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Karen Read murder trial: Testimony resumes Monday after nearly a week off
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Karen Read murder trial: Testimony resumes Monday after nearly a week off
Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with an SUV during a winter storm
Updated: 10:16 AM EDT Jun 3, 2024
Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday in the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her black SUV outside of a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense plans to argue that someone else is responsible for killing O’Keefe. Three days of testimony are expected this week. Jurors will not be in the courtroom on Tuesday or Friday. “We do think it’s coming to a close in this week or probably into next week,” said former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. “But there are so many theories, pieces of evidence, ways in which the prosecution had to get evidence in and the defense counsel has, frankly, been aggressive in cross-examining, which is their job, in trying to defend their client.” During just one day of testimony last week, jurors heard from O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, who lived with him, about the escalation of the couple’s arguments in the weeks leading up to O’Keefe’s death. Both children described an incident in which O’Keefe asked Read to leave the house and she refused.”She said no. She was swearing. She got very loud,” the niece said.Other recent testimony came from ATF Agent Brian Higgins, one of the three men Read’s defense lawyers have implicated in O’Keefe’s death. He read and answered questions about flirty text messages exchanged with Read a few weeks before O’Keefe’s death and described a “romantic” kiss.Higgins was cross-examined by the defense about his cellphone records, destruction of a SIM card and movements within the Canton Police Department. Jackson sought to imply that Higgins had conversations with Brian Albert hours before O’Keefe’s body was found and suggest that Higgins had access to Read’s SUV and other evidence. Live updates:10:04 a.m. O’Hara points to photos of the taillight pieces he says the team found in the snow. 9:36 a.m. O’Hara says all of the pieces were found “at ground level.” Says snowplow berm was about three feet deep. Snow was about 18” deep on the rest of the yard.9:29 a.m. They found “multiple pieces of red and clear taillight.” O’Hara said they found 6-7 pieces between fire hydrant and flagpole. Also found a sneaker in same area.9:22 a.m. O’Hara said his team conducted a grid search and found pieces of tail light outside Fairview Road. 9:08 a.m. First witness is Lt. Kevin O’Hara of Massachusetts State Police. He got a call from Lt Tully at 2:32pm on 1/29/22, asking for help with a death investigation.9:07 a.m. Case resumes. The judge begins by reminding jurors that lawyer questions are not evidence. Only witness answers are.Follow posts from reporter David BienickRelated links:Recap of testimony, evidence from each day of the case Evidence slideshowWhat to know about the case:Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.Read has pleaded not guilty.Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.Opening statements were delivered on April 29.The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks.Case evidence slideshow: Prosecutors are trying to show that Read’s alleged actions outside 34 Fairview Road were intentional. Read’s lawyers have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten by someone else inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.The defense, which has been allowed to present what is called third-party culprit evidence, argues that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider other suspects. Those they have implicated include Brian Albert, who owned the home in Canton where O’Keefe died, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was there that night.Higgins testified about a “romantic” encounter and series of text messages he exchanged with Read. In those flirty messages, Read told him that O’Keefe had “hooked up” with another woman during a vacation. The defense is trying to convince the jury that O’Keefe was beaten and suggested that Colin Albert, nephew of the family that owned the home on Fairview Road, had been in a fight. Albert said a hand injury came when he fell in a driveway and that he never saw O’Keefe during the celebration of his cousin’s birthday on the night in question.He also confirmed on cross-examination that he has known the lead state police investigator in this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a child. A former Massachusetts police toxicologist, Nicholas Roberts, testified that Read’s blood alcohol content at 9 a.m. was between .078% and .083%, right around the legal limit for intoxication in Massachusetts. Based on a police report that suggested her last drink was at 12:45 a.m., her peak blood alcohol level would have been between .135% and .292%, he said.O’Keefe had been raising his niece and nephew, and they told jurors Tuesday that they heard frequent arguments between him and Read. Both of the teenagers described an incident in which O’Keefe asked Read to leave the house and she refused.The trial’s first few days detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save O’Keefe. They found him face up when they arrived just before dawn on Jan. 29. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, and an autopsy later found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma. Several of the first responders said they heard Read make statements, including, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was found. Defense attorneys confronted several of those witnesses by asking why those alleged remarks were not included in official reports.Officers also testified about unusual procedures used during the investigation, including the decision to collect bloody snow in red plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
DEDHAM, Mass. —
Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday in the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her black SUV outside of a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense plans to argue that someone else is responsible for killing O’Keefe.
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Three days of testimony are expected this week. Jurors will not be in the courtroom on Tuesday or Friday.
“We do think it’s coming to a close in this week or probably into next week,” said former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. “But there are so many theories, pieces of evidence, ways in which the prosecution had to get evidence in and the defense counsel has, frankly, been aggressive in cross-examining, which is their job, in trying to defend their client.”
During just one day of testimony last week, jurors heard from O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, who lived with him, about the escalation of the couple’s arguments in the weeks leading up to O’Keefe’s death. Both children described an incident in which O’Keefe asked Read to leave the house and she refused.
“She said no. She was swearing. She got very loud,” the niece said.
Other recent testimony came from ATF Agent Brian Higgins, one of the three men Read’s defense lawyers have implicated in O’Keefe’s death. He read and answered questions about flirty text messages exchanged with Read a few weeks before O’Keefe’s death and described a “romantic” kiss.
Higgins was cross-examined by the defense about his cellphone records, destruction of a SIM card and movements within the Canton Police Department. Jackson sought to imply that Higgins had conversations with Brian Albert hours before O’Keefe’s body was found and suggest that Higgins had access to Read’s SUV and other evidence.
Live updates:
- 10:04 a.m. O’Hara points to photos of the taillight pieces he says the team found in the snow.
- 9:36 a.m. O’Hara says all of the pieces were found “at ground level.” Says snowplow berm was about three feet deep. Snow was about 18” deep on the rest of the yard.
- 9:29 a.m. They found “multiple pieces of red and clear taillight.” O’Hara said they found 6-7 pieces between fire hydrant and flagpole. Also found a sneaker in same area.
- 9:22 a.m. O’Hara said his team conducted a grid search and found pieces of tail light outside Fairview Road.
- 9:08 a.m. First witness is Lt. Kevin O’Hara of Massachusetts State Police. He got a call from Lt Tully at 2:32pm on 1/29/22, asking for help with a death investigation.
- 9:07 a.m. Case resumes. The judge begins by reminding jurors that lawyer questions are not evidence. Only witness answers are.
- Follow posts from reporter David Bienick
Related links:
What to know about the case:
- Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.
- Read has pleaded not guilty.
- Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.
- In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.
- Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.
- Opening statements were delivered on April 29.
- The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks.
Case evidence slideshow:
Prosecutors are trying to show that Read’s alleged actions outside 34 Fairview Road were intentional. Read’s lawyers have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten by someone else inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.
The defense, which has been allowed to present what is called third-party culprit evidence, argues that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider other suspects. Those they have implicated include Brian Albert, who owned the home in Canton where O’Keefe died, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was there that night.
Higgins testified about a “romantic” encounter and series of text messages he exchanged with Read. In those flirty messages, Read told him that O’Keefe had “hooked up” with another woman during a vacation.
The defense is trying to convince the jury that O’Keefe was beaten and suggested that Colin Albert, nephew of the family that owned the home on Fairview Road, had been in a fight. Albert said a hand injury came when he fell in a driveway and that he never saw O’Keefe during the celebration of his cousin’s birthday on the night in question.
He also confirmed on cross-examination that he has known the lead state police investigator in this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a child.
A former Massachusetts police toxicologist, Nicholas Roberts, testified that Read’s blood alcohol content at 9 a.m. was between .078% and .083%, right around the legal limit for intoxication in Massachusetts. Based on a police report that suggested her last drink was at 12:45 a.m., her peak blood alcohol level would have been between .135% and .292%, he said.
O’Keefe had been raising his niece and nephew, and they told jurors Tuesday that they heard frequent arguments between him and Read. Both of the teenagers described an incident in which O’Keefe asked Read to leave the house and she refused.
The trial’s first few days detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save O’Keefe. They found him face up when they arrived just before dawn on Jan. 29. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, and an autopsy later found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Several of the first responders said they heard Read make statements, including, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was found. Defense attorneys confronted several of those witnesses by asking why those alleged remarks were not included in official reports.
Officers also testified about unusual procedures used during the investigation, including the decision to collect bloody snow in red plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
Boston Live News