Entertainment

“Accused: The Karen Read Story” premieres at 8 p.m. on Jan. 10.

By Abby Patkin

December 22, 2025 | 2:10 PM

2 minutes to read

The official trailer for the upcoming Karen Read Lifetime movie dropped Friday, offering viewers a first look into the dramatic true crime saga that has gripped Greater Boston for the better part of three years. 

The one-minute trailer for “Accused: The Karen Read Story” opens with a frantic Read digging through snow to uncover the lifeless body of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Not long after, Read is shown in handcuffs as police arrest her on suspicion of murder.

As shown in the trailer, the sensational case would come to divide the town of Canton, where prosecutors alleged Read drunkenly backed her SUV into O’Keefe and left him to die outside a fellow Boston police officer’s house party in January 2022. 

The clip also features some dramatized behind-the-scenes legal maneuvering by Read’s lead defense attorneys, David Yannetti and Alan Jackson, as well as cries of support from “Free Karen Read” crowds and Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney. 

“It’s like I was the only suspect,” Read — played by “Arrow” actress Katie Cassidy — says in the trailer. “Everybody’s so damn sure. Burn me at the stake already.” 

The clip hints at, but does not directly address, Read’s alternate theory that others were to blame for killing O’Keefe. Read and her attorneys have long maintained she was framed as part of a vast law enforcement conspiracy. 

Her first trial ended in a mistrial in 2024, though she was ultimately acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges following a high-profile retrial earlier this year. She still faces a wrongful death lawsuit from O’Keefe’s family, and is separately suing several investigators and witnesses she claims conspired to frame her for murder. 

“Accused: The Karen Read Story” premieres at 8 p.m. on Jan. 10. Sharing the trailer on social media over the weekend, Cassidy described the Lifetime flick as a “powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking film I’m incredibly proud of.” The movie also stars Luke Humphrey as O’Keefe.

Though one of several adaptations in the works, the Lifetime project is the first to dramatize Read’s case. 

Read and Jackson are partnering with LBI Productions for a scripted adaptation, while Prime Video and Warner Bros. Television are set to release a limited series starring Elizabeth Banks. Netflix also has a three-part documentary on the case in the works, and Kearney, one of Read’s most vocal advocates, has reportedly signed a movie deal with Compelling Pictures.

Watch the Lifetime trailer:

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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