Proctor was fired in March because of his handling of the Karen Read case. He served as the lead investigator into the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
Read was ultimately acquitted of the most serious charges against her, including murder, at the end of her second trial this year.
The work of former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, who was fired over his handling of the Karen Read investigation, is being scrutinized by defense attorneys in other cases.
Recent court documents show the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has examined nearly 20 cases involving him.
“I’m not surprised that the number is high — before we’re done, it might even go higher,” said NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne.
Prosecutors were ordered to review a federal investigation of the Read case and turn over any evidence beneficial to other defendants whose cases involved the former state trooper.
The cases were identified as part of a document involving Brian Walshe, charged with the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe. Proctor investigated that case, as well.
Michael Proctor has moved to dismiss his appeal to get his Massachusetts State Police job back — he lost it in the wake of the Karen Read case, for which he led the investigation. In a separate case, 13 years of deleted cellphone data from his phone was located in the cloud.
“Any time that you can use some of these mistakes that he’s made to help put doubt in the minds of a juror, well, that is precisely what they’re supposed to do,” Coyne said.
It’s unclear what, if any, information was given to the defendants, with a lot of the details coming from Proctor’s cellphone.
“Remember, Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone during Deflategate,” Coyne said. “Most people would not want their phones examined. He turned it over, in part, thinking that he had deleted some of this information, but as we’re learning, things are never deleted forever.”
Interest in Proctor’s phone activity is not new — during the state’s first trial against Read last year, which ended in a mistrial, he acknowledged in his testimony that he sent offensive texts about the defendant to his friends, family members and fellow state police troopers during the investigation. He did not testify at the retrial.
Coyne compared the review of Proctor’s investigative work to the case of Annie Dookan, the state criminologist who admitted to tampering with evidence, prompting a review of thousands criminal cases.
“You’re not going to see anything of that magnitude,” Coyne said. “This is small county, it’s Norfolk County, but again, it does tell you, when the evidence is tainted, the defense attorneys are going to dig deep.”
The judge overseeing this process has ordered for the federal evidence pulled from the investigation to be saved instead of being destroyed.
A court hearing is set Tuesday for Norfolk County murder defendants’ attempt to get evidence materials related to former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor‘s phones used in the Karen Read trial.
The Read trial evidence was given to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office on condition that it would only be used in the Read trial and then destroyed. But attorneys for Brian Walshe and others have been trying to get them to see if there is any exculpatory evidence in their cases.
Proctor investigated cases in the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
At a recent hearing, prosecutors told a judge that they believe they have a potential way of providing the materials, but still needed at least a couple more weeks to finalize the plan with the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Lawyers for Walshe and other murder defendants have been waiting months for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office to release critical evidence, including between 3,000 to 5,000 pieces of communication stored in Proctor’s cloud account. Similar evidence led to Proctor being fired for misconduct in the high-profile murder case of Read, who in June was found not guilty on the most serious charges she faced and guilty of the lowest form of a drunken driving charge.
Rosemary Scapicchio, the defense attorney representing 25-year-old Myles King, raised concerns at a previous hearing that the date when the evidence can be destroyed is drawing closer. King is accused of fatally shooting Marquis Simmons in Milton back in July 2021.
“I’m concerned that if at some point this court needs to make an order, we want to make sure we’re giving them enough time,” she said. “We can’t do what happened initially where the day before where we’re making phone calls and this stuff is getting destroyed tomorrow.”
The judge disagreed, however, saying he thought that a lot of progress had been made over the previous 25 days.
That brief hearing was continued until Tuesday, and the judge said that the hearing might not even be necessary, as the information might be able to be shared via letter. If the hearing is necessary, he said at the time that it would be used to determine next steps.
Walshe, 48, of Cohasset, faces first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation and other charges in the death of his wife, whose body has never been recovered. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Ana Walshe, who is originally from Serbia, was last seen early on Jan. 1, 2023 following a New Year’s Eve dinner at her Massachusetts home with her husband and a family friend, prosecutors said.
Brian Walshe said she was called back to Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Day for a work emergency. He didn’t contact her employer until Jan. 4. The company — the first to notify police that Ana Walshe was missing — said there was no emergency, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have said that starting Jan. 1 and for several days after, Brian Walshe made multiple online searches for “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body,” “how long before a body starts to smell” and “hacksaw best tool to dismember.”
Prosecutors have also said that Ana Walshe had taken out $2.7 million in life insurance naming her husband as the sole beneficiary.
The latest in Karen Read‘s legal saga is playing out in a Massachusetts courthouse on Monday — not a criminal case but a civil one.
She has a status hearing in the wrongful death lawsuit brought against her by the family of John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend. The hearing will be in Plymouth Superior Court, a different venue from where her criminal case played out over two trials.
Watch the hearing at 2 p.m. above, and follow along below for updates.
Michael Proctor told Civil Service Commission Board he is ‘scapegoat’ targeted by Read and her LA lawyers
Alan Jackson, a member of Karen Read’s defense team, “conspired” to get the lead investigator on her case fired from the Massachusetts State Police, his attorney told a Civil Service Commission as the former trooper Michael Proctor fights to get rehired Credit: Charles Krupa via AP Photo
Fired Massachusetts State Police Detective Michael Proctor – the lead investigator on the case of a Massachusetts woman who was acquitted this summer on charges she murdered her Boston cop boyfriend – argued to a state agency Thursday that Karen Read and her L.A.-based attorneys “conspired” with federal officials to get him fired.
In the first of two hearings scheduled for Proctor Tuesday – who is fighting to get reinstated to the Massachusetts State Police after he was fired in March for a slew of missteps including sending derogatory text messages about Read, sharing information about the murder case he charged her in with people outside the department and drinking alcohol on the job in his department vehicle – his attorney said his client was “an exemplary member” of his department.
Proctor’s attorney, Daniel Moynihan, told the Civil Service Commission who will hear the former trooper’s appeal, that his client’s “privacy was violated” by federal investigators who “infiltrated” Proctor’s cell phone at the urging of Read’s legal team, which included Los Angeles-based partners Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little. Proctor, Moynihan said, is a “scapegoat,” targeted by Read’s supporters and then fired by his department to appease the loudest critics and “the whims of politics.”
HAPPENING NOW: Fired Karen Read investigator Michael Proctor trying to get his job back. https://t.co/pJqdbaGHd8
Proctor’s firing came after a long, unpaid suspension from his job as a homicide investigator for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office in Massachusetts that was handed down to him in the weeks after Read’s first murder trial, connected to the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, ended in a mistrial in 2024. Proctor’s text messages about Read, in which he called her a “wacko cunt,” along with other infantile remarks, came to light during the trial. He was not called for her second trial, which ended in an acquittal on the most serious charges in June.
Stephen Carley, the attorney representing the state police, defended the department’s decision to fire the investigator by reminding the agency’s board members how Proctor described his own actions on the stand in Read’s trial.
“Distasteful. Unprofessional. Inappropriate. In poor taste. Juvenile. Sexist. Disgusting. Dehumanizing. This selection of words comes not from the public comment section of a website, an Op/Ed columnist or a protestor outside the Norfolk County Courthouse. No, indeed, one would be forgiven for not immediately recognizing this is Michael Proctor’s accounting of his own conduct in his case.”
Karen Read was found not guilty of the most serious charges in her high-profile Massachusetts murder retrial Wednesday. In their fourth day of deliberations, jurors acquitted Read of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
After months of additional pretrial hearings following the mistrial, jury selection in Read’s second trial began on April 1, 2025. The jury got the case and began deliberations on June 13, 2025.
Read was accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die. Defense attorneys argued she was the victim of an elaborate cover-up and was being framed by a group of people that included law enforcement.
Here is a look at the timeline of events in the Karen Read investigation and trials.
January 29, 2022 – the night John O’Keefe died
Shortly after midnight: Karen Read, John O’Keefe and a group of friends went to the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton on the night of January 28, 2022. According to prosecutors, Read consumed several alcoholic beverages. Read drove O’Keefe to the home of Boston police officer Brian Albert. That is where police said people from the bar were meeting back up.
1 a.m.: Court documents later revealed that in the weeks before and even the hours leading up to the night out, text messages between Read and O’Keefe as well as voicemails showed a strained relationship. Investigators said that around 1 a.m. on January 29, Read allegedly left O’Keefe a voicemail that said “…you are a f—— loser, f— yourself” and “John, I f—— hate you.”
4-5 a.m. – At 4:23 a.m. while heavy snow was falling, O’Keefe’s niece called Jennifer McCabe, Brian Albert’s sister-in-law and a friend of O’Keefe’s. She said Read was “distraught” because O’Keefe had not come home and was not answering his cellphone. According to court documents, McCabe said she heard Read screaming “John didn’t come home. We had a fight.” Around 5 a.m. Read called another woman whose husband was friends with O’Keefe. Prosecutors alleged that Read said while they searched “What if he’s dead? What if a plow hit him? … I don’t remember anything from last night, we drank so much I don’t remember anything.”
John O’Keefe was found dead outside a Canton home on January 29, 2022.
CBS Boston
5:07 a.m. – Read, McCabe, and the third woman went to look for O’Keefe. Prosecutors said Read mentioned to the women that she had a crack in her tail light and wondered if she could have hit O’Keefe. At 5:07 a.m., a surveillance camera at O’Keefe’s house shows Read’s SUV coming “extremely close” to O’Keefe’s SUV in the driveway. Prosecutors say no tail light pieces were found in the driveway. Read’s defense argues the vehicle did strike the SUV, breaking the tail light and providing an explanation for damage to SUV.
6 a.m. – Around 6 a.m., Read sees O’Keefe lying in the snow outside Brian Albert’s home. An emergency responder said that while hysterical and inconsolable, Read repeatedly says “I hit him. I hit him.” The defense argues that one of the first responding officers from Canton police gave “false and deceptive testimony” to the grand jury that would later indict Read.
January 29, 2022 – Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that at some point the morning O’Keefe was killed, someone googled “hos (sic) long to die in cold.” The sides disagree on when the search was made. Prosecutors say the search happened at 6:23 a.m. and 6:24 a.m. after O’Keefe’s body was found. The defense says a federal forensic expert determined the search was made at 2:27 a.m., before police were alerted that O’Keefe’s body had been found.
How did John O’Keefe die?
January 29, 2022 – Police say they found a broken cocktail glass and pieces of tail light at the scene. A forensic toxicologist estimated that Read’s blood alcohol content (BAC) would have been around .13-.29 around 12:45 a.m., more than the legal limit.
January 31, 2022 – An autopsy is completed on O’Keefe. Prosecutors said the medical examiner ruled the cause of death was blunt impact injuries to the head and hypothermia. They say the medical examiner did not find “any obvious signs of an altercation or a fight.”
Karen Read arrested
February 2, 2022 – Read appears in Stoughton District Court for the first time, pleading not guilty to manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death.
Karen Read was brought into Stoughton District Court, Feb. 2, 2022. (WBZ-TV)
June 10, 2022 – A Norfolk County grand jury indicts Karen Read on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Read is arraigned on the new charges in O’Keefe’s death. She pleaded not guilty in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham and was ordered held on $100,000 bail. Read made bail and was released.
Karen Read’s defense claims she was framed
May 3, 2023 – Defense attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti allege that O’Keefe was involved in a fight inside Brian Albert’s home. They claim O’Keefe was beaten and his body was later dumped outside. Jackson and Yannetti focused on wounds to O’Keefe’s arms, which they said showed he was attacked by Albert’s dog during the fight.
“This is not just fishing,” Jackson said during the May 3 hearing. “We’ve got a fish on the hook, we just need the court to help us reel it in.” Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally argued that O’Keefe never went in the home and added “There is no evidence that Mr. O’Keefe was beaten and left for for dead.”
Karen Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson shows John O’Keefe’s autopsy photo at court hearing May 3, 2023.
CBS Boston
May 24, 2023 – During a pretrial hearing, Read’s attorneys laid out what they allege to be a cover-up by law enforcement.
“Certainly the Massachusetts State Police is involved. There are people that were in that house that are involved,” Jackson said. “Brian Albert is involved. Jennifer McCabe is involved. The rest of the folks that were in that house, there’s some level of involvement by every one of them. Every single one of them. We’re not going to rest until we get to the bottom of exactly who’s behind this cover-up. Not only Karen Read deserves this. John O’Keefe deserves this, and has deserved this from moment one. And that’s why they’re not going to rest.”
Following the dramatic hearing, Read spoke to reporters for the first time.
“We know who did it. We know. And we know who spearheaded this cover-up. You all know,” Read said on the courthouse steps. “I tried to save his life. I tried to save his life at 6 in the morning, I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life.”
Courtroom battles over evidence
August 1, 2023 – Judge Beverly Cannone denied a prosecution request for a gag order in the case. The Norfolk District Attorney’s office had asked for the gag order saying witnesses were being harassed. Yannetti countered by saying it was prosecutors who are “controlling the narrative.”
Judge Beverly J. Cannone oversees a hearing in the Karen Read case at Norfolk Superior Court.
Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
August 25, 2023 – Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey released a video statement slamming what he described as “absolutely baseless” harassment of witnesses in the case.
“Conspiracy theories are not evidence,” Morrissey said. “The idea that multiple police departments, EMTs, Fire personnel, the medical examiner, and the prosecuting agency are joined in, or taken in by, a vast conspiracy should be seen for what it is – completely contrary to the evidence and a desperate attempt to re-assign guilt.”
Why was “Turtleboy” arrested?
October 11, 2023 – Aidan Kearney, the blogger who operates the site “Turtleboy News,” was arrested on charges of witness intimidation related to the Karen Read case. Kearney had been covering the case for months, often recording himself confronting witnesses. His defense attorney told the judge that Kearney was exercising his First Amendment right.
Aidan Kearney sits with his attorney, Timothy Bradl during a court appearance.
Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
December 26, 2023 – A judge revoked Kearney’s bail amid new assault and battery charges. Kearney allegedly went to his ex-girlfriend’s home, demanded to see her phone, then shoved her during a confrontation. Kearney remained in jail for nearly two months but was later released on personal recognizance.
Evidence under scrutiny
February 22, 2024 – In court filings, prosecutors said they have DNA evidence recovered from a broken tail light that implicates Read in O’Keefe’s death. They said the tail light is the same material from Read’s SUV, and that the DNA matched O’Keefe’s. They also said broken tail light material was found on O’Keefe’s clothing.
March 12, 2024 – Read’s defense team said that a federal investigation into the case led to an FBI expert concluding that evidence does not support the theory that O’Keefe died after being hit by an SUV.
“The damage on the car was inconsistent with having made contact with John O’Keefe’s body. In other words, the car didn’t hit him, and he wasn’t hit by the car,” Jackson said. Prosecutors disagreed, accusing Read’s attorney of “defense by obfuscation.”
March 13, 2024 – In a brief statement, Massachusetts State Police said they have opened an internal investigation into “a potential violation of department policy” by Trooper Michael Proctor, who was the lead investigator in the case. Police did not say what prompted the investigation, but said he remains on full duty. Read’s defense attorneys said the federal investigation showed Proctor hid personal ties to people involved in the case. In a statement, Proctor’s attorney Michael DiStefano denied any wrongdoing.
“Trooper Proctor has been fully cooperative in responding to the investigations conducted by the US Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit,” DiStefano said. “To be clear, Trooper Proctor remains steadfast in the integrity of the work he performed investigating the death of Mr. John O’Keefe. To the extent that Trooper Proctor’s personal text messages are alluded to in court proceedings regarding Ms. Read, he respectfully submits that the objective investigative steps he and members of his unit took are in no way undermined by the content of the personal messages.”
Karen Read arrives at Norfolk Superior Court for jury selection in her murder trial.
Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Karen Read murder trial takes center stage
March 26, 2024 – Judge Cannone denied a defense motion to dismiss the case. Cannone said she was denying the motion due to “extensive evidence supporting the indictments.”
April 12, 2024 – During the final pretrial hearing in the case, Cannone heard 30 different motions on which she had to rule, listening to arguments from both sides on many of them.
Among them was an argument by Read’s attorneys that they should be able to make a third-party culprit defense during the trial. They say Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins, all of whom were present at the party John O’Keefe was at the night he died, could have killed O’Keefe.
Prosecutor Lally called it a “fanciful story,” but told the judge “there’s actually no actual evidence.”
Jury selection begins
April 16, 2024 – Karen Read’s second-degree murder trial began with jury selection. A total of four jurors were added on the first day.
April 17, 2024 – Jury selection continued for a second day, with seven more jurors added.
April 17, 2024 – A third day of jury selection wrapped without a full jury seated. Two more jurors were added, but one from a previous day was excused, bringing the total number of jurors seated so far to 12.
April 24, 2024– A jury was seated on the fifth day of jury selection over the course more than a week. The trial is scheduled to last 6-8 weeks once a jury is seated.
Testimony underway
April 29, 2024– Opening statments and testimony got underway with the first witnesses called. John O’Keefe’s brother Paul and his wife Erin were the first two on the stand. Canton police officer Steve Saraf also began his testimony. Prosecutors showed video from Saraf’s dashboard camera as he arrived on scene.
April 30, 2024– A Canton paramedic who treated John O’Keefe the day he died testified that he heard a woman saying “I hit him, I hit him.” Read’s defense team argued that the man’s testimony has changed over time.
May 2, 2024– Four paramedics and firefighters testified about what they heard Read say the morning O’Keefe’s body was found.
May 6, 2024– Jurors heard the 911 calls from the day O’Keefe’s body was found. Police who responded to the scene testified as well on the fifth day of testimony.
May 7, 2024– Several Canton police officers testified about their handling of the crime scene. Among them was Sgt. Michael Lank, who Read’s defense team argued had personal connections to the home where John O’Keefe’s body was found in 2022.
May 10, 2024– There was a pause in the trial as Judge Cannone heard arguments about whether Aidan Kearney, who publishes as “Turtleboy” for his site, TB Daily News, should be allowed in the courtroom. He is facing charges of witness intimidation involving people in the Read case. The judge ruled that Kearney must leave the courtroom when certain witnesses take the stand.
Also that day, retired Boston police officer Brian Albert took the stand. He owned the home where O’Keefe’s body was found. Albert testified that O’Keefe and Read never entered his home the night of the incident.
May 14, 2024– A woman who was at Brian Albert’s Fairview Road home the night O’Keefe died said she saw a “black blob” in the lawn as she was leaving. The defense called it a “made-up story.”
May 15, 2024– Allie McCabe, a prosecution witness, broke down in tears on the stand describing harassment in the case. Colin Albert, who the defense claims could have been involved in a fight that killed O’Keefe, was also called as a witness.
May 16, 2024– Colin Albert finished his testimony with cross-examination that focused on what defense attorneys claim is a history of violent behavior.
May 17, 2024– Jennifer McCabe, a key witness in the case, took the stand. She was with Read the morning O’Keefe’s body was found. McCabe testified that Read asked her to Google how long it would take someone to die in the cold. Defense attorneys argue the search actually happened before O’Keefe’s body was found. Court ended for the day before Read’s attorneys began to cross-examine McCabe.
May 21, 2024– Jennifer McCabe was back on the stand, this time for several hours of contentious cross-examination by Alan Jackson. This day marked the first time Kearney’s “Turtleboy” site has been directly referenced.
Jennifer McCabe said defense attorney Alan Jackson had put the information out on social media, but Jackson said he had not. “I’m sorry. Turtleboy did,” the witness responded. Earlier in the day, Jennifer McCabe referred to Kearney as “some named blogger that I think the defense is very familiar with.”
May 24, 2024– Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Brian Higgins was on the stand. Prosecutors presented “flirty” text messages he and Read shared in the weeks leading up to O’Keefe’s death. Defense attorneys have said Higgins is one of three men they claim could have been responsible for killing O’Keefe during a fight.
May 28, 2024– Brian Higgins completed his testimony. Other witnesses were called, including O’Keefe’s niece and nephew. They testified about a strained relationship between Read and O’Keefe.
June 3, 2024 – Testimony focused on broken taillight pieces that were found at the scene of O’Keefe’s death.
June 5, 2024 – Several videos were played that prosecutors say show Read drinking numerous cocktails in the hours before O’Keefe died. They also focused on what they say was a broken taillight in Read’s SUV.
June 6, 2024 – Defense attorney Alan Jackson told reporters that Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, who Read’s attorneys have tried to show could have planted evidence to help friends who are witnesses in the case, will take the stand as a witness for the prosecution. There had been uncertainty when and how Proctor would testify, as he is listed on the defense and prosecution’s witness lists. Proctor is currently under investigation by Massachusetts State Police for his conduct in the case, though the specific reason is not known and he has denied wrongdoing. It is not yet known when Proctor will take the stand.
The same day as Jackson’s comments, Judge Beverly Cannone told jurors “I can safely say that you will get this case for your deliberation sometime in the last week in June.”
June 10, 2024 – Cannone heard arguments from both sides without the jury present about the prosecution’s motion to exclude testimony from a witness who is expected to testify that scratches on O’Keefe’s arm were consistent with injuries from a dog attack.
Trooper Proctor also took the stand that day, reading derogatory text messages he sent to friends and colleagues about Read while investigating the case.
June 12, 2024 – Proctor completed tense cross-examination and stepped down from the witness stand. During his testimony, Proctor was grilled over a text message he sent about Read saying “hopefully she kills herself.”
June 14, 2024 – Testimony focused on Read’s SUV traveling in reverse the night of O’Keefe’s death, as well as the time of when Jennifer McCabe search on Google how long it would take a person to die in the cold.
June 20, 2024 – Prosecutors played angry voicemails that Read left for O’Keefe not long after prosecutors say she hit and killed him.
Karen Read murder trial ends, deliberations begin
June 21, 2024 – The prosecution rested its case and defense attorneys began calling witnesses.
June 24, 2024– The defense rested its case after calling its final three witnesses.
June 25, 2024– Attorneys presented closing arguments and jurors began deliberating.
June 28, 2024– Jurors sent a note to Judge Cannone, telling her they are deadlocked. The judge responded that she did not believe they had deliberated long enough, and asked them to continue trying to reach a verdict.
Mistrial declared in Karen Read murder trial
July 1, 2024– The jury sent another note to Judge Cannone, for a second time telling her they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The jury said they are “deeply divided,” and Cannone asked them to return for one final round of deliberations. Later in the day, a mistrial was declared due to the hung jury.
July 1, 2024– Hours after the mistrial was declared, Massachusetts State Police announced that Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, has been “relieved of duty.”
July 3, 2024– In an exclusive interview with WBZ-TV, John O’Keefe’s brother addressed the mistrial.
Fallout from the Karen Read trial
July 8, 2024– Read’s defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss for two charges. In the filing, they claim the jury unanimously agreed that Read was not guilty on those counts while being deadlocked on a third charge.
July 8, 2024– Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor was suspended without pay following a duty hearing.
July 9, 2024– The union for Massachuestts State Police troopers responded to the suspension, calling it “disappointing.”
July 9, 2024– The Board of Selectmen announced that Canton police officer Kevin Albert was put on leave related to Proctor’s testimony during the trial.
July 10, 2024– In a new court filing, Read’s attorneys say another juror told them there was a unanimous agreement that Read was not guilty on two counts.
July 12, 2024 – Prosecutors fired back at the defense’s attempt to get two of the three charges against Read dismissed, saying she consented to the mistrial.
July 18, 2024 – An unnamed juror in the case said in a court filing that they fear for their safety.
July 22, 2024 – An anonymous juror tells WBZ-TV that the jury didn’t know how to communicate to the judge that they had unanimously agreed to acquit Read of two charges. Judge Cannone sets a new trial date for Jan. 27, 2025.
August 9, 2024 – The case returned to court for a dismissal hearing as the defense tried to convince the judge to throw out two charges against Read. Judge Beverly Cannone took arguments under consideration, but did not make a ruling.
August 23, 2024 – Judge Cannone rejects Karen Read’s attempt to get two of the charges against her dismissed. Read’s attorneys plan to appeal.
September 11, 2024 – Karen Read’s legal team files an appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
September 12, 2024 – Canton police officer Kevin Albert, the brother of Brian Albert, is back on the job after being placed on leave during the trial.
September 20, 2024 – Karen Read’s appeal of two charges will be heard by the full panel of Massachusetts’ highest court, but it could delay her trial.
September 23, 2024 – Discipline was announced for two people connected to the Karen Read investigation. Canton Police detective Kevin Albert was suspended without pay for three eight-hour shifts. An investigation found that the detective, whose brother Brian Albert owned the home where John O’Keefe’s body was found, behaved in a way that was unbecoming of a police officer and violated department policies about alcohol consumption or possession on the job.
Massachusetts State Police announced the same day that Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, who was one of the lead investigators in the case, forfeited five vacation days following an internal affairs investigation. Bukhenik was in one of the group chats in which Trooper Michael Proctor sent the inappropriate text messages.
October 17, 2024 – Massachusetts State Police say they spent $258,278.94 on security for Karen Read’s first trial.
October 18, 2024 – Prosecutors seek phone records from Karen Read’s father. When her second trial begins, prosecutors plan to call William Read as a witness.
October 18, 2024 –Detective Lieutenant Brian Tully, the subject of an ongoing internal affairs investigation, was transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. Tully testified during Read’s first trial.
October 28, 2024 – Lawyers for Karen Read want a wrongful death lawsuit against her to be delayed until after her second criminal trial, an issue they argued before Judge William White, Jr. in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton.
October 29, 2024 – Vanity Fair releases the first part of its highly anticipated Karen Read interview. She told the magazine she owes at least $5 million in legal fees.
October 30, 2024 – The second part of Vanity Fair’s interview with Karen Read is released. She responds to criticism from the O’Keefe family, including directly responding to quotes from Paul O’Keefe’s interview with WBZ-TV in July.
November 1, 2024 – The judge overseeing the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read rules that she will not have to be deposed in the civil case until after her second criminal trial is over.
Karen Read and her defense team and the prosecution file motions in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool
Preparations for Karen Read’s second trial
November 4, 2024 – The prosecution and defense teams filed a motion in court calling for Read’s second criminal trial, scheduled to start on Jan. 27, 2025, to be postponed until April 1, 2025.
November 6, 2024 – Read’s attempt to get some criminal charges against her thrown out on the grounds of double jeopardy came before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Attorneys for both sides made their case during the hearing. No decision has been announced yet.
November 7, 2024 – The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office requests the unredacted audio recordings, notes, and texts between Karen Read and a Boston Magazine reporter.
November 26, 2024 – During an evidentiary hearing, prosecutors asked the judge to allow them to obtain phone records for Karen Read’s parents. The defense called the request a “fishing expedition.” Judge Beverly Cannone did not rule on the request and took arguments under advisement.
November 29, 2024 – Judge Cannone rejects the prosecution’s request for the phone records of Karen Read’s parents.
December 3, 2024 – Prosecutors are asking Judge Cannone to keep expert testimony about an alleged dog attack out of Karen Read’s second trial.
December 5, 2024 – Judge Beverly Cannone approved a request from prosecutors to get access to unedited and off-the-record recordings from interviews with Karen Read and her family.
December 9, 2024 – After just over a month, Judge Cannone approved the joint motion by the defense and prosecution to delay the start of Karen Read’s second trial.
December 30, 2024 – Former Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz, who alerted Massachusetts State Police to taillight evidence during the investigation, died.
January 2, 2025 – Prosecutors asked to exclude testimony from defense expert Richard Green surrounding Jen McCabe’s “ho[w] long to die in cold” Google search.
January 6, 2025 – According to a court filing, Trooper Michael Proctor has a misconduct hearing scheduled for January 15.
January 15, 2025 – Trooper Michael Proctor’s misconduct hearing got underway at Massachusetts State Police headquarters in Framingham.
January 23, 2025 – Karen Read’s legal team wants the state to pay for travel expenses for one of her defense experts. Read’s attorneys say that the Canton Police Department did not preserve video footage, but that was not disclosed. As a result, they say their expert wasted his time.
January 29, 2025 – John O’Keefe’s family provided a statement to WBZ-TV as they marked three years since his death. “It has been 3 years since Johnny was senselessly taken from us. The void in our lives grows with each passing day, week, month and year. His absence is profound and we will continue to seek justice for him. He is always in our hearts,” the O’Keefe family said.
February 6, 2025 – A hearing was held in the case as attorneys discussed potential evidence for Read’s second trial and who should have to pay for a defense expert who says he was unsuccessfully able to analyze video from the Canton Police Department. Following the hearing, the judge ruled against the defense’s request to have the state pay for the expert.
February 10, 2025 – Trooper Michael Proctor was back at Massachusetts State Police headquarters in Framingham for the second day of testimony in his trial board hearing to determine his professional future. The hearing was not open to the public. A third hearing day was scheduled for March 13.
February 11, 2025 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied Read’s appeal as she sought to have some of the charges against her dismissed.
February 12, 2025 – Among over a dozen new filings in the case was a request by the defense for unredacted documents from the investigation into the death of Sandra Birchmore.
February 18, 2025 – Judge Cannone abruptly halted a hearing in the case after the prosecution raised concerns about defense attorneys’ conversations with a crash reconstruction expert hired by the federal government.
February 20, 2025 – Judge Cannone issues a scheduling order that reads, in part, “Counsel should be prepared to address issues related to the Defendant’s recent production pursuant to Rule 14, especially as the materials produced relate to prior representations made to the court on the record by defense counsel concerning the ARCCA witnesses.”
February 24, 2025 – A person briefed on the situation tells WBZ it is expected to be announced at Karen Read’s February 25 hearing that a federal investigation into the death of John O’Keefe – and by association, Karen Read’s case – has ended and that no charges will be filed.
February 25, 2025 – At a tense hearing, Karen Read’s attorneys defended their communications with a witness in the first trial. Karen Read’s defense alleges “misdirections” by prosecution.
February 25, 2025 – Following the hearing, supporters greeted Read with flowers outside the courtroom on her 45th birthday.
February 28, 2025 – Karen Read’s defense files a motion to dismiss her entire case for reasons of “extraordinary governmental misconduct.”
March 4, 2025 – Special prosecutor Hank Brennan confirmed in court that the federal investigation into John O’Keefe’s death is over. Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty later issued a statement saying the federal probe “is no longer active and will be closed.”
March 5, 2025 – The case was the subject of two hearings in separate courthouses. Karen Read appealed a recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court at federal court in South Boston. Read and her attorneys then headed to Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham where her defense argued its recently filed Motion to Dismiss.
March 13, 2025 – Trooper Michael Proctor returned before a Massachusetts State Police trial board for a third day. Proctor’s family also released a statement, accusing Read’s defense team of using the trooper to “deflect from the overwhelming evidence.”
March 13, 2025 – A federal judge denied Read’s request to drop two charges against her, saying Judge Cannone was not wrong in declaring a mistrial.
March 18, 2025 – Judge Cannone admonished the defense team on Tuesday for “repeated misrepresentations” to the court. Despite the stern warning, Cannone did not remove any lawyers from the case.
March 19, 2025 – Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in Read’s case, was fired by Massachusetts State Police.
March 20, 2025 – For the first time, Read and Aidan Kearney, the blogger who writes under the name “Turtleboy” appeared during a hearing together. Prosecutors are seeking messages between the two, which Read and her attorneys object to.
March 21, 2025 – Karen Read’s attorneys asked a federal judge to delay the start of her next trial, after the request was rejected the day before by Judge Beverly Cannone. The federal judge denied Read’s request.
March 24, 2025 – Prosecutors are seeking messages between Karen Read and her defense attorney David Yannetti in the days following O’Keefe’s death.
March 25, 2025 – As expected, Judge Beverly Cannone rejected the request for text messages between Read and Yannetti during the final pretrial hearing. Cannone also said she expects jury selection to take a “very long time.”
March 25, 2025 – Judge Cannone denied Karen Read’s motion to dismiss the entire case against her, setting the stage for her second high-profile trial to get underway.
March 26, 2025 – Karen Read added a former juror from her first trial to her legal team.
March 27, 2025 – Karen Read’s motion to stay state court proceedings pending appeal is denied by First Circuit Court of Appeals. The court affirmed the lower federal court’s decision.
March 31, 2025 – The defense will not be allowed to blame Colin Albert for John O’Keefe’s death, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled.
Karen Read’s second trial begins
April 1, 2025 – Karen Read’s second trial officially got underway with jury selection.
April 2, 2025 – The jury for Karen Read’s second trial reached seven members. Read’s supporters also filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that a court mandated buffer zone violates their constitutional rights.
April 3, 2025 – Ten jurors have been seated after three days of jury selection.
April 3,2025 – Karen Read has appealed her case to the highest court possible, the U.S. Supreme Court.
April 7,2025 – Karen Read is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to delay her state trial while they decide if they will take up her appeal.
April 9, 2025 – Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Supreme Court denied Karen Read’s request to pause her trial. The Supreme Court will review whether to take the case on April 25. Fifteen jurors have been seated for the trial.
April 13, 2025 – A federal judge ruled against Read’s supporters who wanted to be able to protest closer to the courthouse ahead of her second trial, saying the buffer zone does not violate their constitutional rights.
April 15, 2025 – A jury was seated for Karen Read’s second trial, with opening statements scheduled to take place in a week.
April 16, 2025 – The final motion hearing before the start of the trial was held. Arguments were heard over topics that included federal ARCCA witnesses. Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney also said through his attorney that he would plead the Fifth Amendment if called as a witness, and prosecutors agreed not to call him.
April 22, 2025 – Attorneys gave opening statements as the trial officially got underway. The first two witnesses were also called.
April 23, 2025 – John O’Keefe’s mother, Peggy O’Keefe, took the stand. It was the first time she has spoken out publicly since her son’s death.
April 24, 2025 – Text messages between Karen Read and John O’Keefe in the hours leading up to his death were read on the third day of trial.
April 25, 2025 – Jurors visited Brian Albert’s former home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. The court also heard from two witnesses: a paramedic who took Read to the hospital the day that O’Keefe was found dead, and a doctor who tested her blood alcohol level that morning.
April 28, 2025 – The United States Supreme Court announced that it will not hear Karen Read’s appeal on grounds of double jeopardy.
April 28, 2025 – A half day of witness testimony focused on Jen McCabe’s “how long to die in cold” Google search and John O’Keefe’s movements the night of his death. Then defense crash reconstruction experts were questioned without the jury present.
April 29, 2025 – Key witness Jen McCabe began her testimony. Judge Beverly Cannone issued a stern warning for defense attorneys, but allowed upcoming testimony from defense crash reconstruction experts.
April 30, 2025 – Jen McCabe was back on the stand for hours of tense cross-examination during the seventh day of witness testimony.
May 5, 2025 – Canton firefighter-paramedic Katie McLaughlin testified that she heard Read repeatedly say “I hit him” after O’Keefe’s body was found. Retired Canton Police Lt. Paul Gallagher testifies about responding to the scene, using a leaf blower to move snow.
May 6, 2025 – Several witnesses took the stand on the 10th day of testimony. Jurors heard several angry voicemails that Karen Read left for John O’Keefe in the early morning hours on January 29, 2022.
May 7, 2025 – Forensic expert Jessica Hyde, who analyzed Jennifer McCabe’s Google search, and State Police trooper Connor Keefe testify.
May 8, 2025 – Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik took the stand to testify about evidence collection and the role of his former colleague Michael Proctor.
May 9, 2025 –Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik read text messages between Brian Higgins and Karen Read.
May 12, 2025 – After three full days on the witness stand, Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik concluded his testimony.
May 13, 2025 – Court was canceled for the day unexpectedly just before proceedings were scheduled to begin because Karen Read was sick.
May 16, 2025 – Witness testimony from two Massachusetts State Police crime lab analysts, and a message from the judge to jurors about how they conduct themselves in court.
May 19, 2025 – A forensic analyst for the prosecution testified about the movements of Karen Read’s Lexus SUV on the night in question.
May 20, 2025 – Karen Read’s attorney questions forensic analyst Shanon Burgess’ timeline of the night John O’Keefe died.
May 21, 2025 – Judge Beverly Cannone delayed the start of testimony, saying she had to question jurors individually after an issue was brought to her attention.
May 27, 2025 – Judson Welcher, a prosecution accident reconstruction expert, took the stand for direct questioning.
May 28, 2025 – Defense begins cross examination of crash reconstruction expert Judson Welcher.
May 30, 2025 – The first witness called by defense attorney Alan Jackson was Matthew DiSogra, a digital forensics expert who specializes in car data and crash reconstruction.
June 2, 2025 – Former Canton police officer Kelly Dever, Dr. Marie Russell, and a friend of former state police trooper Michael Proctor were called to the stand by Karen Read’s defense team.
June 3, 2025 – During a second day of questioning of dog bite expert Dr. Marie Russell, the defense called for a mistrial with prejudice, but was denied. A Dighton police officer also testified about how he remembered seeing damage to Read’s taillight compared to how it is pictured hours later in the Canton Police Department garage.
June 4, 2025 – Snowplow driver Brian “Lucky” Loughran testified about not seeing a body on Fairview Road in Canton on the night O’Keefe died. Loughran was cross-examined about how Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney’s coverage could have influenced his testimony.
June 5, 2025 – Jurors were given the day off because of heat. The judge said fans and air conditioning units would create noise and make witnesses hard to hear.
June 6, 2025 – The only witness on the stand all day was Daniel Wolfe, a crash reconstructionist for engineering consulting firm ARCCA.
June 9, 2025 – The defense’s request for a mistrial was denied. Attorneys had accused the prosecution of a “stunt” when Hank Brennan asked Wolfe about holes in O’Keefe’s sweatshirt, and if they could have been caused by a fall backwards. Brennan later admitted he made a mistake, and the judge later gave jurors an instruction that the holes were caused by a criminologist.
June 10, 2025 – The former medical examiner for Rhode Island testified, followed by Dr. Andrew Rentschler, who is the final defense witness.
June 11, 2025 – Karen Read’s defense rested its case after Rentschler finished testifying that in his opinion, John O’Keefe was not hit by a vehicle.
June 12, 2025 – The final hearing before closing arguments was held as attorneys and the judge met without jurors present. The defense said it will not be pursuing a third-party culprit argument against Brian Albert and Brian Higgins, but will be focusing on the lack of a police investigation into Higgins.
June 13, 2025 – Both sides presented drastically different closing arguments about how John O’Keefe died and what role Karen Read played in his death. Jury deliberations began a short time later.
June 17, 2025 – On the second full day of deliberations, the Karen Read jury came back with four questions for the judge. One of them sought clarity on what happens if they agree to not guilty on two charges but are hung on the third charge. Jurors later were dismissed for the day without a verdict.
Verdict reached in Karen Read trial
Karen Read gestures to supporters after she was found not guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Dedham, Mass.
Josh Reynolds / AP
June 18, 2025 – In their fourth day of deliberations, jurors acquitted Read of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. She was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. Judge Cannone sentenced Read to one year probation.
June 18, 2025 – Several key prosecution witnesses who are friends with the O’Keefe family issued a statement, calling the verdict a “devastating miscarriage of justice.”
June 19, 2025 – Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble said in a statement that in the aftermath of the Karen Read case, the department will continue to work on improvements in oversight and accountability.
June 19, 2025 – District Attorney Michael Morrissey issued his first statement on the verdict, saying to WBZ-TV only, “The jury has spoken.”
June 23, 2025 – Special prosecutor Hank Brennan issues his first statement since the trial ended. He was “disappointed” in the verdict and condemned “witness abuse.”
June 24, 2025 – Karen Read’s lead attorney, Alan Jackson, responds to Brennan’s remarks, accusing the prosecutor of ethical violations.
June 29, 2025 – Karen Read and Alan Jackson are reportedly working on a film script and book.
July 7, 2025 – Massachusetts State Police reassign Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik from Norfolk County to an administrative role in the South Boston barracks.
July 10, 2025 – Karen Read filed a motion seeking to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed against her by the O’Keefe family.
A one-time girlfriend of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe shared her thoughts on the case against Karen Read in an interview with NBC’s Dateline.
Lindsay Higgins says she dated O’Keefe for about six months.
“He was just such a gentleman, you know, walked me home,” she told Dateline. “Just really, really kind.”
She first learned of his death while she was in Florida, she said.
“My phone was ringing nonstop, my texts were going off, and I looked at my phone, and one of my friends was like, ‘Did you hear about John O’Keefe? He died,’” Higgins recalled.
In Friday’s edition of Canton Confidential, we look at Karen Read’s Dateline interview, her first trial’s price tag for taxpayers and other recent headlines in the high-profile case.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in the death of O’Keefe, who was find outside a house in Canton, Massachusetts, in January of 2022. Prosecutors say she hit him with her SUV after a night of drinking, while her defense team argued she was framed as part of a conspiracy.
Higgins believes Read is innocent.
“Nothing was adding up,” she said. “I was watching every news story, I was seeing what was going on online, and the stories coming out, and I was like, ‘I don’t think she hit him. It doesn’t make any sense to me.’”
Higgins says she started attending hearings with Read after contacting her on Facebook.
“I said, you know, ‘Hi, Karen. I don’t know if you know me or not, but I used to date John, and I think I dated him right before you, and I just want to say that I don’t think you did it, and I support you,’” Higgins said. “And she wrote me back. Ever since then, we just became closer and closer.”
An attorney for one of Karen Read‘s most visible supporters, facing charges of witness intimidation in the case, is leveling new allegations against prosecutors.
The defense team for Aidan Kearney, the blogger better known as “Turtleboy,” sent a letter to prosecutors Thursday claiming that Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey lied about evidence and improperly communicated by personal email.
Kearney’s team cited an email Morrissey sent the judge in September of last year, a day after a witness in the Read case applied for a harassment prevention order against the blogger — which was denied.
That email, Kearney’s lawyers say, came from Morrissey’s personal iCloud email account instead of his state email address.
“He did that on purpose so that it wouldn’t come up in public records searches because he doesn’t want the public to know what he’s doing,” Kearney told NBC10 Boston Friday.
“In and of itself, it wouldn’t be that big of a concern that someone in a rush uses the wrong phone, sends out the information,” NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said Friday. “But put it with all of the other facts that are alleged in that letter, it raises another eyebrow to say, ‘Is this all on the up-and-up?’”
In Friday’s edition of Canton Confidential, we look at Karen Read’s Dateline interview, her first trial’s price tag for taxpayers and other recent headlines in the high-profile case.
Morrissey raised concerns in the email about a Stoughton District Court employee sharing a copy of an affidavit with Kearney, according to the letter from attorney Mark Bederow, who represents the blogger.
A court spokesperson said that court employee was placed on paid administrative leave last October and terminated the following month, but declined to comment on the reason.
Kearney said that former court employee also provided him with evidence that investigators had extracted data from his cellphones, which were seized when he was arrested a year ago.
“They have claimed in court, more times than I can count, that they’ve never looked through my phones, and that is the reason they haven’t given me back my phones,” Kearney said. “There’s information in there from confidential sources that I no longer have.”
The Boston Globe reported Friday that Bederow specifically said Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully searched Kearney’s phones. Bederow added that the defense has not received any phone data from prosecutors despite discovery rules requiring that it be made available.
On Friday evening, state police announced that Tully — who testified at Read’s trial and has been the subject of an internal investigation — has been transferred and is no longer leading the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office’s detective unit.
State police said the department’s new leader, Col. Geoffrey Noble, decided transferring Tully was “in the best interest of the Department’s public safety mission,” but didn’t elaborate.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office about Kearney’s claims, but has not heard back.
Kearney is scheduled to appear in court in December for a hearing about his seized cellphones.
When Karen Read returns to court for her retrial in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, the prosecution in the controversial and closely watched case will be led by a new, outside attorney with experience in high-profile cases.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced Wednesday that he’s tapped defense attorney Hank Brennan as a special assistant DA to lead the retrial, calling him “a highly respected and skilled former prosecutor and long-time defense attorney with over 25 years of experience in state and federal courts” who has experience with complex cases.
“I look forward to Attorney Brennan working in concert with the trial team of Assistant District Attorneys Adam Lally, Laura McLaughlin, and Caleb Schillinger,” Morrissey said.
Brennan, who represented mobster James “Whitey” Bulger in his federal murder trial in Boston, said in a statement that he assumes “full responsibility and all obligations for prosecuting this case and will do so meticulously, ethically, and zealously, without compromise.”
He continued, “I have two core obligations. The first is to make certain that Karen Read receives a fair trial. Ms. Read will receive the dignity and fairness that every defendant deserves in our criminal justice system. The second is to ensure that the facts surrounding John O’Keefe’s death are fully and fairly aired in the courtroom without outside influence. I guarantee that I will work tirelessly with the trial team to prepare this case for trial in January of 2025.”
Morrissey didn’t share more information in his announcement, citing the ongoing criminal matter.
Lally led the prosecution in the first trial. Watch his opening and closing statements here:
At the start of the Karen Read murder trial, Assistant Norfolk County District Attorney Adam Lally lays out the prosecution’s case blaming her for the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Watch his full opening statement here.
Prosecutor Adam Lally gives the Commonwealth’s closing argument in the Karen Read murder trial.
Turtle Boy leaving the courtroom. Photo: Boston Globe via Getty Images
On Monday, more than two years after the suspicious incident that left her boyfriend, the police officer John O’Keefe, dead in the snow, a Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in the second-degree murder case against Karen Read. For many reasons, the trial has captivated true-crime rubberneckers far beyond suburban Canton, Mass. A telegenic defendant in a rocky relationship; a town’s police officials accused of an alleged cover-up; destroyed evidence by a federal agent; a federal investigation into the local police investigation; all that and a symphony of Boston accents arguing on Court TV.
Deep inside this circus is a blogger named Aidan Kearney, known as Turtleboy (imagine Dave Portnoy if he found a passion for true crime). For the past two years, Kearney has devoted his life to covering the trial in an unorthodox manner, which includes many exchanges with the defendant, a steadfast belief in her innocence, and a confrontation of a key player in the trial at her child’s lacrosse game. (He also made merch.) Kearney has become a part of the trial so much that he has gotten a trial of his own. Last October, he was charged with multiple counts of witness intimidation and picketing a witness; earlier this year, he did 60 days in jail after a judge revoked his bail. He has denied all wrongdoing, citing First Amendment rights.
Hours after the mistrial was declared, I spoke with Kearney to better understand his role in the saga, its effect in suburban Massachusetts, and his unusual approach to digital media.
You’ve spent two years of your life obsessing over this. How does it feel that it’s technically over? It’s not even close to over, unfortunately. But it feels bittersweet, bordering on shitty, I guess, because this is an open and shut case, man. It is sad about the jury system where we live in a society where people this dumb can be on juries to decide the fate of other people and they are happy and willing to vote guilty.
What was it like inside of the courtroom today when it was declared a mistrial? Several members of John’s family cried. Karen’s team seemed happy that she wasn’t convicted. I would say more like relieved is the best way word to describe it. But then, lo and behold, 10 minutes later they announced they’re going to try it again. I mean, these people are just ruthless. They’re shameless. It’s disgusting how much they’re willing to expend on this.
What are your plans if there’s a retrial? We’re not going anywhere. I mean, we’re seeing this all the way through. We’re going to continue to protest. We’re going to continue to cover this story. I have my own side charges, if you will, that I’ve gotten as a result of my coverage of this case that I have to deal with. I have a hearing for that on July 11.
It’s a pretrial hearing to go over evidence that they’re supposed to have given us. They have not given us a whole bunch of discovery. I still don’t know what I’ve been indicted for on a number of these charges because they’re just ignoring court orders to hand over charging documents and bills of particulars showing exactly what they’re even alleging I’ve done.
How much did you know about the legal process before this trial? And what is your takeaway now? I watched a lot of SVU, but I understood the basics that everybody else did. Objection. Sustained. Plaintiff. Defendant. Discovery. But I definitely learned a lot watching this trial about how much influence a judge can have on a case. The fundamental weakness of the jury system is really just what I took away from this, how we live in a society where just people this dumb can decide the fate of others.
I’m from a town not too far from Canton and I kept overhearing people talking about the case. (“If they got in a drunk fight, then it isn’t murda.”) Growing up in the area, I feel like there was a was a strong sense of trust in the police in the community. Do you think that has changed in Canton? I mean, they voted to audit the police, and that’s an unprecedented move for a cop town. But there’s plenty of law enforcement supporters like myself who traditionally backed the blue and are disgusted with the way that the police handled this case.
There’s the idea in journalism that someone shouldn’t become part of the story or that they shouldn’t be too far of an advocate. I was wondering where journalism and activism collide for you with this story? I wear three hats. I wear the journalist hat, the activist hat, and the entertainer-satirist hat. And traditionally, yeah, you’re right. Most journalists don’t wear all three, but I do, and I can switch hats whenever I want. I feel passionate about this case. So it’s not for me to just report on what’s happening. I feel motivated to get out there and to protest, to raise awareness. And I can’t pretend that I see both sides here when I see one side is clearly in the wrong and as all the facts going against them. And the other side is goodness on their side and has all the facts that support everything that they’re saying.
How would you describe Karen Read as a person? I never had gotten a chance to know the real Karen Reed. I only know indicted Karen Reed. You don’t really know a person, I feel like, until they don’t have impending murder charges against them. So I only know a person who is dealing with a lot of stress constantly, so you know what I mean? I feel like I don’t know her until these charges are gone. I know a person right now who’s extremely worried, very confident, and very smart.
What has your lawyer’s advice been to you? I have a very hands-off lawyer. His thing is like, You do your thing. I’m never going to tell you ‘I’m in a unique position where lawyers usually tell their clients, shut up and don’t talk.’ But I talk for a living and my lawyer trusts me. He trusts my judgment.
DEDHAM, Mass. — Jurors in the Karen Read trial told the judge on Friday that they’ve been unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge sent them back for more deliberations.
The jury must decide whose story they believe: that of prosecutors who say she drunkenly and angrily slammed into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her Lexus SUV and left him to die, or defense attorneys who claim one or more colleagues killed John O’Keefe and framed Read to cover it up.
The Massachusetts jury of six men and six women is deliberating behind closed doors in Norfolk County Superior Court, while a “sidewalk jury” of true crime bloggers and pink-shirted Read supporters gathers outside. The unofficial adjudicators, many of them waving Stars and Stripes, have been present every day since the trial began nearly two months ago.
Who’s who?
Read, 44, had worked as an equity analyst and was an adjunct lecturer in finance at her alma mater, Bentley University. O’Keefe, 46, was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department who was raising his niece and nephew.
Jurors are deliberating events that unfolded at the Canton home of Brian Albert, a Boston police detective, after a night of bar-hopping in January 2022. Brian Higgins, a federal agent who was among those gathered inside, had exchanged flirty texts with Read earlier that month. The lead investigator was State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was friends with several witnesses and sent offensive texts about Read to friends, family and fellow troopers during the investigation.
The charges
Read was charged with second-degree murder, punishable in Massachusetts by life in prison with the possibility of parole. She also faces lesser charges of manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, punishable by five to 20 years; and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, punishable by up to 10 years.
The evidence
Pieces of Read’s broken taillight were found at the scene and a single hair from O’Keefe was found on the rear bumper of Read’s SUV. Prosecutors say that Read repeatedly said, “I hit him. I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him” to first responders and others. Prosecutors replayed angry voicemails Read left for O’Keefe, painting a picture of a failing relationship. They also questioned her behavior, saying she never cried after O’Keefe’s body was found.
Read’s defense
Read contends that the prosecution’s case is based on lies by officers trying to protect themselves. Her lawyers say the pieces of taillight and the hair were planted at the crime scene, which was left unsecured. They also suggested O’Keefe might have been beaten up by Higgins, who had flirted with Read through texts, and that the men panicked, dumping his body outside before trying to cover up the crime.
Sloppy detective work
Regardless of any verdict, the case revealed questionable techniques and actions on the part of law enforcement. Proctor, who had personal relationships with several of the people involved, called Read a “wack job” and texted his sister saying he wished Read would “kill herself.” He said that was a figure of speech and that his emotions had gotten the better of him.
The defense also pointed to sloppy policing: The crime scene was left unsecured for hours; the house wasn’t searched; blood-stained snow was scooped up with red plastic drinking cups; and a leaf blower was used to clear snow. The defense also claims that a prosecution witness conducted an incriminating internet search hours before O’Keefe’s body was discovered and then deleted it, and that others linked with the case destroyed phones and manipulated videos.
Growing attention
As more evidence emerged about what might have seemed an open-and-shut case, interest picked up among true crime fans and others with suspicions about law enforcement. For more than a year, dozens of Read supporters have gathered outside the courthouse, calling for the charges to be dropped.
As jurors deliberate, members of this self-proclaimed “sidewalk jury” – wearing pink and waving American flags to symbolize what they call a fight for truth and justice – intently watch their phones for word of a verdict. Some take it further, including a man who dresses as the trial judge and a woman who wears plastic cups as earrings. Their mood has been jubilant, encouraged by passing motorists who honk their horns.
Many were drawn to the case by Aidan Timothy Kearney, aka Turtleboy, whose website has relentlessly questioned the prosecution. He and other supporters have also been accused of harassing witnesses: Kearney was charged with witness intimidation and conspiracy, which he denies.
The demonstrators, as many as 100 people, have been ordered to remain 200 feet (60 meters) away. At one point on Wednesday, some said a verdict had come, prompting a mad dash toward the courthouse.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
DEDHAM, Mass. — Jurors in the Karen Read trial told the judge on Friday that they’ve been unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge sent them back for more deliberations.
The jury must decide whose story they believe: that of prosecutors who say she drunkenly and angrily slammed into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her Lexus SUV and left him to die, or defense attorneys who claim one or more colleagues killed John O’Keefe and framed Read to cover it up.
The Massachusetts jury of six men and six women is deliberating behind closed doors in Norfolk County Superior Court, while a “sidewalk jury” of true crime bloggers and pink-shirted Read supporters gathers outside. The unofficial adjudicators, many of them waving Stars and Stripes, have been present every day since the trial began nearly two months ago.
Who’s who?
Read, 44, had worked as an equity analyst and was an adjunct lecturer in finance at her alma mater, Bentley University. O’Keefe, 46, was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department who was raising his niece and nephew.
Jurors are deliberating events that unfolded at the Canton home of Brian Albert, a Boston police detective, after a night of bar-hopping in January 2022. Brian Higgins, a federal agent who was among those gathered inside, had exchanged flirty texts with Read earlier that month. The lead investigator was State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was friends with several witnesses and sent offensive texts about Read to friends, family and fellow troopers during the investigation.
The charges
Read was charged with second-degree murder, punishable in Massachusetts by life in prison with the possibility of parole. She also faces lesser charges of manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, punishable by five to 20 years; and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, punishable by up to 10 years.
The evidence
Pieces of Read’s broken taillight were found at the scene and a single hair from O’Keefe was found on the rear bumper of Read’s SUV. Prosecutors say that Read repeatedly said, “I hit him. I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him” to first responders and others. Prosecutors replayed angry voicemails Read left for O’Keefe, painting a picture of a failing relationship. They also questioned her behavior, saying she never cried after O’Keefe’s body was found.
Read’s defense
Read contends that the prosecution’s case is based on lies by officers trying to protect themselves. Her lawyers say the pieces of taillight and the hair were planted at the crime scene, which was left unsecured. They also suggested O’Keefe might have been beaten up by Higgins, who had flirted with Read through texts, and that the men panicked, dumping his body outside before trying to cover up the crime.
Sloppy detective work
Regardless of any verdict, the case revealed questionable techniques and actions on the part of law enforcement. Proctor, who had personal relationships with several of the people involved, called Read a “wack job” and texted his sister saying he wished Read would “kill herself.” He said that was a figure of speech and that his emotions had gotten the better of him.
The defense also pointed to sloppy policing: The crime scene was left unsecured for hours; the house wasn’t searched; blood-stained snow was scooped up with red plastic drinking cups; and a leaf blower was used to clear snow. The defense also claims that a prosecution witness conducted an incriminating internet search hours before O’Keefe’s body was discovered and then deleted it, and that others linked with the case destroyed phones and manipulated videos.
Growing attention
As more evidence emerged about what might have seemed an open-and-shut case, interest picked up among true crime fans and others with suspicions about law enforcement. For more than a year, dozens of Read supporters have gathered outside the courthouse, calling for the charges to be dropped.
As jurors deliberate, members of this self-proclaimed “sidewalk jury” – wearing pink and waving American flags to symbolize what they call a fight for truth and justice – intently watch their phones for word of a verdict. Some take it further, including a man who dresses as the trial judge and a woman who wears plastic cups as earrings. Their mood has been jubilant, encouraged by passing motorists who honk their horns.
Many were drawn to the case by Aidan Timothy Kearney, aka Turtleboy, whose website has relentlessly questioned the prosecution. He and other supporters have also been accused of harassing witnesses: Kearney was charged with witness intimidation and conspiracy, which he denies.
The demonstrators, as many as 100 people, have been ordered to remain 200 feet (60 meters) away. At one point on Wednesday, some said a verdict had come, prompting a mad dash toward the courthouse.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
As the jurors in the Karen Read case went home Thursday without a verdict, legal experts say not much can be read much into which way jurors are leaning based on how long they deliberate.
Read is waiting to learn whether she will be convicted of three charges, including second-degree murder, in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
“It really is voodoo science,” said criminal defense attorney and legal analyst Peter Elikann.
Elikann says each juror will likely have a lot to say given so many witnesses and exhibits.
“This is the very first time they’re sitting in a room, the 12 of them, and going over the evidence, and chatting,” he said. “They must be ready to explode.”
A third day of deliberations has drawn to a close, and the world is waiting to see whether Karen Read will be found guilty of the charges against her.
High-profile cases have varied in terms of how long jurors have been out.
In the Aaron Hernandez trials, he was found guilty of killing Odin Lloyd after about 36 hours of deliberations. But he was found not guilty of killing Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in roughly the same amount of time.
Elikann says we shouldn’t focus on how long it takes to reach a decision.
“It really can go either way,” he said. “Most of us who observe juries over the years throw up our hands and say we have no idea why juries do what they do.”
We’re taking a look at past cases where trials drew widespread attention and how long jurors deliberated in some of them.
There’s a lot that makes Read’s trial unique, but the massive anticipation is nothing new to Massachusetts.
Back in 1997, nanny Louise Woodward was found guilty initially found guilty of second-degree murder before having the charges downgraded to involuntary manslaughter.
Mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was tried and convicted in federal court in Boston in 2013 after years on the run. Five years later, Bulger was killed in prison.
The Massachusetts trials against Hernandez and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also drew significant attention.
While there were plenty of amateur detectives during those court proceedings, those against Read have struck a chord with many.
McCabe will be back on the stand following a heated cross-examination on Tuesday. She is expected to answer questions about a pivotal Google search on her phone the night Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe died where she attempted to type “How long does it take to die in the cold.”
McCabe has said Karen Read asked her to Google it after the pair found O’Keefe dead on the snowy lawn at McCabe’s sister’s house in Canton, Massachusetts, the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. The defense has insinuated that it was made before his body was found.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has been charged with second-degree murder, among other charges, in the death of O’Keefe, 46, her boyfriend. She has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond. She’s accused of backing her SUV into him that night and leaving him there to die. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside the home, owned by McCabe’s sister and brother-in-law, a fellow Boston police officer. The defense believes Read is being framed.
Jennifer McCabe returned to the stand in the murder trial against Karen Read, with the defense questioning her for more than three hours about the circumstances surrounding the death of John O’Keefe.
For the past three days of the trial, they have been pointing out changes in McCabe’s account about what happened over the past two years, conversations she has had about the case in group chats with witnesses and about her calling O’Keefe around the time he likely died.
“So according to you, you literally butt dialed John O’Keefe’s phone six times in the span of 19 minutes. Is that right?,” Read’s attorney asked McCabe during cross-examination.
“I don’t remember making any of those calls, so my assumption is that I put my phone in my back pocket and that was it,” she said.
Wednesday will be a full day of trial.
Week 4 of testimony in the Karen Read murder trial is underway Tuesday. Jennifer McCabe, a highly anticipated witness in this case, took the stand. The jury is hearing more about the moments when Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found dead outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022.
Watch the Karen Read trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and NBC10 Boston’s YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., come back for analysis and more.
Jennifer McCabe stood by her account of what Karen Read said when they discovered John O’Keefe’s body as her story was scrutinized by the defense Tuesday.
In court last week, McCabe testified, “Ms. Read stated she had hit him.” But defense attorney Alan Jackson on Tuesday presented McCabe with grand jury testimony she gave in 2022, asking where McCabe testified at the time that Read stated she hit O’Keefe.
McCabe testified, “I can tell you today, with 100% clarity, she said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,’ on that morning,” and said it was one of the most powerful pieces of testimony she gave. But she acknowledged that her recollection in 2022 of what Read said was in the form of questions: “Could I have hit him? … Is he dead?”
Outside of court Friday, Jackson said he was looking forward to cross-examination: “There are more holes in her story than a fishing net, so I will focus on all the holes.”
And while the defense team had told NBC10 Boston they planned to ask more questions — about a now-infamous Google search on McCabe’s phone, “Hos long does it take to die in the cold?” — that line of questioning didn’t come up Tuesday.
McCabe was at the home the night before O’Keefe’s body was found, but told the prosecution she was asked to do the search by Read after the pair found O’Keefe’s body. The defense says somethings not adding up.
“That Google search was at 2:27 in the morning, that is when the Google search happened, you will find out why we know that in short order,” said Jackson.
‘Where was the body?’
Jackson opened the cross-examination by asking, “Family is important to you, is it not?” before, establishing that neither O’Keefe nor Read are McCabe’s family.
Jackson turned to the Waterfall, the Canton bar where McCabe and others spent time with O’Keefe and Read the the night before his death. McCabe, like other witnesses who’ve testified in the trial, said she didn’t see any tension between the couple that night, though she said she hardly interacted with them together that night.
Jackson played surveillance video from outside the bar in which McCabe identified O’Keefe and another person, apparently Read, following McCabe into the night around 12:10 a.m. Jackson pressed McCabe on an invitation she extended to Read, along the lines of “you’re coming with me,” and whether she was trying to separate Read from O’Keefe, which McCabe denied.
“It was innocent,” McCabe said, after explaining she believed both O’Keefe and Read were expected to go back to the home on Fairview Road together.
Jackson’s questions jumped ahead to the home, where several other people — many of whom have already testified — were already gathered.
The lawyer asked McCabe about McCabe’s previous testimony to investigators on the location of a Jeep in the driveway of the home, and he raised the first of several purported inconsistencies between that previous testimony and McCabe’s current recollection. In this instance, McCabe said the lead state police investigators, Trooper Michael Proctor, took down the wrong orientation of the Jeep.
“I told him that when I looked out the front door, the car was straight ahead, and yes, it was facing out,” McCabe said.
“So Trooper Proctor is wrong about what you said?” Jackson replied.
“I 100% said it was straight out the front door,” she said.
The location of the vehicles in the driveway has been important in the investigation and trial because it helps establish when Read’s SUV, which had O’Keefe inside, was outside the home.
Albert returned to the vehicles after establishing some other information — whether she speaks with other family members tied up in the case about it, what she knew about a location-tracking app called Life360 that’s been involved in the case, her lack of memory of her sister’s dog being at the Alberts’ Fairview Road home when she returned.
Jackson asked McCabe to verify that, in her grand jury testimony, she did not mention a Jeep being in the yard.
“I may not have been asked about the Jeep so I did not mention the Jeep,” McCabe eventually said, after some back and forth about reviewing the transcript.
McCabe denied several questions insinuating she checked her story with other witnesses’.
Jackson turned to several text messages McCabe sent to John O’Keefe’s phone early that morning, including one at 12:27 a.m. McCabe said she sent that text when she saw Read’s SUV outside, and that she knew that for the first two of the texts, she walked to the door of the home to look out at the vehicle.
“When I first saw the vehicle, it was straight ahead, out the front door, stationary,” McCabe said, noting she later saw it move twice.
Jackson pointed out that seeing it move twice would mean that McCabe had looked out the window at least three times, first to see the SUV stationary, then two more times to establish the SUV had moved.
McCabe confirmed “I had a clear view of Karen’s vehicle outside,” and that she noticed the SUV was gone by the time she sent a 12:45 a.m. text. She agreed she didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary through the time the SUV drove away.
“Where was the body?” Jackson asked, pointedly.
“I have no idea,” McCabe replied. “I’m assuming the body was on the front lawn.”
“You were looking at the front lawn, weren’t you?” the lawyer said.
“I was looking at the vehicle,” McCabe said.
There was a testy back-and-forth about McCabe’s field of vision, but McCabe eventually confirmed, “I never saw a body,” adding, “I wish I had.”
Was ‘I hit him’ a question or a statement?
Jackson moved ahead a few hours to pre-dawn, when Read had gathered McCabe and another friend, Kerry Roberts, to help find O’Keefe, who hadn’t turned up at his home that night. Jackson focused on another purported inconsistency between McCabe’s testimony in court and to the grand jury that charged Read.
McCabe is one of the witnesses who says that, at the scene, Read repeatedly stated, “I hit him,” but Jackson asked McCabe to point in the transcript of her grand jury testimony where she said so.
McCabe replied that she didn’t think it was in there, but continued, “I can tell you today, with 100% clarity, she said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,’ on that morning.”
Jackson suggested that the grand jury transcript shows McCabe saying 12 different times that Read asked if she’d hit O’Keefe, phrases like, “Could I have hit him?” and “Is he dead?”
McCabe denied changing her testimony to help her story.
Focus on several phone calls
Jackson played a 911 call made in the morning, on which McCabe recognized herself saying, “he got out of the car,” a phrase the lawyer focused in on, asking how she knew that.
“I did, because Karen Read had told me she had left him there,” McCabe said.
That call was made before McCabe went inside the house — she’s testified that she ran into her sister and brother-in-law’s bedroom to wake them up — and Jackson asked about two subsequent calls McCabe before going in the house, to her sister.
“She did not answer,” McCabe said, to which Jackson replied that her phone extraction shows the call was answered.
“If that’s what it shows,” McCabe agreed, but insisted that her sister didn’t answer.
After a break, Jackson played audio from a call to O’Keefe’s phone that went to his voicemail. The caller’s phone was inside an SUV — its windshield wipers were audible, as well as Read screaming in the background and other muffled voices.
They returned to the issue of the calls to McCabe’s sister, Nicole Albert, each a few seconds long and a minute apart, according to phone records.
“The calls to Nicole were deleted from your phone before you turned your phone into law enforcement, right?” Jackson said.
“Not by me,” McCabe replied.
Jackson continued pressing her on the call records, including one to Brian O’Keefe, but McCabe said it was hard to remember some specifics, given the “hysterical scene.”
“My friend was lying there on the ground,” she said.
‘I sat with my family in shock and horror’
Jackson started a new line of questioning, asking how many of the officers who responded to the Fairview Road home McCabe would friends with. She said she was friendly with Lt. Michael Lank and knew of Sgt. Sean Goode and acknowledged knowing both were friends with others in the Albert family.
McCabe insisted the family never discussed what they would tell police, and denied that her brother-in-law Brian Albert, who also owned the Fairview Road home and was also a Boston police officer, gave her advice about what to say in her interview.
“I’m an honest and truthful person,” McCabe said at one point.
She didn’t recall whether she told Brian Albert which officers were outside when she woke him and her sister up that morning.
Jackson went through the friends and family members who came into the house on Fairview Road in the hours after O’Keefe’s body was found.
“I sat with my family in shock and horror,” McCabe said.
Jackson asked whether McCabe and others were allowed to discuss what took place without police present, leading to another contentious back-and-forth, but McCabe acceded.
However, she replied, “You’re creating a scene that didn’t happen.”
She later explained, “Everybody was trying to figure out what had happened,” discussing.
Jackson moved on to another purported change in McCabe’s testimony, having to do with Read’s broken taillight — shards found at the scene days later are part of the evidenced against her. Jackson asked if McCabe said she saw a crack in the taillight during the search for O’Keefe that morning.
“That’s what he said I said,” McCabe replied. “I’m telling you, I told him, ‘It was cracked.’”
When Jackson asked if the investigator again “screwed it up,” McCabe said, “You’d have to ask Trooper Proctor.”
McCabe said that in another report she said the taillight was cracked and had pieces missing.
“In a state of shock, that was my description,” she said. “I said it was cracked, I never said there was a crack in it.”
Call and text records
Jackson turned to reports listing the phone calls extracted from O’Keefe’s phone and McCabe’s. O’Keefe’s phone showed calls from McCabe that her phone didn’t, according to Jackson, who asked the witness if every call in question was deleted.
“I didn’t understand that report, and I’m not an expert,” McCabe replied.
She denied deleting the call logs when Jackson asked if McCabe “sanitized your phone because you didn’t want the police to know” about incessant calls that morning.
McCabe did say she deleted, with investigators’ permission, personal conversations she had with her daughters.
“Did you delete any phone calls?” Jackson asked.
“I do not recall deleting any phone calls at all. I would have no reason to delete anything,” McCabe replied, denying deleting calls with any witnesses in the case.
Jackson asked McCabe about her a text her husband testified about sending a group chat with her and several others involved in the case. In it, he said, “Tell them the guy never went in the house,” which he said was in reference to O’Keefe and a reporter covering the story that morning.
McCabe said she didn’t understand her husband to be directing her to coordinate their story.
“John never went in the house. It wasn’t a story, it was the truth. It is the truth,” McCabe said.
“Just like when you said, ‘I hit him,’” Jackson replied, referring to McCabe’s insistence that Read admitted hitting O’Keefe at the scene.
“Yes,” McCabe said.
Jackson dug deeper into what McCabe and Roberts did in the hours and days to come.
McCabe said that Roberts asked to collaborate on a timeline of the events that unfolded: “The two of us were trying to figure out what had happened with our friend.”
Roberts was later interviewed by police at McCabe’s home, with McCabe present, she confirmed. Two officers came over when Roberts was there and the officers talked.
McCabe denied listening to the conversation or directing Roberts’ testimony.
Jackson asked about a text McCabe sent to her family’s group chat, “She’s telling them everything.” McCabe replied that she was listening to the phone call and mortified her to hear personal details.
“I was horrified,” she said.
Jackson pointed out that McCabe had previously given different testimony to investigators, to which McCabe said her memory had been jogged.
And the lawyer latched on to whether McCabe could really hear what Roberts was saying in her police interview — she’d previously said the voices were muffled.
“You can hear bits and pieces. Was I eavesdropping? No. Was there some big coverup story? No.” McCabe said.
Jackson continued to press McCabe — the judge had already sustained an objection to his question on whether McCabe’s previous comment about not hearing the interview was a lie.
“You consistently reported back to the group how Kerry Roberts was doing, didn’t you?” Jackson said.
“I would update them,” McCabe replied. “We were all trying to figure out what had happened to John.”
Jackson closed out the day’s cross-examination with questions on a few more topics, including a meeting between Roberts and Lank, the police investigator, on Jan. 30.
Jackson asked if McCabe sat with Lank’s wife in the car for 45-60 minutes.
“Kerry [Roberts] dropped her daughter off, the wife came out,” McCabe said. “Kerry is a talker. They started talking. A tragedy had happened the day before.”
She disputed Jackson’s characterization of the meeting as “off the books,” saying it was just for Roberts dropping her daughter off at the home of a good friend, whose husband was a police officer in Canton.
McCabe did acknowledge initially denying the meeting when first asked about it by a state police investigator, then re-thinking it.
She also noted that they drove by the Fairview Road home where O’Keefe died on the way to Lank’s house, and while Jackson said a report showed they stopped at the home, McCabe said they did not stop or pick up her sister.
Finally, Jackson listed the calls McCabe made to O’Keefe from 12:14 to 12:50 a.m. the morning of his death, citing his phone records, and noting the first two were picked up, but the last six weren’t.
The lawyer pressed McCabe about an explanation McCabe previously gave investigators involving butt dials, noting that when someone butt dials someone else, the call goes to voicemail.
“There were also text messages I was sending,” McCabe said.
Jackson’s last questions, about the period of those final phone calls coinciding with the period when O’Keefe was fatally hurt, were objected to by the prosecution and sustained.
The third week of testimony in the Karen Read trial gets underway Monday.
The defense will cross-examine the man who owns the home where John O’Keefe’s body was found.
Read is charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of O’Keefe, her boyfriend. He was found in the snow outside retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s home in Canton. Prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV, while Read says she has been framed in a wide-ranging coverup, claiming the Albert family — which includes a Canton police officer and current selectman — and the state’s lead investigator, a family friend, put the blame on Read.
Watch the Karen Read trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and NBC10 Boston’s YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., come back for analysis and more.
Read has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.
Brian and Nicole Albert took the stand on Friday. They have been the subject of intense public speculation for months — while prosecutors say Read killed her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, on their lawn on Fairview Road during a snowstorm in January 2022, Read’s lawyers have claimed there was a coverup, one that may have involved at least Brian Albert, a fellow Boston police officer.
Their testimony came as the second week of trial proceedings in Norfolk Superior Court, in Dedham, wrapped up. But before they took the stand, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled that the controversial blogger Aidan Kearney, known as “Turtleboy,” wouldn’t be allowed in the courtroom for their testimony or that of eight other witnesses he’s accused of intimidating.
Julie Albert returned to the stand Friday morning. She was out with Read and O’Keefe the night before O’Keefe was found dead on her brother-in-law Brian Albert’s front lawn. Brian Albert and his wife Nicole Albert also testified Friday.
Here’s a recap of what happened Friday:
Retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert testifies
Just before 2:30 p.m. Friday, just after his wife finished testifying, Brian Albert took the stand. He said he was in New York on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, for a funeral of a New York City police officer who had been killed in the line of duty, and drove back to Canton that night.
He spoke about arriving back to town, stopping at the Waterfall Bar & Grill following a conversation with his wife Nicole. He said his brother Chris, his wife, and several other friends, including Jennifer and Matthew McCabe were already there when he arrived. He said O’Keefe and Read arrived later.
Over the course of the evening, Albert said he hung out with O’Keefe and had several conversations.
He described the atmosphere at the bar as being fun.
“Everybody was in a great mood. People were getting along. It was friends and family. It just seemed like a great night.”
Albert said he and his wife Nicole and their daughter Caitlin were among the first people in their group to leave the bar, along with his friend, Brian Higgins.
Upon leaving the bar, he returned home, where his wife had invited members of the group to join them, as they were celebrating their son’s 23rd birthday.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally again showed surveillance video from the Waterfall, which has been shown to numerous witnesses throughout the second week of the trial.
Testimony from Brian and Nicole Albert, who own the home where Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found dead outside, gripped attentions today, but not before the judge ruled on whether blogger “Turtleboy” would be allowed in the courtroom.
Lally’s questions turned to what Albert remembered from when he got home: letting their dog, Chloe, out into the backyard before bringing her upstairs, and a relaxed party for his son, Brian Jr.
“We were wishing Brian a happy birthday and everything was going great,” he said.
He said he may have taken Higgins upstairs for a few minutes to show him pictures of his other son, John, who, like Higgins, is a Marine, Albert recalled.
Higgins remembered leaving the party around 1:30 a.m., around which time Albert went upstairs to watch TV and decompress from a long day.
“I think I popped back down at one point, just to see how long people were gonna be there,” he said, noting that a group was still there, including his daughter and Jennifer and Matthew McCabe, among others.
Asked if he was aware of O’Keefe or Read coming over, Albert said, “John O’Keefe and Karen Read never entered my house.”
His wife came upstairs around 2 a.m. to watch TV and hang out, Albert said, with Chloe there as well. He was awoken by his sister-in-law bursting into the room saying “something to the effect of, ‘John is dead.’”
She told the Alberts there were police downstairs, whom he went down to speak with. The first officer there was an officer named Michael Lank, who has testified previously in the Karen Read trial, followed by an other officer. Albert said he welcomed them inside.
Later, he called Higgins — “I think it was important for him to know what was going on and what had happened — and Higgins came over, as did Julie Albert, who has a regular tradition of dropping birthday treats off.
He didn’t go outside after O’Keefe’s body was found, saying, “There was a snowstorm at that point. They were trying to conduct an investigation and I didn’t want to interfere with it or have anything to do with it.”
Later that day, he spoke to state police troopers at his sister-in-law’s house, several hours after O’Keefe’s body was found. He said he went there because his sister-in-law, whom he’s known since she was six or seven years old, was distraught and wanted to be there for her, Albert said.
The troopers — Michael Proctor, who would become the lead investigator on the case, and Yuri Bukhenik — separately interviewed all three at the McCabes’ house, Albert recalled.
Lally turned to the house on Fairview Road, asking Albert to confirm that they first discussed moving two or three months before O’Keefe’s body was found.
“It was post-COVID, the housing market seemed really good and my brother Chris had sold his house,” Albert said, noting his brother put him in touch with his realtor.
Asked if selling the house had anything to do with the incident in January 2022, Albert said, “Absolutely not.”
Nicole Albert testifies
Nicole Albert, the wife of Boston Police Officer Brian Albert, took the stand around 11:15 a.m. Nicole and Brian Albert lived in the Fairview Road home where O’Keefe’s body was found until they moved to Norwood recently.
Lally asked Nicole Albert about the date of Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, the day before her son Brian Albert Jr.’s birthday.
Because it was supposed to snow on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, the family had talked about having a small birthday gathering for family and friends on Friday night.
Albert also testified about the gathering with friends and family at the Waterfall.
She said her husband Brian was driving back to New York at the time, and she urged him to join the group at the Waterfall, which he did shortly after 10 p.m. She said shortly after 11 p.m., O’Keefe and Read arrived.
Albert also testified about how a group of friends and family members gathered at her family’s house on Fairview Road after leaving the Waterfall. She said her daughter Caitlin was the last person to leave the gathering, around 2 a.m.
At that point, Nicole Albert said she was the only one still awake. Her son and husband had already gone to sleep.
Albert testified that the didn’t hear or see anything unusual outside her house at any point that night.
A short time later, after cleaning up the house, she said she went to sleep around 2:30 a.m. She said her husband was still awake, lying in bed and watching television.
Between 6 and 6:30 the next morning, she said her sister Jennifer McCabe “came bursting into my bedroom.”
“She’s saying, ‘He’s out in the snow, we found him out in the snow, we don’t know if he’s OK,’” Julie Albert said.
“My immediate thought was just that I thought something had happened to one of my children, something had happened to one of her children. I couldn’t imagine what she was doing in my bedroom at this time in the morning.”
“She was hysterical,” Albert said.
Albert said McCabe eventually told her that O’Keefe had been found outside on their lawn, and that investigators wanted to speak with her and her husband.
Lally also showed Nicole Albert photos of the exterior of her Fairview Road home from January of 2022. And he discussed the Alberts’ dog, Chloe.
Nicole Albert said the dog had been up in their bedroom but Brian Albert let her out to go to the bathroom soon after arriving home. The backyard was fenced in, she said.
After that, she said Brian Albert brought the dog back upstairs.
Nicole Albert also testified that she and her husband moved from Canton to Norwood in April of 2023.
“We had always planned to move,” she said. “The kids were starting to get older, we were looking to possibly downsize.”
She said the decision to sell the home had nothing to do with O’Keefe’s death.
During cross examination, defense attorney Elizabeth Little asked Nicole Albert if she observed any sort of tension between O’Keefe and Read at the Waterfall on the night before O’Keefe was found dead. Albert said she did not. She also said she saw no evidence that Read was under the influence of alcohol.
Albert also testified that she saw her husband and his friend Higgins “fooling around” at the Waterfall that night, which Little described as “practice fighting.” She also confirmed under questioning that her husband does have training as a boxer.
Little also got Albert to testify that her dog, Chloe, on one instance injured two women who were trying to break up a fight with another dog.
Albert also said that four months after O’Keefe’s death, the family rehomed their dog, which they had owned for six years.
Little also pressed Albert on an earlier police interview where she said her daughter, Caitlin Albert, left her house at 12:15 a.m. and not 2 a.m. on the morning O’Keefe was found dead.
“I don’t believe I said that,” Albert said, indicating that the police investigator might have gotten things misconstrued in her notes.
Albert also testified about a Feb. 3, 2022, conversation with Massachusetts State Police Michael Proctor. Little pressed her on several pieces of information she left out during that interview, including some of the key people who were at her house on the night before O’Keefe died, including her nephew Colin Albert.
“I didn’t mention Colin because I didn’t consider him as part of the group that we were hanging out with at the Waterfall because he left as soon as I walked in,” Albert said. “I didn’t even think of him.”
Asked by Little about the first thing she remembers waking up to on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, Albert said, “My sister bombing into my bedroom” between 6 and 6:30 a.m. She said she didn’t see any flashing lights or hear any sirens that night, noting that her blinds were closed.
Little pointed out that surveillance footage shows it was actually closer to 6:45 a.m. The defense attorney then referenced two phone calls from Jennifer McCabe to Albert at 6:07 a.m. and 6:08 a.m. that records show were answered.
“I never answered any phone calls from my sister that morning,” Albert said. “She may have placed those phone calls to me, but I never answered them… I never spoke to her that morning.”
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Staff Reports, Marc Fortier, Munashe Kwangwari and John Moroney
On the second day of the high-profile murder trial against Karen Read, her defense attorney raised questions about the investigation when a police officer took the stand.
Read is charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. He was found in the snow outside fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Massachusetts. Prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV, while Read says she has been framed in a wide-ranging coverup.
Steven Saraf, the first officer from the Canton Police Department to arrive on the scene after O’Keefe was found, was called by the prosecution Monday. Tuesday began with cross-examination from defense attorney Alan Jackson.
Read’s team has questioned why investigators did not go into the home or talk to the homeowners after O’Keefe was found. Saraf defended this Tuesday.
“Do you think that would have been appropriate protocol, when dealing with a body laying on a lawn, that is partially unclothed, to look inside the house of the lawn?” Jackson asked Saraf.
“No,” he replied.
“You didn’t think that would have been appropriate protocol?” the defense attorney asked.
“No,” Saraf said again.
“For you or anybody else?” Jackson continued.
“No,” the officer repeated.
Speaking with NBC10 Boston Tuesday evening, security analyst Todd McGhee, a retired Massachusetts State Police trooper, called the police investigation described in Saraf’s testimony into question.
“As a law enforcement investigator, the first thing you’re looking for are facts. Facts lead to evidence, evidence can be gleaned from eyewitness accounts, from the Ring doorbells, anything that can help you stitch this mystery back together again,” he said. “And the fact that the investigation wasn’t thorough provides a big wrinkle in the prosecution’s case.”
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He elaborated that it does not make sense for investigators not to pursue evidence from the house or accounts from those inside.
“It does not ring true, because if I can find one person to help me spell out the story, to help bring some clarification, anything — was there another vehicle close by? Was there another eyewitness, as a neighbor, that I might be able to go and speak to?” McGhee said.
The defense also showed Saraf a video, which he acknowledged showed a person walking from the area where O’Keefe was found toward the house.
“There was a person walking from the area where a body was found in the lawn of a house, walking into the house to make contact with other individuals, correct?” Jackson asked Saraf.
“It appeared that way, yes, sir,” he replied.
“Does that seem appropriate to you?” Jackson asked.
“No,” said Saraf.
Day 2 of the Karen Read trial is underway with more witness testimony. Here’s what happened so far in court Tuesday morning.
Saraf also acknowledged a discrepancy between what was in his initial written report and his claim months later that Read said “This is my fault, I can’t believe this happened.”
“Nowhere in your official report did you say that,” Jackson said. “And nowhere in your interview with Trooper Proctor the next day did you say that.”
Saraf said this was correct.
“You think that was a pretty important omission on your part?” Jackson asked.
“It was an oversight,” the officer answered.
“An oversight that a woman who you made contact with, standing over the body of a fallen police officer, said to you, ‘This is my fault?’ You just missed that one?” Jackson asked.
“Yes, I missed it, yeah. I didn’t write it down,” Saraf said.
Lally asked Saraf if his testimony to the grand jury and at trial about what Read said is accurate by his memory, to which the officer replied, “Yes.”
In court on Tuesday for Day 2 of the trial, the prosecution appeared to be establishing the events that unfolded the night Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe died, while Karen Read’s defense team was working to show, at best, sloppy policing.
Court adjourned just before 1 p.m. and court will not be in session on Wednesday. Thursday will be a half day.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
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After years of investigation and legal drama, the Karen Read murder trial is beginning.
As jury selection begins, we’re analyzing the case, including what the prosecution says led to the death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, and the defense’s claims of a large-scale cover-up.
Watch on NBC10 Boston, here or on YouTube at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday night as we break down the latest from Norfolk Superior Court. We’ll have more nightly trial analysis shows once the jury is seated and arguments begin.
As the murder trial against Karen Read began, ahead of jury selection, Judge Beverly Cannone read a summary of the case for potential jurors — and addressed the massive public interest in the case that’s prompted protests outside.
An attorney for supporters of Karen Read, a woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022, have filed a motion to fight proposed restrictions on demonstrations during the trial.
We’re just two weeks away from the high-profile murder trial against Read, who is accused of hitting Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe with her car in Canton, Massachusetts in 2022, killing him. Her lawyers have alleged that she is being framed amid a massive coverup, which the prosecution has denied.
State prosecutors have filed a motion requesting special restrictions at the trial, ones that would keep demonstrations back at least 500 feet from the courthouse in Dedham. The restrictions would also ban people – and animals – from wearing any attire that suggests a “favorable or unfavorable opinion of either party.”
Though the motion has not yet been approved, supporters of Read have balked at the proposal, calling it a violation of First Amendment rights.
Attorney Marc Randazza filed a motion to intervene on their behalf on Tuesday.
“The Commonwealth seeks to unconstitutionally infringe upon the right of the people to enjoy their full and robust rights under the First Amendment and Art. 16 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, as amended by art. 77 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution,” the motion reads.
A Norfolk District Attorney’s Office spokesman noted on Monday, in response to a protest surrounding the motion, that the decision to take measures to prevent juror interference lies with judges, and while it’s uncommon, it has been used before, including in the “Puppy Doe” animal cruelty case of 2018. Asked about the new motion filed Tuesday, a spokesperson made the same point.
“The Court regularly exercises its authority to provide for the fair administration of justice, including defending the juries from undue influence in a variety of ways. It is at the discretion of the Court,” the spokesperson told NBC10 Boston.
There is a special hearing scheduled for April 4 where a judge is set to consider the courthouse restrictions.
Ahead of Karen Read‘s murder trial next month, Massachusetts prosecutors are pushing back against her defense’s motion to dismiss her case.
Read is charged with the second-degree murder of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, who was found dead two years ago outside a Canton home.
In documents filed Friday in Norfolk Superior Court and shared Wednesday with NBC10 Boston, the office of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey argues that the case should not be thrown out.
A woman charged with the murder of her police officer boyfriend who has argued she is being framed is fighting for more access to phone records they say will show a conflict of interest.
Prosecutors accuse Read’s team of malfeasance and intentionally manipulating public opinion.
“Over the past two years, evidence sought by and presented to the Commonwealth has not shown any credible evidence that another individual is responsible for John O’Keefe’s death,” the DA’s office wrote. “What began as Attorney [David] Yannetti representing to the Stoughton District Court in February 2022 that the defendant lacked any criminal intent in a motor vehicle accident, has spiraled into a national conspiracy theory premised upon the defendant’s variety of flawed, unfounded, and sensationalized claims.”
Read and O’Keefe were out drinking Jan. 28, 2022, with a group of people including Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. Members of the group went back to Albert’s Fairview Road home, and Read says she dropped O’Keefe off there and went home. He was found the next morning and pronounced dead at a hospital.
Prosecutors allege Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die. But Read’s attorneys have said evidence points to O’Keefe being attacked inside the home and brought outside, arguing, among other points, that the wounds on his body were not consistent with a crash.
The defense has also argued that Jennifer McCabe, who was in the group that went out and returned to Albert’s home, Googled “ho[w] long to die in cold” hours before 911 was called to report O’Keefe had been found.
The district attorney’s office said in the documents filed Friday that it “diligently investigated” Read’s claims — including looking at McCabe’s cellphone records, which prosecutors said showed she made the search later in the morning, when she and Read were together after the discovery of O’Keefe’s body.
“All of these measures were taken by the Commonwealth to acquire any exculpatory evidence and to safeguard and protect the integrity of the judicial system, not subvert it as the defendant has claimed,” prosecutors wrote.
Morrissey’s office claims Yannetti and fellow defense attorney Alan Jackson knowingly made false statements “to deceive this court and undermine the integrity of the judicial proceedings,” and that they “have secretly conspired to perpetuate fraud upon the court through reckless mistruths, deceit, and hiding behind a social media blogger who has been criminally charged with intimidation of witnesses, to direct and encourage the harassment of those witnesses.”
Blogger Aidan Kearney, better known as Turtleboy, has long advocated on Read’s behalf. Last month, an affidavit from the Massachusetts State Police alleged that Read sent him confidential information in more than 40 hours of conversations during 189 phone calls and other methods of communication. She allegedly provided personal details about witnesses, autopsy photographs, crime scene photographs, images of her car and the 911 call made when O’Keefe’s body was found.
Karen Read, charged with murder in the death of her police officer boyfriend in Canton, is accused of communicating for dozens of hours with Aidan Kearney, the blogger known as Turtleboy.
Kearney’s coverage of the case, which has garnered extensive attention, had previously led prosecutors to charge him with witness intimidation.
“Free Karen Read” merchandise with the Turtleboy logo remains available for sale on his site, and past stories have said proceeds go to a fund for Read’s legal defense. In posts since the revelation, Kearney said he had not admitted publicly to communicating with Read because she “was an anonymous source.” His attorney called it “an investigation without a crime,” claiming “The only crime here is the robbery of privacy.”
In the new documents, prosecutors said a search warrant of Read’s phone found that, “Beginning on or around April 17th, 2023, the defendant took deliberate action to start sharing defense theories, privileged materials, and evidence with Mr. Kearney through an out-of-state intermediary.” The following day, Kearney posted his first story about the case.
The district attorney’s office also argued said in the documents that Read’s attorneys corresponded with Kearney, encouraging him to harass and intimidate witnesses.
Additionally, prosecutors said Read violated pretrial conditions requiring her to stay away from O’Keefe’s family. She was allegedly seen in Ring doorbell video in a vehicle outside the home of the officer’s niece and nephew in September of 2023.
Prosecutors also shared a letter from Morrissey to the Office of Professional Responsibility with the U.S. Department of Justice. In it, he asked for a federal examination of an investigation into the case by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts.
Morrissey claimed Rollins “made no secret of her personal animosity” toward him, “including repeated crude, outlandish personal and professional attacks against me during her time as Suffolk District Attorney.” Accusing Rollins of weaponizing the office against him, Morrissey argued that “the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts must be removed from whatever investigation is being conducted into the Read matter.”
NBC10 Boston reached out to Karen Read’s legal team Wednesday but has not yet heard back. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts declined to comment.
