ELLINGTON -- Richard Dabate will appear in court Monday in connection with the 2015 murder of his wife, Connie Dabate.
On Friday, state police said an arrest warrant was issued to Dabate, 40, after a lengthy investigation. He was arrested on Birchview Drive and was taken to Troop C in Tolland where he was processed.
Dabate is being held at the Hartford Correctional Center. He's scheduled to be presented at Rockville Superior Court on Monday.
Dabate is charged with murder in the first degree, tampering with evidence and providing a false statement. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
The warrant and the investigation took nearly a year and a half to complete. Some Ellington community members feel the lengthy investigation was a necessity.
"Nowadays the police have to cross every "T" and dot every "I" before they can come after you or they can blow the whole case. A good lawyer will get him off," says Ellington resident Thomas Tremont.
"Unfortunately you have a murderer running around the streets if it's supposedly him but the good side about that means they did a thorough investigation," says Walter Little, a worker at an Ellington restaurant. "So hopefully justice will be served."
Dabate's lawyer, Hubert Santos told FOX61 "My client is innocent of these charges and he looks forward to being vindicated after a trial."
On December 23, 2015, a burglary alarm brought police to the house on Birchview Drive; officers encountered smoke where they found Rich suffering from minor injuries. He told police it was a home invasion robbery. Shortly after, police said his wife Connie was found dead, shot in the stomach and head.
Right after the crime, detectives claimed there was no threat to the public.
State police released a 50 page arrest warrant detaining the interaction between Richard and Connie Dabate as well as witnesses to the incident.
In the warrant, Dabate claims an intruder tied him up to a chair in the kitchen and fled. However, when law enforcement arrived to the scene a K-9 unit was unable to find any additional evidence of this claim or any signs of another individual fleeing the property on foot.
Investigators examined an iPhone belonging to Connie Dabate which had a special section in the "Notes" portion labeled, "why I want a divorce". It goes on to list several examples of incidents between the two.