trial was one of the first in the country where Fitbit data played a central role in a prosecution.

01:09:27The device she wore on her waistband quietly logged when she was moving and when she wasn't.

01:09:34Connie had simply been using it to live her life and stay healthy like so many people.

01:09:39But as detectives pieced together her final hours, that data helped build a very different timeline than the one Rick was telling them.

01:09:48She's starting the day with the kids, getting the kids ready for school.

01:09:50She has a couple of other text messages during the morning.

01:09:55And then we can see her leaving, getting in the car, driving to the Y.

01:09:59We can see when she hops in her car because there's no movement on the Fitbit.

01:10:03She's not walking anymore.

01:10:06Connie arrived at the YMCA as seen in these surveillance images, but didn't stay long because her exercise class had been canceled.

01:10:14She drove straight home.

01:10:16And the Fitbit picks her up?

01:10:17Correct.

01:10:18Getting home, getting out of the car?

01:10:19So she starts getting steps again on the Fitbit.

01:10:21So that's about 918, 920.

01:10:23So then she's moving sporadically inside the house.

01:10:26We correspond that with some of the Facebook things that she's doing as well.

01:10:30This is where the Fitbit becomes really critical because Rick's story was that Connie came home and he was yelling at her to escape or to flee this intruder.

01:10:40And Rick's story is that this occurred at 9 o'clock.

01:10:45So now we have steps on her Fitbit up to 10.05.

01:10:49So it's an hour and five minutes.

01:10:51So you've got a time discrepancy.

01:10:53Correct.

01:10:53Connie's electronic footprint was telling a different story than what Rick was telling you.

01:10:59Not just Connie's.

01:11:00It's Rick's as well.

01:11:01It provided us all kinds of information showing us that he really never left the property.

01:11:06He's very close to the house, if not in the house.

01:11:09So the story about him driving away, realizing he forgot his laptop and going back, that you were finding that that was not?

01:11:16That was not the case.

01:11:18According to the electronic data, Rick debate never left the property.

01:11:23Instead, according to the prosecution, Rick stayed home and waited for Connie to return, then spent nearly an hour building up the nerve to lure her down into the basement.

01:11:34Where he shot her dead and staged his own attack.

01:11:37But that theory was full of holes, said defense attorney Trent LaLima.

01:11:44And it's important to remember, it's the state's job to prove beyond a reasonable doubt their case.

01:11:50And reasonable doubt was everywhere, he said, starting with the fact that Rick was not a violent man.

01:11:57Rick debate has never had an allegation of violence in his history.

01:12:01You don't go from that to what the state alleges that morning.

01:12:04And he said the prosecution's evidence to the contrary could not be trusted.

01:12:10These electronic devices are not prepared with the idea that they're going to be used in a murder trial.

01:12:15Fitbit designed their device to make money.

01:12:17It's not meant to be a absolutely accurate scientific or legal device.

01:12:22And in fact, the people that testify at trial couldn't even tell us how the Fitbit reached the conclusions it did.

01:12:27They could only tell us the numbers it spit out.

01:12:29Now how it got the numbers.

01:12:30But you're still having to say that every single device was faulty or inaccurate.

01:12:35I think it's quite possible that all these electronic devices are not perfect.

01:12:40But they all were wrong?

01:12:42They could all have errors, absolutely.

01:12:45The defense argued there was one thing the jury could rely on.

01:12:49The old-fashioned tried-and-true forensic evidence, which was in our favor.

01:12:55DNA at the crime scene.

01:12:57Investigators had found plenty of it.

01:12:59And the defense said it confirmed Rick DeBate's story about an intruder.

01:13:03In this case, we had unidentified DNA in six different key places, starting with the master bedroom closet,

01:13:11going down to the safe box in the basement where the gun was kept, going to the gun itself,

01:13:17including the inside of Rick DeBate's shirt, and including the door exiting the basement out the hatchway.

01:13:23And it's important to remember, Rick DeBate, when he told his story to the police that first day,

01:13:29before he could have ever known what the DNA results were,

01:13:32he was citing those exact places, saying that's where the intruder was, that's what the intruder touched in the house.

01:13:38The defense also wanted to make clear to the jury that despite what the prosecution wanted them to believe,

01:13:44Rick DeBate never wavered in his story about what happened that morning on Birchview Drive.

01:13:48His wife is shot feet away from him after he's attacked by an intruder.

01:13:55That would be the most traumatic day of anybody's life, the most traumatic experience of anybody's life.

01:14:00And are we going to expect that he's going to have the exact time of how long everything happened?

01:14:06Remember every small detail of what he did on his iPad or his tablet that morning?

01:14:11The big details, that he was home, an intruder was in the home, attacked him, and they ran down to the basement,

01:14:19and that man shot his wife. Those details were always consistent.

01:14:23But the jurors wouldn't have to take his word for it.

01:14:27They would hear it straight from Rick DeBate himself.

01:14:30The defense will call Richard DeBate you.

01:14:33Coming up, Rick recounts the horror of his wife's last moments.

01:14:38I heard a loud bang, I believe a flash, and I remember seeing a tiny ball motion was to the ground.

01:14:50When Dateline Unforgettable continues.

01:15:00Rick DeBate had waited more than six years to tell his side of the story.

01:15:05Now was his chance as he took the stand in his own defense.

01:15:30Rick acknowledged to the jury he had cheated on Connie with Sarah.

01:15:33Did it happen on multiple occasions?

01:15:35Yes, it did.

01:15:36At some point around this time period, did Sarah tell you anything?

01:15:40Yes, she did.

01:15:41What did she tell you?

01:15:43She told me she was pregnant.

01:15:45But just as Sarah Ganser had testified, Rick denied feeling pressure to choose between her and Connie.

01:15:51Did she tell you to do anything?

01:15:53No.

01:15:54Did she present options to you?

01:15:57Yes, she did.

01:15:58What options did she present to you?

01:15:59Um, she said if you stay with Connie, uh, that she wouldn't tell anyone who the dad was.

01:16:06And then Rick took the jury through that awful morning.

01:16:09What happened when you got upstairs?

01:16:11I went upstairs, uh, and when I opened up the closet door, there was an intruder.

01:16:17He told them how the intruder demanded his wallet.

01:16:20And then what happened when he heard Connie come home?

01:16:22What did you do?

01:16:23I yelled, Connie, there was someone in the house, Ron.

01:16:28The intruder grabbed my hand, twisted it somehow, forced me to the ground, and ran out.

01:16:36Ran out.

01:16:37What did you do?

01:16:40After I eventually got up, I ran after him.

01:16:43And he described getting to the basement just seconds too late.

01:16:46What did you see and hear?

01:16:48I heard a loud bang.

01:16:50I believe a flash.

01:16:52And I remember seeing Connie fall motionless to the ground.

01:16:59Next, he told the jury how he was tortured, eventually fighting off the intruder with the blowtorch.

01:17:05I thought maybe I burned his mask.

01:17:07But he put his hands up in his face, um, dropped the, uh, blowtorch, and ran.

01:17:15Rick DeBate professed his love for Connie and his innocence in her murder.

01:17:19Who shot Connie DeBate?

01:17:22James Schroeder.

01:17:23Did you shoot Connie?

01:17:24No.

01:17:26Did you stage any of the evidence of that scene?

01:17:30No, I didn't.

01:17:31That part of Rick's story never wavered.

01:17:34But there were subtle differences between what he initially told investigators and what he said in court.

01:17:40For instance, in 2015, he told detectives this.

01:17:43I walked in, put my phone down, then I heard something upstairs.

01:17:47I heard something fall, so I can get cancer.

01:17:50Break is open again, and then I went upstairs.

01:17:53Something happened.

01:17:55But this is what he told the jury in 2022.

01:17:58What did you do when you went inside?

01:17:59I put my keys down on a hutch, put my phone near the courage, just going to make a coffee.

01:18:09And at that point, since I already told my boss I was running late, I just decided to kind of veg out a little bit and surf the Internet and kind of take my time.

01:18:19Now, at some point, was this interrupted?

01:18:23Yes.

01:18:25What happened?

01:18:28Heard something upstairs?

01:18:29The allegation was that he was changing his story to fit what he'd heard during the trial.

01:18:36I mean, what changed were the gaps in between the big moments?

01:18:40How long was he home?

01:18:41Was he making a coffee?

01:18:42You know, did he go on his iPad for a bit to kill some time?

01:18:45Those gaps changed, but the details were the same.

01:18:48And he stuck to the key parts of his story that he had told the police and the family over and over again.

01:18:54And those have never changed over the years.

01:18:56But now it was state's attorney Matthew Godansky's turn to ask the questions.

01:19:01And perhaps nobody had listened more closely to Rick's story than he had.

01:19:05I was looking forward to cross-examine him.

01:19:08Yeah.

01:19:08Did you beat him up?

01:19:10I guess that's for someone else to determine.

01:19:13The prosecutor pulled no punches, accusing Rick of getting rid of his wife while trying to make himself look good in the process.

01:19:20And so this is the plan you came up with for this dilemma that you were in?

01:19:24There's no plan, sir.

01:19:26You could be the hero, a failed hero, but a hero.

01:19:30No.

01:19:31He pressed Rick to account for the inconsistencies in his story.

01:19:35And you could see from the data that you and Connie were home together for a good half hour or so that day before she was killed.

01:19:43At some point.

01:19:44Okay.

01:19:46But that disputes your story.

01:19:48Your story is that she came home and she ran down in the basement.

01:19:53That's not the full story, sir.

01:19:54You never left that house, did you?

01:19:57I absolutely left the house that day.

01:19:59And every chance he got, the prosecutor made sure to emphasize one key element of Rick's story, a Hollywood element.

01:20:07There were two people in that closet, you and Vin Diesel.

01:20:10That must be your wrestling match with Vin Diesel, correct?

01:20:13And that Vin Diesel, Vin Diesel, this Vin Diesel guy.

01:20:16You must have been fighting with Vin Diesel, were you not?

01:20:19I was fighting with an intruder, yes.

01:20:21Why bring up a movie star so many times in your cross-examination?

01:20:28He's the one who said the guy sounded like Vin Diesel.

01:20:31So I was certainly going to use it with him.

01:20:34Was he trying to get a rise out of Rick?

01:20:36Or was it a wink and a nod to the jury?

01:20:39A way to emphasize how ridiculous he found the whole story.

01:20:42You chased Vin Diesel, who was chasing your wife.

01:20:46The exchanges were tense, often accusatory, but Rick DeBate stuck to his story.

01:20:52He didn't kill Connie, an intruder did.

01:20:54You shot her in the back of the head, did you not?

01:20:57Absolutely not, sir.

01:20:58And then you went up to her and you pulled her back and you put another shot in her stomach to finish her off, didn't you?

01:21:04Absolutely not, sir.

01:21:05Was he lying?

01:21:07It was now up to the jury to decide.

01:21:09Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in the case of State B. Richard DeBate, have you agreed upon a verdict?

01:21:14We have.

01:21:15Less than a day's worth of deliberating was all it took.

01:21:19Will the defendant, Richard DeBate, please rise and face the jury.

01:21:22Madam foreperson, is the defendant guilty or not guilty?

01:21:25We found the defendant guilty.

01:21:31How did you feel when you heard guilty?

01:21:34Like a victory, you know, definitely felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

01:21:39It had been years.

01:21:40Years.

01:21:41Finally, this part was over.

01:21:43Yeah, it was relief.

01:21:45After six and a half years from that day that you went to that crime scene, you finally had the guilty verdict.

01:21:54You know, we felt a great responsibility to Connie and obviously very happy with the verdict.

01:22:01The irony is that he came up with this crazy, evil plan to protect his reputation.

01:22:09And this is how he's going to be remembered.

01:22:10And this is how he's going to be remembered.

01:22:13Rick DeBate convicted wife killer.

01:22:17He was sentenced to 65 years in prison.

01:22:19It was an amazing feeling, like it was better than I thought it was going to be.

01:22:26And I just think it was because I can move on now.

01:22:30Um, because those seven years, there was just so much anxiety.

01:22:37I changed as a person.

01:22:40I lost a part of me that I'll never get back.

01:22:42On the other side of the courtroom, different tears.

01:22:47That's a tough moment when now your son is being led away for murdering his wife.

01:22:56I can't believe it was there.

01:23:08I can't believe he's there.

01:23:13Two families torn apart, learning to live with different types of pain.

01:23:18But they all share one thing, a love for Connie.

01:23:22Everything she did was out of her heart.

01:23:24There are people we never met that would reach out and say,

01:23:28she did a small act of kindness, or she did something amazing.

01:23:33Connie meant the world to those lucky enough to know her.

01:23:36But of all the people Connie touched, no one meant more to her than her two sons.

01:23:41Like so many of the victims we profile on Dateline,

01:23:45she endures through her children, her greatest legacy.

01:23:48Do you feel that Connie will live on in her boys?

01:23:55I know she will.

01:23:57Like, she just, she had a great, beautiful influence on them.

01:24:01And I know they will carry that forward.

01:24:04And maybe a good piece of advice is to go through life treating people like their mom did.

01:24:11Absolutely.

01:24:11Peggy and Darlene will forever miss their third musketeer.

01:24:17But they know Connie's legacy lives on along the once again quiet Birchview Drive.

01:24:24Connie was the connector.

01:24:26Connie wanted to connect all the neighbors to one another.

01:24:30Her death brought everyone together.

01:24:32Absolutely.

01:24:32She was beautiful from the inside out.

01:24:38Her light was so bright that you just wanted to be in the light with her.

Dateline- Unforgettable - Season 7 Episode 05- The Secrets of Birch View Drive

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