ELLINGTON — Less than three months before she was found shot to death at her Birchview Drive home, Connie Dabate was the victim of another crime.In early October, someone stuffed rags into her car's tailpipe, according to police reports obtained by The Courant. A week later, the windshield of her husband Richard Dabate's car was cracked — from the inside. No one was arrested in the incidents, nor has anyone been arrested in Dabate's killing two days before Christmas. The 39-year-old mother of two boys was shot in the head and abdomen on the morning of Dec. 23, a shocking crime that left the rural town on edge as troopers sped to the normally quiet neighborhood and police dogs sniffed for clues. More than three months later, fear has turned to impatience, as residents press police, public officials and the media for information. "There is no update," Trooper Kelly Grant, a state police spokeswoman, said of the homicide investigation. She refused to say Monday if there is a suspect in the case.
Lt. Scott Smith of the Troop C barracks in Tolland, which covers Ellington, said he hadn't heard about the reports of car vandalism at the Dabate house.As far as the homicide, he repeated something that state police have said from the beginning, that townspeople are not in danger. "The community at large is frustrated that they don't know," he said. "And when they don't know, they talk among themselves."The newly released reports add another layer of intrigue to the murder mystery.According to state police records obtained through a freedom of information request, Connie Dabate called police on Oct. 2 to report suspicious activity. "Some time last night towels [were] left in her exhaust pipe," the police report said. "She found yellow rags stuffed into the exhaust system of her vehicle earlier this morning."The report, which is heavily redacted, also says Connie Dabate told the trooper she does not own any yellow rags matching the ones she found in her exhaust system.Although she didn't see anyone damage her car, she told police that she "believes she knows who did it," the report said.
A week later, on Oct. 9, Richard Dabate called police and said his car windshield was damaged overnight. He and Connie Dabate told another trooper that they suspected the same person Connie Dabate named a week earlier."I observed that the front passenger side of the windshield was damaged," Trooper Kyle Cormier wrote in his report.He also wrote that the outside of the windshield was "smooth to the touch and I did not observe anything around the vehicle that could have been used to damage it.""I observed that on the inside of the windshield I could feel the crack, I also observed a few glass shards on the passenger side dashboard," he wrote. No other vehicles parked in the driveway had been damaged, and the trooper wrote that he did not see any footprints."I did not observe any footprints in the yard or in the driveway, that would be visible due to the fact that a morning dew was present throughout the yard." Richard Dabate said he purchased a camera to set up in his yard in an attempt to identify the responsible person, but that he had not set it up yet, the report said.
He told the trooper that he wanted the incident documented.Damage inflicted on a window from the outside can usually be felt on the outside of the glass, said Steve Billerman, who has been in the auto glass repair business for 30 years."In most of the cases, if it's hit from the outside it cracks on the outside," said Billerman, manager of Payless Auto Glass on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford.Another trooper went to the home of the person the Dabates suspected, but no one answered the door at the home, the reports said.State police confirmed Tuesday that there has been no arrest in either vandalism case.As for the homicide investigation, Smith said Tuesday that it is "very active." He is not on the team of investigators, which is the Eastern District Major Crime Squad."We're working on it every day," he said. "There are still investigative steps that have to be completed. Hopefully we can come to a conclusion soon."Using the NOVUS® Windshield Repair System, we’re able to offer windshield crack repair for both short and long cracks.
Whether it’s a short crack or longer than a dollar bill, our team will assist you to find the best solution for you. At Speedy GlassWe ensure your vehicle meets manufacturer and federal safety standards, and we guarantee all of our materials against all manufacturing defects. We are insurer-approved and will help process claims. Original EquipmentWe use original equipment glass and materials from our trusted partners, like PPG and Pilkington. Original equipment glass is produced to the same factory specifications for your vehicle. It was a nice experience and the service was performed an hour ahead of the estimated time. I am pleased with the new windshield. Louis TTigard, OregonBoth the service from the insurance company and glass company was outstanding. Thanks for a great job. Find your nearest Speedy Glass location.Your access to this service has been temporarily limited. Please try again in a few minutes. (HTTP response code 503) Reason: Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons.
Important note for site admins: If you are the administrator of this website note that your access has been limited because you broke one of the Wordfence advanced blocking rules. The reason your access was limited is: "Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons.". If this is a false positive, meaning that your access to your own site has been limited incorrectly, then you will need to regain access to your site, go to the Wordfence "options" page, go to the section for Rate Limiting Rules and disable the rule that caused you to be blocked. if you were blocked because it was detected that you are a fake Google crawler, then disable the rule that blocks fake google crawlers. Or if you were blocked because you were accessing your site too quickly, then increase the number of accesses allowed per minute. If you're still having trouble, then simply disable the Wordfence advanced blocking and you will still benefit from the other security features that Wordfence provides.