09/03/2026
So, if you weren't aware, I wasn’t always chasing sunsets, sunrises, the Milky Way and wildlife for a living—I used to chase murderers.
Before I became a landscape, wildlife, and nightscape photographer, I spent years as a Connecticut State Trooper, a Detective, and finally ended my career as a Homicide Detective for my last 11 years. I belonged to the Eastern District Major Crime Squad: a group of five highly trained Detectives and a Sergeant, assigned to investigate or assist in every homicide investigation across the eastern third of the state.
And one of my last cases as lead detective, which was coined the “Fitbit Murder” case, involved the tragic and pointless murder of Connie Dabate in Ellington, Connecticut. In short, we used extensive technology—including Fitbit data, presented in court for the first time—to convict the murderer. This is a case that began in 2015, and ended with sentencing in 2022. This is a case I will always be proud of - the work of our squad, the amount of time, effort and determination devoted to the case (while devoting the same time, effort and determination to all of our other cases) and the fact that after mountains of work and evidence (much of it very technical) was organized and presented in court during the trial, the jury could understand and follow the investigation to lead to a conviction without hesitation. The full episode can be streamed on Apple TV, Peacock and Oxygen.
https://youtu.be/rfvxPilWWFQ?si=jACmNH2V-qL0pIUC
Jeff Payette Rebecca Poole Payette
When a beloved mom is murdered in her suburban Connecticut basement...
