Karen Read murder trial: Defense attempting to poke holes in prosecutors' case
Prosecutors retrying Karen Read in the killing of her boyfriend are laying out a minute-by-minute accounting of what they say happened at the suburban home of a fellow law enforcement officer where John O’Keefe was found unresponsive on a snowy morning three years ago.
Prosecutors retrying Karen Read in the killing of her boyfriend are laying out a minute-by-minute accounting of what they say happened at the suburban home of a fellow law enforcement officer where John O’Keefe was found unresponsive on a snowy morning three years ago.
A witness who was with Read when she found her police officer boyfriend in the snow spent days on the witness stand this week in a courtroom outside Boston, often under intense questioning from a defense lawyer who sought to emphasize what he described as inconsistencies in her testimony.
The events cited by special prosecutor Hank Brennan were not recorded on a home security camera or seen by an eyewitness. But the prosecution has said that shortly after midnight on Jan. 29, 2022, data captured on O’Keefe’s iPhone shows that he never entered the home of Brian Albert, a now-retired Boston police sergeant whom Read’s attorneys have said may have played a role in the death.
Karen Read and John O'Keefe.via DatelineThe prosecution has alleged that after a night of drinking — and an argument — Read dropped O’Keefe at Albert’s home for a gathering. Instead of leaving, Read backed her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe and left him for dead outside in Canton, south of Boston, Brennan alleged in his opening statement.Read, who is charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, maintains her innocence and said she was framed by Albert and others who sought to cover up O’Keefe’s death.
Read’s widely publicized first trial ended with a hung jury last summer. The proceedings exposed allegations of police misconduct and prompted state officials to take the unusual step of firing the case’s lead investigator, Michael Proctor, between trials.
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