It was 2015, just two days before Christmas, when Richard Dabate, 40, drove home through streets sparkling with Christmas lights, his sons, Richard, nine, and Connor, six, in the car.
He was dropping them at the school bus stop before heading to work.
So close to Christmas, the boys’ chatter was likely about Santa – a magical time for children that age.
The Dabate family lived in a four-bedroom colonial-style home at the end of a long driveway in an affluent Connecticut neighbourhood.
Richard worked as a computer technician, while his wife, Connie, 39, was a pharmaceutical sales representative for Reckitt Benckiser, making her the family’s main breadwinner.
Married on July 4, 2003, the pair were described by friends as happy and devoted, though they occasionally argued over money like…
