MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial: Daily Trial Updates

Posted at 7:04 AM, June 19, 2025
Lauren Silver Lauren Silver and Tiffany Smith Tiffany Smith and Grace Wong Grace Wong

DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — Karen Read was acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, following a lengthy and contentious retrial.

Karen Read, third left, and her defense team, Victoria George, from left, David Yannetti, Read, Alan Jackson, Elizabeth Little, and Robert Alessi

Karen Read, third left, and her defense team, Victoria George, from left, David Yannetti, Read, Alan Jackson, Elizabeth Little, and Robert Alessi introduce themselves to potential jurors as jury selection continues for the murder retrial of Read, in front of Judge Beverly J. Cannone in Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Read’s first trial, in 2024, ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. Read was found not guilty of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury or death after O’Keefe was found dead outside of a friend’s house after a night out drinking in January 2022. The jury found her guilty of the lesser offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Read was sentenced immediately following the verdict to one year of probation and a “24D” program.

MORE | Karen Read murder case: A timeline of events

Prosecutors said that Read, angry with O’Keefe because he was planning to break up with her, intentionally hit and killed him with her Lexus SUV in the driveway of a friend’s home after a night out drinking. But Read’s defense said she simply dropped O’Keefe off at the home and that someone inside the home attacked and killed him before leaving him in the snow.

Read’s case captured worldwide attention ahead of her first trial because she claimed that she was the victim of a widespread cover-up by local and state police to frame her for O’Keefe’s death. Read’s team did not back down from the claims and, in the months leading up to her second trial, faced off with prosecutors in battles over experts and evidence.

MORE | Key players in the Karen Read murder case

While many of the facts and witnesses from Read’s first trial remained the same, there were some notable differences. Michael Proctor, who was the lead investigator on the case for the Massachusetts State Police, was fired after the first trial revealed that he had been sending inappropriate text messages about Read to colleagues.

Read also expanded her defense team since the first trial, which now includes Robert Alessi and a juror from her first trial in addition to David Yannetti and Alan Jackson. The Commonwealth also changed tactics and brought in defense attorney Hank Brennan to act as a special prosecutor for the case. Both sides have also expanded their witness lists to include more experts on a variety of subjects, ranging from dog bites and accident reconstruction to the weather.

DAILY TRIAL UPDATES

JUMP TO DAY 1

DAY 36 – 6/18/25

DAY 35 – 6/17/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial, Day 35 | VERDICT WATCH
  • Jurors began their third day of deliberations at 9:00 a.m. ET.
  • We had not heard from the jury until Tuesday. They had four questions for the judge:
    • Question #1 – What is the timeframe for the OUI charge? OUI at 12:45 a.m. or OUI at 5:00 a.m.? You folks have all the evidence and remember it’s only you who decide the facts in this case. You are the fact-finders.
    • Question #2 – Are video clips of Karen’s interviews evidence? How can we consider them? Yes, the videos are evidence. You should weigh the defendant’s statements in the videos as you would any other piece of evidence and give them whatever weight you deem appropriate. (Reads Electronics Instructions from Jury Instructions)
    • Question #3 – Does convicting guilty on a subcharge, example offense 2, number 5 convict the overall charge? I have amended the verdict slip, and it’s going to be a little bit easier to follow.
    • Question #4 – If we find not guilty on two charges but cannot agree on one charge, is it a hung jury on all three charges or just one? This is a theoretical question, not one I can answer.
    • WATCH: More Confusion From the Jury Over Verdict Form in Karen Read’s Retrial
  • Just before 4:00 p.m., the jury was sent a note to Judge Cannone that they wanted to leave for the day.
    • “Alright, jurors, I know you want to go home. So, it’s been a long day for everybody. We know you have been working really hard, and we appreciate it. Clear your heads and don’t think about this case at all as best as you can,” Judge Cannone told the jurors as she sent them home for the day.
  • The jury has deliberated for just over 15 hours.
  • Five men and seven women are deciding whether Karen Read struck her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her Lexus SUV and left him to die in the snow. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.

DAY 34 – 6/16/25

DAY 33 – 6/13/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 33
  • Jurors began their deliberations at 2:40 p.m. ET. Just under two hours later, they sent a note stating that they wanted to leave for the day and resume their deliberations on Monday.
  • Both sides delivered closing arguments.
    • Defense attorney Alan Jackson told the jurors, “There was no collision,” and the government failed and framed his client, Karen Read.
    • Jackson asked the jury to find Read “not guilty,” stating there was “no science, physics, facts, law, or data” that a crime was committed and the Commonwealth failed to prove a collision occurred.
    • Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan, in his final remarks to the jury, told them that John O’Keefe was a “good man” who needed help. He said, “[Karen Read] was drunk. She hit him, and she left him to die. It’s that simple.”
    • Brennan emphasized that the physical evidence and data supported the Commonwealth’s theory despite the defense’s claims of the lead investigator’s misconduct.
  •  The jury began its deliberations and deliberated for almost two hours before the judge sent them home for the weekend.
  • Karen Read is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. She is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV in January 2022 and leaving him in the yard outside a birthday gathering in Canton, Massachusetts. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.

DAY 32 – 6/12/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 32
  • Attorneys Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little were not present for today’s charge conference.
  • Defense attorney David Yannetti and Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally argued what should and should not be included in the jury instructions.
  • The morning kicked off with Yannetti once again asking for a motion for “not guilty,” renewing their arguments that the Commonwealth had not met their burden of proof and their case had been weakened by the defense’s witnesses.
  • Yannetti also included Brian Higgins, a federal officer with ATF, as the “third party” culprit who was ultimately responsible with the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe. In addition, O’Keefe had been attacked by a dog that lived in the home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts.
  • Lally argued on behalf of the Commonwealth that the defense has not shown sufficient evidence that a dog was involved with the death of O’Keefe and using Jennifer McCabe’s testimony that she did not see the dog inside the home does not strengthen the defense’s theory.
  • For the third time, the motion for acquittal was denied.
  • Judge Beverly Cannone ruled the PowerPoint presented by Danile Wolfe, Ph.D. could not be allowed in as evidence. The full reports and PowerPoints for experts on both sides were included as identification and was not submitted as evidence.
  • The defense withdrew their request for a “Missing Witness” statement.
  • The defense argued for lesser charges and the Commonwealth said they do not know agree there should be lesser charges. There was no final ruling on the matter.
  • The Commonwealth presented a number of video clips of Karen Read mindset during the investigation and the trial as evidence. Their request for a statement of “Consciousness of Guilt” was granted.
  • The defense argued for an instruction regarding the Commonwealth’s mistake in inferring the holes on the back of John O’Keefe’s hoodie occurred on the night of incident. It was later determined that the holes were clippings that were done by the crime lab for testing. No decision was made if a statement will be included in the final jury instructions.
  • Karen Read’s defense team believes that John O’Keefe entered the home at 34 Fairview Road and was attacked. At some time that morning, O’Keefe was placed on the front lawn for five hours. Read and two other women found him covered in the snow.
  • Karen Read is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. She is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV in January 2022 and leaving him in the yard outside a birthday gathering in Canton, Massachusetts. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.
  • Closing arguments are set for Friday, June 13, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. ET.

DAY 31 – 6/11/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 31
  • The defense’s final witness, Andrew Rentschler, Ph.D., a biomechanist who works for ARCCA, an accident reconstruction firm, told jurors that John O’Keefe’s injuries were inconsistent with being struck by Karen Read’s vehicle.
  • Jurors heard the most contentious cross-examination so far in the trial between Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan and Rentschler. Brennan questioned Rentschler whether “facts matter.”
    • Rentschler told jurors that he believed that O’Keefe was found 10 to 20 feet from the side of the road. He was shown dash camera video from first responders showing what appeared to be O’Keefe lying near the edge of the roadway. He said he was not aware of the video.
    • Special Prosecutor Brennan asked Rentschler if he considered broken pieces of taillight in the yard and embedded in O’Keefe’s sweatshirt as part of his analysis. “That was not part of my analysis in biomechanics,” Rentschler said.
  • During a colloquy with only Karen Read and the attorneys, Read informed Judge Cannone that she would not be testify in her murder trial.
  • The defense rested its case-in-chief.
  • The Commonwealth said they will not call rebuttal witnesses although the previously indicated that they would.
  • The attorneys will present their final arguments to the jury on Friday, June 13.
  • Jurors heard 31 days of testimony: The Commonwealth presented 38 witnesses including experts, lay witnesses, and law enforcement officials. The defense presenting 11 witnesses. They will soon decide whether Karen Read is responsible for death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
  • After proceedings, a confident Karen Read told reporters she felt her defense was “strong last year and strong this year, calling more witnesses.” She said she is ready for closing arguments, and her defense team plan to present “all the facts, all the truth, and everything thing that went wrong with [the Commonwealth] case.”
  • When asked what Read thought about the Commonwealth not calling a rebuttal witnesses, “They don’t have any analysis and they don’t have any facts to present but Dr. Welcher, so they are done,” Read said.
  • When asked how she feels about the jury, Read said: “We selected them. I was there and took part in it. We chose fair and truthful civic minded citizens. I hope they were listening like I was. That’s all I hope for.” Read told reporters.

DAY 30 – 6/10/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 30
  • Karen Read confirmed she will not testify in her murder trial. When asked why she made that decision, she said, “The jury heard my voice. They heard a lot of me.” Read said she is ready for the case to go to the jury.
  • Read’s defense team called their final witness, Andrew Rentschler, Ph.D., a biomechanist with ARCCA, an accident reconstruction firm, Tuesday afternoon. Rentschler conducted additional testing on the injuries that John O’Keefe sustained after being found on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road occurred by being struck by Karen Read’s luxury SUV.
  • Rentschler said it was his opinion that the injury to the back of John O’Keefe’s head and abrasion on his right arm likely did not occur and was inconsistent with being struck by the taillight cover on Karen Read’s Lexus SUV.
  • The defense is expected to rest following Rentschler’s testimony on Wednesday.
  • Dr. Elizabeth Laposata returned to the witness stand Tuesday morning and said that John O’Keefe did not hit the back of his head and sustained life-threatening injuries on the front lawn at 34 Fairview Road. She added that O’Keefe hit his head on an uneven surface. In addition, O’Keefe did not die from hypothermia.
  • Read’s defense team asked Judge Cannone to reconsider her decision not to allow Dr. Laposata to testify about dog bites. The judge said she would not allow her to testify to dog bites due to a lack of experience but would allow Dr. Laposata to testify about her experience with “animal bites.”
  • On cross-examination, Special Prosecutor Brennan impeached Dr. Laposata regarding her credibility and problematic issues while she was Chief Medical Examiner in Rhode Island. She dismissed the allegations and said the media reporting was “bullsh%$,” and most of the information reported was “erroneous stuff.”
  • Dr. Laposata resigned from her position in 2005 after an audit revealed a backlog of autopsy reports and her office’s delayed response to the 2003 Station Night Club fire that killed 100 people, according to the Commonwealth.

DAY 29 – 6/9/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 29
  • For the second time in the case against Karen Read, the defense asked for a “mistrial with prejudice.” Defense attorney Robert Alessi said that the Commonwealth “intentionally” misled the jury before the court.
    • The motion for a mistrial came in response to Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan’s questioning of an accident reconstructionist, Daniel Wolfe, Ph.D. On cross-examination, Brennan questioned Wolfe about damage to John O’Keefe’s sweatshirt, showing him a series of holes in the back. It was implied that the damage occurred on the night of the incident. Brennan conceded, “It appears that I made a mistake.” He did not dispute that a criminalist made the holes and asked Judge Cannone to give a jury instruction rather than to grant a mistrial.
    • Karen Read’s defense team believes that John O’Keefe entered the home at 34 Fairview Road and was attacked. At some time that morning, O’Keefe was placed on the front lawn for five hours. Read and two other women found him covered in the snow.
    • Judge Cannone denieD the defense’s request for a mistrial. She also made a ruling that the defense’s pathologist’s credentials did not qualify her as an expert on dog bites as a source of injuries to John O’Keefe’s right arm and limited testimony of the impacts of motor vehicles on pedestrians.
  • Dr. Elizabeth Laposata told the jurors that the injury to the back of O’Keefe’s head stemmed from a fall backward onto a ridged surface and not a flat surface. The skull fracture is consistent with a coup-contrecoup injury – O’Keefe struck his head and then suffered internal brain injuries because of internal momentum. The injury would cause bleeding that extends down into the upper eyelids, giving the appearance of having black eyes or “raccoon eyes.”
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson asked if the injury could be the result of someone being punched in the face. “Possibly,” Dr. Laposata said.
  • John O’Keefe had a small cut on his right eye. Dr. Laposata said the injury was caused by something else, possibly involving a “small object.” Jackson asked whether it was consistent with a fist. “Sure. A fist is an object,” Dr. Laposata said.
  • Daniel Wolfe, an accident reconstructionist, acknowledged that flying fragments from the taillight could have been a source of injury to John O’Keefe’s nose and eye.
  • John Tedeman, a private investigator, testified he took measurements from the roadway near the mailbox to the three entry points of the home, but he did not measure from the flagpole to the same entry points.

DAY 28 – 6/6/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 28
  • MORE: Proctor’s texts, dog bites & snow plows: Week 7 in Karen Read’s retrial
  • The defense calls one of their key witnesses, Daniel Wolfe, Ph.D., an accident reconstruction expert who works for ARCCA, Incorporated. Wolfe testified during Karen Read’s first trial but conducted additional testing for the retrial that backs up his findings that Read did not strike Boston police officer John O’Keefe on January 29, 2022.
  • Wolfe used a crash test dummy and a Rescue Randy dummy, along with a Lexus SUV like Read’s vehicle, to test various speeds and impacts to the exemplar vehicle’s taillight. Wolfe said the tests were “inconclusive” and did not match the damage that was sustained to Read’s vehicle.
  • On cross-examination, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan grilled Wolfe on his calculations and not using comparable test items that would accurately validate his findings.
  • Wolfe conceded that using “lighter” test objects created less damage than the speeds tested.
  • Daniel Wolfe told jurors that each test conducted did not cause tearing and snags to a hoodie like O’Keefe. Special ADA Brennan showed jurors a picture of the crash dummy’s tattered sleeve. Wolfe said the damage was the result of road rash but noted that there was damage to other parts of the hoodie.

DAY 27 – 6/4/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 27
  • A snowplow driver, Brian “Lucky” Loughran, testified that he never saw John O’Keefe’s body on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road on January 29, 2022.
  • Loughran said he drove past 34 Fairview Road multiple times on the morning of January 29, 2022. His shift began at 2:30 a.m., and he was assigned to clear the roads near Route 111, including side streets, which included Cedarcrest and Fairview Roads. Loughran’s first pass on Fairview Road was between 2:40 and 2:45 a.m., and he returned five to 10 minutes later to clear the other half of the road. The second time, he cleared Fairview Road at 3:30 a.m., and when he returned, there was a Ford Edge parked outside the front of the home. The next time he came through was at 6:15 a.m., but he could not get through because police were blocking the roadway.
  • On cross-examination, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan asked if Loughran was being threatened by an online blogger, which Loughran repeatedly denied. Loughran acknowledged that he wished he “did not have the attention” and was embarrassed that he had been made a “public spectacle.” He added that what was being said about him online did not affect his decision to change his testimony.
  • Loughran was questioned about his memory and what he saw the morning O’Keefe was located. Loughran was asked if he saw a “red dumpster,” which he denied. Brennan showed the jury video of the “red dumpster” across the street from 34 Fairview Road. Loughran was also asked why he had changed his testimony regarding the Ford Edge. He told a private investigator hired by the defense two weeks after the incident that he saw the vehicle on Cedarcrest Road but has since changed his testimony.
  • Brennan showed Loughran police dash camera of the heavy snowfall and the distance between 34 Fairview and Cedarcrest Road. The video showed a snowplow truck driving up and down Cedarcrest Road multiple times in the background. Loughlin told the jury that he saw his plow truck, “Frankentruck,” but could not confirm other instances in the video.
  • After court proceedings on Wednesday, Aidan Kearney, who is also known by “Turtle Boy,” told reporters “Absolutely not” when asked if he threatened Loughran to change his testimony and do the right thing.
  • Karina Kolokithas, who knew John O’Keefe and Karen Read through a parent group for a kids’ sports program, interacted with the two on the night before O’Keefe’s death. Kolokithas described a loving moment where O’Keefe hugged Read and kissed her on the forehead. She said, “It was the sweetest thing.”
  • Kolokithas testified Jennifer McCabe’s interaction with Karen Read as the group was leaving the Waterfall Bar and Grill was “strange” when she put her arm around Read and said, “Karen, you’re coming with me. You’re coming with me.”
  • On cross-examination, Kolokithas was asked if her last image of John O’Keefe and Karen Read was when the couple was walking toward their vehicle. “Yes,” Kolokithas replied. She was then asked who got into the driver’s seat, “Karen did,” Kolokithas responded.

DAY 26 – 6/3/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 26
  • For a second time, Karen Read’s defense team demanded a mistrial with prejudice after the Commonwealth asked Dr. Marie Russell about dog DNA on John O’Keefe’s clothing, claiming it was “intentional.” Special Assistant District Attorney pushed back that the reference was permissible since Dr. Russell considered the absence of DNA and had disregarded it during Read’s first trial. Judge Cannone denied their request, and Brennan was allowed to continue his line of questioning.
  • Special prosecutor Hank Brennan questioned Dr. Russell, a dog bite expert who works as an emergency room physician and forensic pathologist, on cross-examination about inconsistencies in her testimony and what caused the injuries found on John O’Keefe’s right arm.
  • During Karen Read’s first trial, Dr. Russell testified that the injuries were caused by either dog teeth or nails. Her current testimony evolved to the injuries were caused by “canine teeth.” I “became more certain,” Dr. Russell told the jury.
  • Dr. Russell acknowledged that there are no published standards from any organizations for her methodology used to identify a dog bite wound but said there are “many conditions in medicine” without developed standards.
  • Dighton Police Sgt. Nicholas Barros, who was a patrol officer in 2022, testified he helped serve a search warrant for Read’s vehicle from her parent’s home. Barros said the taillight was cracked and missing a “dollar-sized” fragment from the taillight. When shown a photo of her vehicle inside the Canton Police Department sally port, Barros said that’s “absolutely not” the same condition he saw the taillight before transport.
  • On cross-examination, Barros said he did not see the responding troopers tamper with the taillight.
  • Brennan pushed Barros on why he did not provide more details about the taillight in his report, only writing a single sentence that the taillight was cracked. Barros acknowledged that he had been following the trial and had been exposed to coverage of it on the news and social media.

DAY 25 – 6/2/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 25
  • One of the defense witnesses, a former Canton Police Department patrol officer, was treated as a hostile witness following a contentious exchange where she told jurors that one of Karen Read’s attorneys allegedly “threatened” her to “lie on the witness stand” or face “perjury” charges.
  • Kelly Dever said she was scheduled to be on patrol the morning John O’Keefe was found in the snow but was reassigned to dispatch as other officers responded to 34 Fairview Road. Dever was also questioned about security cameras inside the police department.
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson questioned Dever about statements she made to an outside law enforcement agent on August 9, 2023. Dever said she saw her chief of police and ATF Agent Brian Higgins go into the sally port together and alone with Read’s vehicle a “wildly long time.” Dever told the jury she recanted her statement after she realized she had her timeline incorrect and was not working when Read’s vehicle arrived at the police department.
  • On cross-examination, Dever told the jury, “My entire job revolves around what I say on the stand right now. If I were to lie, I lose my job. I lose everything. I’m here to tell the truth.”
  • Dr. Marie Russell, a forensic pathologist and dog bite expert, testified that the injuries to John O’Keefe’s right arm are consistent with a possible dog attack. She said that the injuries were not inflicted by Read’s SUV.
  • Dr. Russell pointed to how the injuries were grouped together, which she believes were inflicted by the teeth and claws of a dog.
  • The Commonwealth asked Dr. Russell if she was aware that O’Keefe’s injuries, as described by the medical examiner, were “superficial with no punctures.” She acknowledged that she read the report but seemed steadfast in her assessment that it was a dog bite. She added that she believed the hole in O’Keefe’s sweater was from a canine tooth.
  • The defense calls a childhood friend of former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor to confirm an obscene text exchange about Karen Read.
  • Karen Read’s legal team introduced the messages to show the lead investigator was biased toward Read at the beginning of the investigation. It was revealed in Read’s first trial that Proctor discussed the case, and he ruled out the possibility that John O’Keefe had been assaulted after seeing his body at Good Samaritan Hospital. Proctor was fired last March following an internal investigation of the text messages.
  • Defense attorney David Yannetti did not reveal the messages to the jury while Jonathan Diamandis was on the witness stand, but on cross-examination, Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan read each text written in a group chat of nine people.
  • In one of the text messages, Proctor said that [Read] “waffled” [O’Keefe] and “some serious charges will be brought on the girl.” Proctor referred to Read as a “whack job” in another text and used slang terms to refer to Read’s medical condition.
  • Jonathan Diamandis said of his friend of over 30 years that Michael Proctor never discussed “framing” Karen Read or planting evidence.

DAY 24 – 5/30/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 24
  • MORE: State rests, blue paint and a launch to space: Week 6 in Karen Read’s retrial
  • Karen Read’s motion for a “not guilty verdict” was denied.
  • Lead defense attorney Alan Jackson argued that the Commonwealth failed “miserably” to prove their case and that Read struck Boston police officer John O’Keefe and left him in the snow. Jackson said that the Commonwealth’s experts, based on circumstantial evidence, only showed that his client’s vehicle had gone in reverse and implied that there were other people involved with O’Keefe’s death.
  • Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan said a “reasonable fact finder” would agree that [Karen Read] was intoxicated, and there was an abundance of evidence that a collision occurred. Brennan added that Read’s statements in interviews following her first trial and the data that she placed her vehicle in reverse at the time that O’Keefe last used his cell phone.
  • The defense called their first witness an accident reconstructionist who specializes in data forensics.
  • Matthew DiSogra of DELTA |v| Forensic Engineer was asked to interpret Aperture reports presented by Judson Welcher, Ph.D., and Shanon Burgess.
  • DiSogra told the jury that he found no data that John O’Keefe locked his cell phone before Read’s vehicle was placed in reverse. DiSogra said that in Shanon Burgess’ amended report, some of the calculations showed O’Keefe’s phone locking before the incident, during the incident, and several times afterward.
  • DiSogra said he disagreed with Burgess’ assessment that the event was recorded during the actual trigger event, and he believes that the trigger event was recorded at the end of the event.
  • On cross-examination, Brennan asked DiSogra, “Sir, are you trying to offer an opinion suggesting that Ms. Read’s vehicle never hit John O’Keefe?” DiSogra answered, “No.”
  • DiSogra acknowledged that he did not conduct any testing or analysis of his own and only critiqued the other expert’s reports. He has no subspecialty knowledge in mobile forensics.
  • At the end of the day, defense attorney David Yannetti called a long-time friend of former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor to the witnesses stand for a voir dire hearing. Yannetti questioned Jonathan Diamandis about a text messages group involving Proctor and eight other friends.
  • Although the text messages were not disclosed during the hearing, they were described as “disparaging” towards Karen Read. Yannetti hopes that Judge Beverly Cannone will allow him to call Diamandis as a witness during the trial to show the “mindset” and “bias” of Proctor during the investigation.
  • Yannetti’s final argument before the court, he believes that Proctor treated some people “with kid gloves and others with brass knuckles.” He said in one text, Proctor stated, “[Read] going to go down for this. We are going to pin it on the girl. We’re going to make sure there are serious charges.”
  • Brennan argued that the defense should call Michael Proctor to testify to ask him about the text messages and not present the text through a hearsay witness.
  • Judge Beverly Cannone will make her ruling on whether or not Diamandis can testify on Monday.
  • Karen Read told reporters that they have other expert witnesses, including an accident reconstructionist. When asked whether she would call Michael Proctor as a witness, she responded, “No comment.” Overall, she seemed pleased with the outcome of the defense’s first day of evidence.

DAY 23 – 5/29/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 23
  • After 23 days of testimony and calling 38 lay witnesses, law enforcement officials, and experts, the Commonwealth rested.
  • Before the Commonwealth concluded its presentation of evidence, jurors heard one final interview clip from Karen Read. “So, I thought, could I have run him over? Did he try to get me as I was leaving, and I didn’t know it? I mean, I always got the music blasting. It’s snowing. I got the wipers going and the heater blasting. Did he, did he come and hit the back of my car, and I hit him in the knee, and he’s drunk, passed out, and asphyxiated, or something? And then, when I hired David Yannetti, I asked him those questions the night of January 29th. David, what if, I don’t know, what if I ran his foot over or what if….I clipped him in the knee, and he passed out and, or, went to care for himself and threw up or passed out, and David said, ‘yes,’ you have some element of culpability,” Read said in an interview.
  • The Commonwealth’s accident reconstructionist expert, Judson Welcher, Ph.D., returned to the witness stand on Thursday.
  • Prosecutors believe Karen Read struck Boston police officer John O’Keefe with her Lexus RS350 in the early morning hours of January 29, 2022. O’Keefe was found unresponsive, covered in snow during a nor’easter later that morning.
  • Karen Read’s defense team argues that someone or something else caused John O’Keefe’s death. A medical examiner determined that O’Keefe’s death was the result of “blunt-force trauma to the head and hyperthermia.” The manner of death was “undetermined.”
  • Before testimony resumed on Thursday, Judge Beverly Cannone heard final arguments from the attorneys regarding whether the defense could question Welcher, an accident reconstructionist, about Trooper Joe Paul’s reconstruction report and the autopsy findings of Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello. The defense’s request was denied.
  • On redirect, Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan asked Welcher if he had ever communicated with the district attorney’s office using an “encrypted app like Signal” to communicate with [Brennan] or anyone else. Welcher responded, “No, I don’t have any of those. I don’t know what that is.” The question was an understated jab at the defense. Brennan attempted to block Daniel Wolfe, Ph.D., of ARCCA, a potential defense witness, from testifying due to a discovery violation and unaccounted text and emails between defense counsel and the company. During a voir dire hearing, Wolfe stated that he frequently communicated with defense attorney Alan Jackson using the Signal app.
  • There was only a half-day of testimony on Thursday. Jurors will hear the defense’s presentation of evidence on Friday.
  • Last week, Karen Read told reporters that she is “anxious” for the jury to her defense’s presentation of evidence and said it would be more “robust” than what was heard in her first trial.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 23 Recap

DAY 22 – 5/28/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 22
  • The Commonwealth’s accident reconstructionist expert, Judson Welcher, Ph.D., returned to the witness stand.
  • Judge Beverly Cannone ruled with the Commonwealth in part that Welcher could testify that his analysis concluded that damage to Karen Read’s luxury SUV was consistent with being involved in a collision on January 29, 2022. She also ruled that injuries to Boston police officer John O’Keefe are consistent with being struck by a Lexus.
  • Judge Cannone sided with the defense and said that Welcher could not testify that Karen Read’s Lexus RS350 collided with John O’Keefe.
  • Welcher told jurors that Read’s SUV did not log a collision in the early morning of January 29, 2022, but collision data would only register between cars and not pedestrians.
  • Defense attorney Robert Alessi attempted to debunk Welcher’s analysis and the Commonwealth’s theory of what happened the night of John O’Keefe’s death.
  • Alessi spent most of the morning and afternoon challenging Welcher on whether he had “the information necessary” to conclude with certainty what happened to O’Keefe at the time of impact. Welcher conducted several low-speed crash simulations to show that the taillight on Read’s vehicle could cause injuries to the exact location found on O’Keefe’s arm and hand.
  • On cross-examination, Welcher was asked which portion of Read’s SUV could break bones in O’Keefe’s arm and hand. “Any part portion of the back of the Lexus? Alessi asked. “Yes, probably,” Welcher answered.
  • Outside the presence of the jury, Welcher was questioned about a slide that was not included in his presentation, a photograph from a drone. Welcher said he found the drone photos in documents provided to him by prosecutors but were in a file labeled “Trp Paul.” Welcher told Alessi that information from Trooper Joe Paul was not used for his analysis, and the photo that Alessi pointed out was not what was provided to him for his analysis.  Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan pointed out that the images were taken by the Massachusetts State Police’s Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), and Trooper Paul used their photos, not the same as Welcher, in his report.

DAY 21 – 5/27/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 21
  • Before the trial resumed, defense attorney Robert Alessi questioned Welcher regarding modifications to his PowerPoint presentation. Welcher said he revised his presentation in the past eight to 10 days, removing one slide and changing the wording on several others. The route and mileage were revised while Karen Read’s vehicle was in Dighton, MA.
  • After a brief introduction before the jury, Welcher told the jury, “…Testimony is the only thing we have, and so we need to rely on it for bits and pieces. My job is to try and look at data and see what the data shows. I have no dog in this fight. I don’t, quite frankly, care. What I’m doing is trying to do a good engineering job, look at the data, and draw sound principles and conclusions from the data.”
  • Judson Welcher explained how he used data provided in Shanon Burgess’ report to accurately align with the two key triggers in the data stream.
  • The first data trigger recorded in the infotainment module was for a 3-point turn on Cedarcrest Road at 12:23:38 a.m., which aligned with the trigger in the data stream. O’Keefe’s cell phone data for the first trigger was at approximately 12:23:58 at the end of the three-point turn and heading back south toward Fairview Road. The second data trigger, a backing maneuver, occurred 11 minutes and 2.8 seconds later, placing Read’s vehicle outside of 34 Fairview Road between 12:32:04 a.m. and 12:32:12 a.m., matching the window John O’Keefe’s cell phone locks for the final time.
  • Welcher testified that when Karen Read was backing out of the garage at John O’Keefe’s home just after 5:00 a.m., she bumped into O’Keefe’s Chevrolet Traverse, dislodging snow at the point of impact, going at a rate of 1 mph. The impact points, using tire track marks in the snow, were measured at 25 ½ inches and 32 inches above the ground. There was no damage to O’Keefe’s bumper, and there was no evidence of taillight fragments on the ground. The contact point was not near the upper taillight, and the lower taillight was not broken. However, there was a scuff mark just above the lower taillight on Read’s vehicle.
  • Jurors saw a demonstration video showing a tester vehicle going at a low speed of 2 mph would disrupt a person’s balance, causing a person to step back. Welcher showed where the SUV could have struck the victim’s arm but acknowledged that there was no information on how he may have been hit.
  • Welcher purchased the same make and model as Read’s vehicle, a 2021 Lexus RX350, to conduct field testing. He also had access to police reports, Ring video, police cruiser dash camera videos, photos from the crime scene, surveillance videos from the bars Read and O’Keefe visited, infotainment system data, cell phone records, medical records, and retrograde extrapolation reports to help with his analysis.
  • The Commonwealth’s case, which began just over a month ago on April 22, 2025, could be ending this week. Jurors have so far heard from 38 witnesses, including lay witnesses, law enforcement personnel, and expert witnesses. Last week, Karen Read told reporters that she is “anxious” for the jury to her defense’s presentation of evidence and said it would be more “robust” than what was heard in her first trial.

DAY 20 – 5/21/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 20
  • MORE: Clock-drifting, inaccurate resumes and DNA: Week 5 of Karen Read’s retrial
  • A trace analyst for the Massachusetts State Police crime lab told jurors that plastic debris the size of rice found in John O’Keefe’s clothing matches Karen Read’s Lexus taillight or “another source with the same characteristics.”
  • On cross-examination, defense attorney Alan Jackson inquired about the glass found on the bumper of Read’s vehicle. Jackson pointed to one glass fragment that matched a larger piece of glass recovered by former Trooper Michael Proctor, and the glass from the bumper did not match the cup. “There was no physical match comparison to the cup,” Christina Hanley said.
  • Neurosurgeon Dr. Aizik Wolf testified that John O’Keefe’s head injury to the back of his head is “classic blunt trauma” and is consistent with “soft tissue hitting a solid ground.” Dr. Wolf agreed when asked if O’Keefe could suffer this type of injury by falling backward. He added the energy forces went into the brain and then to the base of the skull.
  • Dr. Wolf said that O’Keefe did not die immediately as a result of the fall nor from hypothermia. The bruising from the injury would have caused blood leakage within the skull, referred to as “raccoon eyes.”
  • Proceedings were delayed on Wednesday morning while the judge and attorneys discussed “an issue” with the jury. Judge Cannone said speaking to each of the 18 jurors individually was necessary. The questioning lasted a little over an hour. Although what was discussed was not disclosed to the public, two jurors noticeably changed seating, and none were dismissed.
  • Once proceedings got underway, Judge Cannone addressed the jury again, “I do need to stress that it is very, very important that no one discusses this case. Don’t let anyone talk to you about the case. No comments about the case. We’ve seen how hard the attorneys have worked to pull this case together for you. Everybody has given it so much time. So, please, let’s make sure we follow that.”
  • Following Wednesday’s proceedings, Karen Read told reporters, “I feel great. I’m anxious. I’m ready to put on our case. We should be more robust than last year, so I’m anxious for everyone to learn what we know.”

DAY 19 – 5/20/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 19 
  • The Commonwealth’s digital forensic analyst returned to the witness stand for a second day of cross-examination.
  • Shanon Burgess, a digital forensic analyst with Aperture, told the jury that the last time John O’Keefe used his cell phone was at 12:32:09 a.m. on January 29, 2022. Karen Read’s vehicle recorded her shifting the SUV in reverse between 12:32:04 a.m. and 12:32:12 a.m.
  • In a tense exchange, defense attorney Robert Alessi grilled Shanon Burgess about inaccuracies found on Burgess’ resume, suggesting that Burgess “was not truthful” regarding his academic credentials.
  • When asked about the inaccuracies, Burgess said he had every intention to obtain a bachelor’s degree, but “work and life” prevented him from finishing college.
  • Alessi challenged Burgess on his findings regarding his timeline calculations using Karen Read’s SUV and John O’Keefe’s cell phone. Burgess told the jury that timestamps used by other experts did not factor in the 21 to 29-second variance.
  • Key data information was in an SD card in Read’s infotainment module, which was overlooked by other experts. The information included a 3-point turn data and backing maneuver on January 29, 2022, which helped Burgess calculate a more accurate time “to the second,” according to Burgess.
  • Shanon Burgess conceded on cross-examination that those “trigger events” recorded in Read’s SUV do not point to a collision. There were 30 “trigger events” recorded within the eight months Karen Read owned the vehicle.
  • On redirect, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan focused more on the data from Burgess’ report and less on whether Burgess received a bachelor’s degree. Brennan pointed to several celebrities, like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey, who were successful without obtaining a bachelor’s degree.
  • The Commonwealth played more Karen Read interview clips from for the jury, showing she may have been aware of the timing of John O’Keefe’s death. In one clip filmed on April 13, 2024, before her first trial, Karen Read said, “I’ll tell you. John and I argued the morning of the [January] 28th. Friday morning. So, he died, we think he died right around 12:25, 12:30 on the early morning of the 29th.”
  • At the end of the day on Tuesday, a trace analyst for the Massachusetts State Police crime lab tested glass and plastic found outside 34 Fairview Road and on Read’s vehicle’s back bumper. That testimony will continue on Wednesday.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 19 Recap

DAY 18 – 5/19/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 18
  • Shanon Burgess, a data forensic analyst specializing in digital evidence found in vehicles and cell phones, revealed an SD card within the infotainment module in Karen Read’s Lexus SUV was missed and not tested, and other modules were damaged from overheating during a “chip-off” process.
    • Burgess focused on two key data points, a “three-point turn event” and a “backing maneuver” surrounding the timing of when John O’Keefe last used his cell phone. He discovered the vehicle powering on and off provided a timestamp that he could use to contextualize additional data found on the SD card or “black box.”
    • On direct examination, Burgess was questioned whether the clock inside the vehicle and John O’Keefe’s iPhone were perfectly synced. “Its function is accurate to the minute. Its function is not to be accurate to the second,” Burgess said.
    • On January 29, 2022, Karen Read’s luxury SUV powered on at 12:12:36 a.m. and powered off her vehicle at 12:42:08 a.m.
    • Burgess used data from the Waze app on John O’Keefe’s cell phone to help calculate the three-point turn event. Waze data provides geolocation, time, and directional, which showed the event occurred between 12:23:59 and 12:24:00 a.m.
    • Using the information from Read’s infotainment module, John O’Keefe’s Waze app, Burgess used an industry-standard method to synchronize the clock times, and the two devices had a 21 to 29-second variance. He confirmed that O’Keefe’s last interaction with his iPhone occurred at 12:32:09 a.m., with Karen Read shifting her car out of reverse between 12:32:04 a.m. and 12:32:12 a.m.
    • On cross-examination, Burgess was grilled on potential bias and “truthfulness” on his resume. Burgess listed on his resume provided to the court that he graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and business administration. He acknowledged an “error” his resume should have stated that he had a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a minor in math, but he later admitted he did not possess a bachelor’s degree.
  • DNA Analysts with Bode Technology in Virginia were tasked with testing a strand of hair found on the back passenger panel of Read’s vehicle and including or excluding buccal swabs from Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik and former State Trooper Michael Proctor from evidence.
  • OTHER NEWS: A supporter of Karen Read was arrested Monday afternoon for violating the Buffer Zone order. The demonstrator was arrested last week for being within the buffer zone and wearing clothing that could potentially influence the jury. The woman returned wearing the same problematic clothing with her attorney and a few supporters on Monday. She was immediately arrested. Last week, the order that barred demonstrators from being near the Norfolk Superior Courthouse most of the day was revised after demonstrators filed a lawsuit that it was “unconstitutional and violated their First Amendment right. A federal court judge struck down Judge Cannone’s original order barring demonstrators within several blocks surrounding the courthouse. That order was revised to allow demonstrators across the street from the courthouse, but signs and clothing that may influence the jury are not allowed within the buffer zone.

DAY 17 – 5/16/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 17
  • MORE: Court canceled, new video and a breakup: Week 4 of Karen Read’s retrial
  • At the start of the day’s proceedings, Judge Beverly Cannone asked jurors to focus on listening to the testimony and resist “making facial expressions, audible noises, talking, or muttering under the breath.”
  • Judge Beverly Cannone ruled against Karen Read’s defense team regarding data evidence.
    • The Commonwealth can introduce new evidence from Aperture, a forensic data company, regarding the variance of the internal clock in Karen Read’s luxury SUV and John O’Keefe’s iPhone.
    • Defense attorney Robert Alessi argued that the amended report was not timely and an “ambush” and suggested that the witnesses may have violated the sequestration order by watching testimony from the trial.
    • Alessi asked the court not to allow the report to be used or for a continuance of four days to review the Commonwealth’s expert’s new findings. “There is no remedy for the defense….we will not ever be able to recover strategically or substantively from it,” Alessi said.
    • “There are no changes. No changes in the timeline. Mr. Alessi keeps trying to portray this as something has changed. Nothing has changed. It’s the exact same,” Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan said.
    • Judge Cannone said, “My findings, for the record, are that the defense has not persuaded me of undue surprise or unfair prejudice…I don’t find that there’s delayed disclosure.”
  • Demonstrators were in the “Buffer Zone” before the courthouse this morning after a First Circuit Court judge struck down the current order barring demonstrators from near the courthouse building. The updated order signed by Judge Cannone now allows demonstrators to stand across the street from the courthouse.
  • Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan read a stipulation agreed by both the Commonwealth and Karen Read’s defense attorney regarding the two Massachusetts State Troopers photographed in the room during John O’Keefe’s autopsy. Trooper Connor Keefe and Trooper Watson are the two identified in the photo. Former Trooper Michael Proctor was not present during O’Keefe’s autopsy.
  • Jurors heard the results of DNA evidence on items collected at the hospital and 34 Fairview Road and Physical Match results of pieces of glass and plastic material.

DAY 16 – 5/15/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 16
  • Karen Read supporters won a huge victory. Judge Beverly Cannone lifted the Buffer Zone outside the Norfolk Superior Courthouse, allowing demonstrations in the public areas outside the courthouse. The ruling came after the First Circuit Court ruled that the buffer zone violated supporters’ First Amendment rights.
  • Karen Read’s defense team will decide by Friday morning whether to ask for a continuance to review a recently received amended report from the Commonwealth’s expert. Defense attorney Robert Alessi argued that new data evidence containing a variance between the internal clocks in Read’s SUV and John O’Keefe’s cell phone data would put the “entire defense” at risk. Alessi said the report, presented by Aperture, a forensic data company, “came too late in the trial.” Alessi argued that the Commonwealth “ambushed” the defense in the middle of the trial. Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan told Judge Cannone that the Commonwealth recently received the information and would like to use the new information in their expert testimony. There was no ruling on the matter.
  • Criminalist Maureen Harnett testified she found broken glass, scratches, and a dent on the back of Karen Read’s luxury vehicle. She also collected swabs to test for DNA and debris recovered from John O’Keefe’s clothing.
    • Defense attorney Robert Alessi questioned Harnett about the method she used to collect evidence.
  • Jurors heard from Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy of John O’Keefe following his death on January 29, 2022.
    • O’Keefe’s injuries consisted of a one-centimeter laceration on his right eyelid and abrasions on the anterior and left aspect of the nose. There was a laceration and compound injury to the back of his head. His upper right arm had superficial abrasions, while his right posterior arm and forearm had multiple abrasions, ranging from two to three millimeters and up to seven centimeters. There were two bruises on the back of his left hand and a small abrasion or scrape on the side of his right knee.
    • On cross-examination, Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello said that the injury to the back of John O’Keefe’s head could have occurred while falling backward.
    • Dr. Scordi-Bello said O’Keefe’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia, but the manner of death was undetermined. She was unable to determine what caused the scrapes and bruises found on O’Keefe’s body.
    • Defense attorney Robert Alessi questioned Dr. Scordi-Bello on her determination that hypothermia was a contributor to O’Keefe’s cause of death. “At the end of my timeline, I concluded on cause, but I did not conclude or determine a manner. The manner could be the circumstances. You are speaking about whether I considered other causes or circumstances – that’s not how it works. I don’t come up with hypothetical scenarios on how those injuries occur,” Dr. Scordi-Bello told the jury.
    • On cross-examination, Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello said she did not find any injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle while examining John O’Keefe’s body.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 16 Recap

DAY 15 – 5/14/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 15
  • The Commonwealth presented new evidence to the jury after the defense opened the door to what prosecutors say could illustrate John O’Keefe’s death as a “domestic violence homicide,” and Karen Read could not accept O’Keefe’s attempts to break up with her.
  • The new evidence was allowed after defense attorney Alan Jackson asked Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik to read text messages between his client and ATF Agent Brian Higgins. The text messages revealed that Read flirted with Higgins seventeen days before O’Keefe’s death. She claimed to be single, complained about O’Keefe’s adopted children, and claimed that O’Keefe “hooked up with another woman in a hotel lobbing in Aruba.
  • “Evidence of the defendant’s prior conduct is permissible and highly probative to show the defendant’s state of mind; to show the defendant’s motive; to show the defendant’s common pattern of behavior toward the victim, in particular as demonstrated by previously admitted evidence, that the defendant would become enraged and accuse the victim of cheating on her, and the nature of the defendant and victim’s relationship,” Hank Brennan wrote in a court document.
  • Brennan continued, “Where the defendant has opened the door, it is especially significant for the jury to understand that it was [Karen Read] who repeatedly refused to accept the victim’s desire to terminate their relationship, the defendant’s made repeated hostile accusations that the victim was having an affair and that there was an established pattern of hostility, occurring in the weeks and days preceding the murder.”
  • John O’Keefe’s niece testifies. Judge Cannone barred the media from identifying the teen witness.
  • Jurors watch more televised interviews that Karen Read gave to Dateline and Investigation Discovery. “I don’t see how John would have known about my texts with Brian. I’m sure if he knew, he would have reacted very strongly. I think we would have broken up, but I don’t think John would have lost it and caused a fight. I didn’t feel John’s emotions with me got really strong,” Read said in one clip.
  • Jurors heard testimony from crime scene investigators and a criminalist.
  • Needham Police Sgt. Brian Gallerani collected DNA swabs from Trooper Michael Proctor and Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik during the investigation. Gallerani told the jury he was not asked to collect DNA from Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz, Canton Police Department Detective Kevin Albert, and Lt. Brian Tully.
  • Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Evan Brent told jurors the items he collected were either on top of a foot and a half of snow, and other items were found buried in the snow.
  • Massachusetts State Police Criminalist Maureen Hartnett described documenting scratches and a dent on Karen Read’s luxury SUV. A strand of hair and glass was found back of the vehicle.

DAY 14 – 5/12/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 14
  • Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik returned to the witness stand on Monday for a third-day full day of testimony.
  • Jurors see surveillance video of Karen Read’s vehicle arriving at the Canton Police Department and some videos from inside the Sally Port area on January 29, 2022.
  • Videos of federal agent Brian Higgins in the early morning at the Canton Police Department were also shown to the jury. Higgins testified during the first trial that he went there to move vehicles around the parking lot due to the storm. The video showed Higgins arriving at the police department, entering the building and inside for six minutes, and exiting the building with what appeared to be a cell phone in his right hand. The video showed a vehicle being driven in the foreground. Higgins is then seen brushing snow off the cars.
  • When asked on redirect by Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan whether Brian Higgins had a motive to murder John O’Keefe, Sgt. Bukhenik said, “No, I didn’t find a motive that Brian Higgins would want to murder John O’Keefe.” Defense attorney Alan Jackson followed up on that question on re-cross-examination, “What about a motive to confront him about a girl he was interested in?” Sgt Bukhenik stated, “I believe the text messages speak for themselves. Everybody heard me read them out loud.”
  • On redirect, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan focused on the defense theory that Tropper Michael Proctor planted broken taillight pieces from Karen Read’s Lexus SUV outside 34 Fairview Road. Sgt. Bukhenik said he did not see Proctor or anyone else touch or remove part of the broken taillight from the vehicle.
  • Outside the presence of the jury, Sgt. Bukhenik was questioned about Trooper Michael Proctor and his family’s relationship with Chris and Julie Albert or any other family members. Bukhenik told jurors that Proctor informed him of the relationship just before interviewing some Albert family members. Bukhenik said he never investigated. Judge Cannone ruled that this line of questioning would not be permitted before the jury.
  • Sgt. Bukhenik was asked why he interviewed Brian Albert, Jennifer McCabe, and Matt McCabe at the McCabe family’s home. He explained, “There were multiple factors. One. Driving conditions. Two. These witnesses had suffered a traumatic event, finding their friend on the front lawn. So going to their home would provide a more comfortable scene for them to recall information in the comfort of their own home.” Bukhenik was grilled about whether the witnesses were separated before their interviews, which led to the line of questioning. Bukhenik said Karen Read was also interviewed at her parents’ home on redirect. Read’s mother was in the house, and her father sat with her as Read answered questions. Read’s father was never asked to leave the room.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 14 Recap

DAY 13 – 5/9/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 13
  • MORE: Clothing, leaf blowers and a buffet: Week 3 of Karen Read’s retrial
  • Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik returns to the witness stand for a second day of cross-examination. He was the only witness jurors heard from on Friday.
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson continues a line of questioning surrounding Bukhenik’s theory that John O’Keefe had been struck with a cocktail glass before his death. Bukhenik told jurors that based on Karen Read’s initial statement, ‘I hit him,’ the assumption was O’Keefe ‘was struck with something.’ So, the theory would be, why is the cocktail glass broken? Because it came into contact with the victim.”
  • The information regarding the cocktail glass was communicated to the Medical Examiner’s Office that the incident was possibly domestic, involving a glass strike to the victim.
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson grilled Sgt. Bukhenik about the taillight pieces from Karen Read’s Lexus SUV. The defense contends that the pieces were not found until after her vehicle was impounded. Bukhenik said the fragments of the taillight were exposed after the snow from the blizzard melted, revealing the missed pieces.
  • The exchange between Jackson and Bukhenik was testy at times. This led to this exchange: “Do you know what the word ‘theory’ means?” Jackson said. Bukhenik responds, “I’m sorry. English is a third language for me. So, if you can bring up the Webster’s Dictionary, I can read it out.” Jackson immediately fired back, “You want me to pull up the Webster’s Dictionary to define a word that you used in an answer 40 seconds ago? “We’re working off a ‘theory,’ You said it, not me.”
  • The line of questioning of evidence, theories, and possibly other suspects transitioned to Alan Jackson asking Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik to read the jury a text exchange between Karen Read and ATF Agent Brian Higgins that began on January 12, 2022 – 17 days before John O’Keefe’s death.
  • Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik was questioned whether the text exchange between Higgins and Read was “flirtatious.” Bukhenik said, “My opinion of the texts is an angry girlfriend trying to set up a hookup to hurt John.”
  • Jackson focused his questions regarding the text messages between Higgins and Read on the night of January 28, 2022, the night the group of friends went to the Waterfall Bar and Grill. At 11:32 p.m., Higgins wrote, “Ummmmmm. Well.” Read responded 12 hours later, “John died.”
  • Karen Read stopped responding to Brian Higgins’ text messages before John O’Keefe’s death.
  • Jurors were shown a text message sent from Brian Higgins to John O’Keefe at 12:20 a.m. on January 29, 2022, “You coming here???” The text was sent minutes before data shows O’Keefe’s phone stopped moving, and calls and texts went unanswered.
  • Sgt. Bukhenik was questioned about Brian Albert’s family dog, Chloe, a German Shepherd. Albert, a Boston Police Officer, lived at 34 Fairview Road. The Alberts’ dog was “re-homed” after John O’Keefe’s death.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 13 Recap

DAY 12 – 5/8/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 12
  • Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, who supervised and partnered with former lead investigator Trooper Michael Proctor in the initial phase of the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death, testified on Thursday.
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson questioned Sgt. Bukhenik, whether he thought Proctor’s involvement in the case following Proctor’s firing “tainted” the investigation. “No. The investigation was done with honor and integrity by Michael Proctor, and all the evidence pointed to one direction and one direction only,” Bukhenik said.
  • Michael Proctor was investigated after text messages were discovered during the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death. Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik was asked to read a portion of the texts: “Funny, I am going through his retarded client’s phone,” one text read. “No nudes so far,” in another text. “I hate that man. I truly hate him,” Proctor wrote. Bukhenik was disciplined following the investigation for failing to “adequately supervise” after discovering the texts. He lost five vacation days. Proctor was fired earlier this year.
    • WATCH: Sgt. Bukhenik Addresses Michael Proctor Texts And Discipline
  • Sgt. Bukhenik and Proctor interviewed Jennifer McCabe, Matt McCabe, and Brian Albert in the hours after John O’Keefe was found. Following the interviews, they traveled to Good Samaritan Regional Hospital to see O’Keefe’s injuries and collect evidence.
  • Bukhenik described collecting O’Keefe’s clothing from the hospital. He noted interest in finding one sneaker. He instructed Trooper Proctor to contact the paramedic to search for O’Keefe’s missing shoe. “Our theory evolved to a vehicle strike; based on O’Keefe’s injuries, I suspected that [O’Keefe] was hit out of his shoes.”
  • Bukhenik and Proctor traveled to Dighton, MA, to interview Karen Read at her parents’ home. Read told investigators that after leaving the Waterfall Bar and Grille, she “dropped O’Keefe off at 34 Fairview.” Investigators questioned Read to see whether she had seen him enter the home. She said, “No, she did not see him enter the house.” Read’s cell phone and SUV were seized.
  • Jurors watched a timeline of videos showing Read’s alcohol consumption on the night of January 28, 2022, into the early morning hours of January 29, 2022. The videos showed Read pouring shots of liquor into her mixed drinks. She had four drinks at C.F. McCarthy’s and three more at the Waterfall Bar and Grille.
  • Following Thursday’s proceedings, Read spoke with reporters about the last time she saw her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. “I saw John go in the house,” Read said.
  • Read speculated as to whether Michael Proctor will testify in her murder trial. “I don’t believe so, but you’ve seen this afternoon how much evidence has not been shown to the jury.” Proctor is listed as a potential witness on a combined witness list. When asked if she would testify, Read said, “to be determined.”

DAY 11 – 5/7/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 11
  • Jessica Hyde, a data expert, testified that the search, “Hos long to die in cold,” was conducted at 6:24 a.m., using a search tab that was opened on January 29, 2022, at 2:27 a.m.
  • Hyde verified Ian Whiffin’s, a technology expert with Cellebrite, findings that the search was conducted after John O’Keefe’s body was located on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, MA.
  • Before Jessica Hyde’s testimony, defense attorney Robert Alessi presented Judge Beverly Cannone with a document from a criminal court in Maryland that would not allow Hyde to testify about her opinions because her findings were deemed “not reliable,” and he argued he should be allowed to ask questions about her testimony. Judge Cannone ruled the order from the Maryland court, and its findings could not be used, but he could cross-examine Hyde on her use of third-party software to conduct her conclusions.
  • Massachusetts State Police Trooper Connor Keffe was tasked with collecting the cell phones of John O’Keefe and Jennifer McCabe. Keffe also collected John O’Keefe’s sneakers found on the curb outside 34 Fairview Road, broken taillight pieces found in the snow, and surveillance videos from two local restaurants in the Canton area. The sneaker and broken taillight fragments were shown to the jury.
  • Davide Yannetti grilled Keffe, not on the evidence he collected, but turned his focus to his working relationship with lead investigator Michael Proctor. Although Keffe collected evidence in the case, Proctor analyzed and wrote reports for the surveillance video collected.
  • Michael Proctor was suspended over misconduct allegations in the Karen Read case. The investigation into Proctor stemmed from him sending “defamatory, derogatory, and disparaging text messages about Karen Read and other individuals. The trial board found sufficient evidence for three charges of unsatisfactory performance and one charge of alcohol consumption while on duty from January to August 2022. He was ultimately fired in March 2025.

DAY10 – 5/6/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 10
  • Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino returned to the witness stand on Tuesday. Trooper Guarino presented a PowerPoint to the jury, showing Karen Read calling John O’Keefe’s cell phone over 50 times on January 29, 2022, leaving eight profanity-laced voicemail messages.
    • Karen Read’s first voicemail to O’Keefe at 12:37 a.m., “John, I [expletive] hate you.” “Yeah, it’s one in the morning. I’m with your [expletive] niece and nephew, you [expletive] pervert. You’re a [expletive] pervert,” Read said. The voicemail messages continued until after 6:00 a.m.
    • Read’s last call to John O’Keefe was recorded at 6:03 a.m. The voicemail message captured when Karen Read, Jennifer McCabe, and Kerry Roberts located O’Keefe lying on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road. Read can be heard screaming and asking for Roberts and McCabe on the phone with 911.
  • Lt. Paul Gallagher returned to the witness stand to continue cross-examination. Gallagher was questioned if he knew his friend, Brian Higgins, was at the Fairview home that night. Gallagher said he was made aware after reading Sgt. Michael Lank’s report in the following weeks after his involvement in the case.
    • Gallagher was also questioned about not retrieving surveillance video from the home of Canton Deputy Chief Thomas Keleher. A photo presented to the jury showed the Arlo security camera just above Keleher’s front door. Gallagher testified that the “motion-activated camera captures the front doorstep and a portion of the front lawn, and if facing the heavily traveled roadway, it would drain the batteries.”
    • WATCH: Lieutenant: No Witnesses Suggest John O’Keefe Was in Physical Altercation
  • Lt. Kevin O’Hara, team commander for the State Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), testified that he and his team searched for evidence where O’Keefe was found. The team found six taillight fragments in the snow and O’Keefe’s missing snow-filled sneaker up against the curb outside 34 Fairview Road.
  • Canton Police Lt. Charles Rae testified to conducting a welfare check for John O’Keefe’s niece and nephew after his body was discovered. Rae’s dash camera video showed he and his partner arrived on the scene at 8:23 a.m. Two vehicles were in the driveway, one belonging to Karen Read, with a broken taillight.
  • Meteorologist Robert Gilman testified that the temperature was around 31 degrees just after 1:00 a.m. and dropped to 25 degrees just before 6:00 a.m. Due to the snowstorm, visibility was around 1.2 miles around 1:00 a.m. The accumulation of snow by 6:00 pm was around 2 feet.
  • On Tuesday, Judge Cannone sides with the Commonwealth to block references to the Sandra Birchmore murder case “unless the door is open.” Birchmore was found dead in her home on February 4, 2021, and the Canton Police Department ruled she died by suicide. It was later determined that Birchmore was allegedly strangled to death by Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell. The department was audited by an independent agency, 5Si. The audit concluded, “Canton police officers or detectives were not part of a conspiracy to frame any individual for the murder of Mr. O’Keefe.”

DAY 9 – 5/5/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 9
  • Canton Police Lt. Paul Gallagher, now retired, testified how he and other law enforcement officials from Canton Police searched the area where John O’Keefe was located and collected evidence. O’Keefe had already been transported to the hospital before police arrived on the scene.
    • Gallagher said he used a leaf blower to search the area for evidence where John O’Keefe’s body was located. He used a blower on “low speed and began whisking the snow.” The pink spots found on top of the snow revealed deeper pockets of dark red blood evidence found near the flagpole in the front yard, approximately “8 to 10 feet” from the roadside, and there was a broken cocktail glass buried in the snow near where O’Keefe’s body was recovered.
    • Jurors saw the broken cocktail glass recovered from the scene.
    • Gallagher was questioned why he chose to use six “red Solo cups” to collect blood evidence in the snow.
    • Special prosecutor Hank Brennan presented two videos to the jury of Gallagher using the leaf blower showing how effective it was in revealing O’Keefe’s blood on the snow.
  • Katie McLaughlin, a firefighter and paramedic with the Canton Fire Department, was one of the first responders and tasked with getting information about the victim while her other colleagues assisted with John O’Keefe. She approached Karen Read because she thought she could provide information since Read seemed “very concerned.”
    • McLaughlin said she asked Read, “If there had been significant trauma that happened?” McLaughlin stated Read repeated, “I hit him, I hit him.” A woman standing beside Read interjected and told her to calm down, “Stop talking, calming down, you’re hysterical.” That woman was later determined to be Jennifer McCabe. A police officer nearby allegedly heard the statement and said, “You what?” Read repeated, “I hit him.”
    • McLaughlin informed the district attorney’s office before Karen Read’s first trial she knew Brian Albert’s daughter, Caitlin Albert, socially. She disclosed the information after she was getting harassed online.
    • Alan Jackson questioned McLaughlin, “How was that harassment if it had not been disclosed at the first proceedings?” McLaughlin responded, “It was out there everywhere on the internet and has been before the first trial.”
  • Jurors heard from one of the partygoers inside the Albert home on the night before John O’Keefe was located in the front yard of 34 Fairview Road.
    • Sarah Levinson said she was attending a birthday celebration for Brian Albert Jr on January 28, 2022. She and her best friend, Julie Nagel, arrived at the home around 7:00 p.m. At some point, Julie called her brother Ryan, that she needed a ride home. Levinson and Julie Nagel decided to stay longer, and Matt and Jennifer McCabe gave them a ride home around 1:30 a.m.
    • Levinson said she did not see John O’Keefe in the front yard when they left the home.
  • Ryan Nagel and his then-girlfriend, Heather Maxon, described seeing a woman driving a black SUV turning onto Fairview Road and parking in front of the Albert’s house.
    • Maxon said she remembered seeing a man in the passenger seat, but as they were leaving the home, the dome light was on inside the SUV, and only the female driver was inside the vehicle.
    • Maxon no longer saw the male passenger as they left the home.
    • Nagel and Maxon said they never saw anyone walk into the home after visiting Nagel’s sister.
  • Hannah Knowles, a toxicology analyst for the Massachusetts State Police, was questioned on the scientific technicalities surrounding the testing of Karen Read’s blood.
    • Knowles was tasked with preparing a serum conversion and retrograde extrapolation report for Read’s blood alcohol level on the morning of January 29, 2022.
    • The final conversion put Read’s alcohol level at 93 milligrams per deciliter (0.093%) around 9:08 a.m.

DAY 8 – 5/2/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 8
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson pressed Jennifer McCabe on discrepancies with her testimony during both trials, police interviews, and phone calls and texts with family and friends.
    • “There is nothing about calling my sister that is nefarious,” McCabe said on cross-examination, referring to not remembering details regarding who she contacted following O’Keefe’s death. She continued, “I feel like you’re insinuating it might be, and it’s not.”
    • Jackson insinuated at the end of his cross-examination that McCabe “didn’t go inside [her sister’s] house because she knew better.” McCabe responded, “Something was happening on the front lawn that had nothing to do with anything inside the house. At that moment, I did not know [O’Keefe] was hit by a vehicle, and there was a taillight found next to [O’Keefe].”
    • WATCH: Karen Read Defense Questions Jen McCabe On Phone Use, Google Search
    • Jennifer McCabe said that Karen Read asked her to search “hyperthermia,” to which she entered the search, “Hos long to die in cold?” The defense team believes she made that search at 2:27 a.m., but a representative with Cellebrite explained to the jury that the search was conducted at 6:23 a.m.
    • When asked about her state of mind when finding O’Keefe in the snow, McCabe said, “I was shocked, confused, nervous, scared, anxious.”
    • It had been implied by Karen Read’s defense team that McCabe and some members of her family “colluded” to cover up what “really” happened to O’Keefe. “Kerry is talking to the cops and kept it simple,” one text read the evening after O’Keefe was found in the snow. McCabe’s sister messaged, “We’ll get more info tomm. Don’t want to text about it.”
    • Alan Jackson pointed to several group texts between McCabe, her husband, one of her sisters, and her husband.
    • WATCH: ‘Kerry Talked To Cops’: Jennifer McCabe’s Group Chat With Alberts
  • Special prosecutor Hank Brennan presented several texts between McCabe and Kerry Roberts sent after O’Keefe was found. “I can’t stop seeing him in the snow, Jen. This is awful,” one of the texts read. McCabe and Roberts had only met once before meeting again to search for O’Keefe. Their relationship has changed since the incident.
  • Hannah Knowles with the Massachusetts State Crime Lab told jurors that Karen Read’s blood alcohol level was between 0.078% and 0.092% when tested after 9:00 a.m. on January 29, 2022. A retrograde analysis calculated Read’s blood alcohol at 0.14% and 0.28% at 12:45 a.m. Massachusetts’ legal limit for driving is 0.08%.

DAY 7 – 4/30/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 7
  • The Commonwealth’s second key witness, Jennifer McCabe, returned to the witness stand for a second day.
    • Defense attorney Alan Jackson questioned McCabe about whether she and Kerry Roberts discussed their testimony, to which she said they only talked about sharing their experience testifying and never their testimony.
    • Jackson questioned whether McCabe called Roberts “to ensure their stories lined up.” McCabe said that she and Roberts are “just normal moms.” They have never been through anything like this. “We both know what happened. We don’t have a story. There is no story. We were there. That’s it,” McCabe said.
    • Alan Jackson pressed Jennifer McCabe on whether she was being truthful to officers from an outside law enforcement agency who questioned her in her case. McCabe told them that between the time she arrived home and when she spoke with them, she called two people – her husband, Matt, and Kerry Roberts. She, however, admitted to calling three additional people – John O’Keefe’s mother, her brother-in-law, and her witness advocate with the district attorney’s office.
      McCabe said she had forgotten who she called and contends that she did not lie to the officers.
    • When questioned on cross-examination whether she heard a collision or any screams for help outside her sister’s home, Jennifer McCabe said “no.” McCabe said she did not see John O’Keefe lying in the yard when she left the house an hour later.
    • McCabe was questioned about whether she told the grand jury that Karen Read said, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” at the scene. She said she was unsure but added, “I have testified a number of times, but I was there the morning of January 29 when your client said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him’,” McCabe said.

DAY 6 – 4/29/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 6
  • The Commonwealth’s second key witness, Jennifer McCabe, took the stand Tuesday.
    • McCabe described searching for John O’Keefe with Karen Read and Kerry Roberts on January 29, 2022, and locating O’Keefe at the home on Fairview Road.
    • Karen Read told Jennifer McCabe she did not remember being outside the home on Fairview Road and allegedly asked, “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?”
    • Jennifer McCabe said as they approached the home on Fairview Road near the flagpole, Karen Read began kicking the door, demanding, “There he is. Let me out.” McCabe was thinking, “What the heck, what is going on?” She remembers Kerry Roberts saying, “Like, she’s batshit crazy.”
    • McCabe described the area as dark and shadowy due to the Nor’easter. It wasn’t until McCabe approached Read and Roberts that she saw Kerry Roberts removing snow from O’Keefe’s face.
    • Karen Read was “quite hysterical,” screaming and yelling on January 29, 2022, McCabe said.
    • During the early morning hours of January 29, 2022, McCabe said she remembered seeing a black SUV outside her sister’s home just after midnight. She looked again outside, and the vehicle was gone, and O’Keefe and Read never came inside the home.
    • McCabe said there was no fighting, arguing, or violence inside the home, and she and her husband, along with two other women, left the house around 1:30 or 1:45 a.m.
  • Judge Cannone ruled in favor of the defense team, allowing two controversial crash experts to testify in Karen Read’s retrial.
    • Cannone expressed her concerns with the “repeated violations” on behalf of Read’s defense team regarding the witnesses who work for ARCCA, a forensic and engineering firm. “I’m going to allow them to testify. I am going to allow what I expect to be a robust cross-examination, and I am going to allow them to testify to everything they said up until [Monday]. A defendant’s right to a fair trial is paramount,” Judge Cannone said.
    • Judge Cannone warned Read’s defense team, “No more nonsense,” after several rule violations and unprofessional conduct.
    • Daniel Wolfe and Andrew Rentschler with ARCCA are expected to complete their report on May 7. Judge Cannon told prosecutors that she would consider any requests that result from the upcoming report.
  • Ian Whiffin, a digital forensic examiner with Cellebrite, finished his testimony on Tuesday.

DAY 5 – 4/28/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 5
  • Ian Whiffin, a digital forensic examiner with CellBrite, said that John O’Keefe’s cell phone never moved far from the flagpole in the yard of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, where O’Keefe’s body was located.
    • WATCH: Cell Phone Expert Testifies To John O’Keefe’s Phone’s Movements
    • During Read’s first trial, her attorneys said that O’Keefe’s Apple Health data showed that he went inside Brian Albert’s home, where they claim O’Keefe was killed during a fight inside Albert’s house. The phone log they believed showed O’Keefe was climbing stairs around 12:22 a.m., but geolocation through the Waze app showed that O’Keefe was riding in a vehicle at that time.
    • “I believe it is more likely that the device was in a vehicle on a road going up an incline versus the location data being incorrect and the person walking up physical steps,” Whiffin said.
    • Whiffin explained the timestamp for Jennifer McCabe’s Google search regarding how long it would take a person to die in the cold. The date of January 29, 2022, is not disputed, but the defense believes the search was made at 2:27 a.m. Whiffin said the search for “Hockomock sports scoreboard” at 2:27 a.m. and left the internet browser tab open on her phone. When the tab opened at 6:23 a.m. to search for “hos long to die in cold,” with the misspelling, it registered the timestamp as when it was opened initially.
    • “CellBrite says 2:27, and it was deleted, CellBrite does,” Karen Read said outside the courthouse.
    • On January 29, 2022, John O’Keefe’s locked for a final time at 12:32 a.m.
    • Karen Read called O’Keefe’s cell phone several times beginning at 12:33 a.m. The calls went unanswered.
    • New information from John O’Keefe’s cell phone shows the battery temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit just after midnight, declined to 55 degrees Fahrenheit just after one in the morning, and the battery temperature was 37 degrees Fahrenheit when located under O’Keefe’s body around 6:14 a.m.
  • Two defense witnesses, Daniel Wolfe and Andrew Rentschler, were questioned outside the jury’s presence regarding their communications with the defense team before their testimony during Karen Read’s first trial and any communications after their testimony. Wolfe and Rentschler work for ARCCA, an engineering consulting firm, and were hired as part of a federal investigation into the handling of John O’Keefe’s death. They are expected to testify in the Read’s retrial.
    • Daniel Wolfe told the court that 100 or more text messages that were supposed to be turned over to the Commonwealth could not be retrieved because he switched phone carriers and could not locate the missing messages.
    • Wolfe was asked if he deleted text messages from Read’s defense attorney, Alan Jackson. He responded, “I’m not going to keep texts from Mr. Jackson, especially now that we’re past a year. I have no reason to keep them, sir.” Wolfe admitted to routinely deleting his text messages.
    • Wolfe was questioned about recent communications with Read’s defense team in 2025. He said that he and Alan Jackson communicated through Signal, an encrypted app. It was Jackson’s preferred method of communication.
    • Daniel Wolfe said he needs until May 7 to finish his reports after completing a new crash test for the second trial. Judge Cannone asked Wolfe to complete his report earlier.
    • WATCH: Heated Exchange Between Karen Read Prosecutor and Forensic Scientist

DAY 4 – 4/25/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 4
  • Jurors were escorted to 34 Fairview, where they were able to view Karen Read’s SUV parked outside the house.
    • WATCH: Karen Read Retrial: Jury Visits Scene Where John O’Keefe’s Body Was Found
    • Each side addressed the jury before they left. Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan reminded jurors that weather conditions were different on the blizzardy night in January 2022, and the defendant’s SUV would have had the right taillight missing.
    • Nonetheless, he asked jurors to note the front yard of the house, the flagpole, and the concrete on the street. As for the Lexus, he asked them to note the height of the bumper, the height of the right rear taillight, and the top of the hatchback.
    • Defense Attorney David Yannetti told jurors to pay attention to the house, the 2nd floor window, the three front doors of the house, the driveway, front lawn and flagpole. He asked jurors to note the distances from the 2nd-floor window, the driveway, and the front yard.
  • Jurors returned from the view to hear testimony from Dr. Garrey Faller, who served as the pathologist and lab director at Good Samaritan Hospital in 2022. He testified that Read’s blood alcohol test measured 93 milligrams per deciliter or .093 (the legal limit is .08 BAC).
    • On cross by defense attorney Elizabeth Little he conceded a serum blood alcohol test performed at the hospital is different from a whole blood alcohol test the standard used in forensic testing. But Faller said the serum test is comparable in accuracy, though he conceded that he did not factor in Karen Read’s MS and anemia, conditions that could potentially affect results.
  • Jason Decker, a paramedic who along with Daniel Whitley was tasked with taking Karen Read to the hospital for a psych evaluation, and during the ambulance ride he testified that Read was upset and told him that the last words she had with her ‘husband’ were an argument.
    • On cross Alan Jackson suggested that argument occurred in voicemails and that it had happened earlier that day.

DAY 3 – 4/24/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 3
  • Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan introduced dozens of texts which appeared to show John O’Keefe and Karen Read in the throes of an argument hours before she allegedly struck him with her vehicle and left him to die in the cold.
    • Texts exchanged between them on the afternoon of January 28, 2022, suggest the relationship was rocky, in one text Read asks O’Keefe, “Tell me if you’re interested in someone else. Can’t think of any other reason you’ve been like this.”
    • He responds “Nope,” followed by “Things haven’t been great between us for awhile. Ever consider that?”
    • In another text, O’Keefe writes, “Sick of always arguing and fighting. It’s been weekly for several months now. So yeh I’m not as quick to jump back into being lovie dovie as you apparently.”
    • A call log introduced by Brennan suggests Read was calling O’Keefe incessantly on the afternoon of January 28, during the argument and her calls were either ignored or rejected, despite a text from him that said, “I am not answering!! Stop calling.”
    • Brennan also introduced several clips from interviews that Read gave about the amount of drinking she did on the night O’Keefe died. While she disputed the number of drinks she had, she conceded she was impaired and questioned herself about whether she had struck O’Keefe that night.
  • Michael Camareno, a friend of John O’Keefe testified earlier in the day that he did not observe any strife in the relationship when he was around them. Based on what he knew they were a normal affectionate couple, though he noted that Read did not want other women around O’Keefe.

DAY 2 – 4/23/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 2
  • Kerry Roberts, victim John O’Keefe’s longtime friend, wrapped up her testimony which began on Day 1.
    • Roberts testified about accompanying Karen to John O’Keefe’s home to look for him. She said when they arrived – Karen pointed out the broken tail light to her and observed there was a piece missing from the taillight and metal exposed – something that she feared could catch on to clothing of a passerby.
    • She said when they arrived – Karen pointed out the broken tail light to her and observed there was a piece missing from the taillight and metal exposed – something that she feared could catch on to clothing of a passerby.
    • Roberts was emotional at times as she recounted how in the dark and snowy conditions Karen found John who looked like a dark blob on the ground. Roberts said he was cold to the touch and covered in snow. She did not recognize the body as John until she brushed the snow from his face and observed one eye was swollen while the other (left) appeared uninjured.
    • She testified that Karen performed mouth-to-mouth while she and Jenn McCabe did chest compressions till the first responders arrived. Roberts said at one point Karen asked her if she thought she had hit him. At the time Roberts dismissed the notion.
    • Roberts said she noticed that after the paramedics moved O’Keefe from the ground, she could see grass and his phone. She took the phone and gave it to law enforcement. In reviewing the videotape, Roberts is seen removing blankets from the area where John lay. The time of that incident is expected to be significant when Brennan says he will introduce health data and the evolving battery temperature of O’Keefe’s phone.
    • On cross by Alan Jackson, he suggested that Roberts is being influenced by Jenn McCabe, who had become a close friend since John’s death, and the two talk frequently about the case.
    • Jackson pointed out that Roberts was not truthful in previous testimony to the grand jury when she claimed she heard Karen tell Jenn to google hypothermia. In subsequent testimony and interviews she conceded she did not actually hear Karen say that.
  • Margaret (Peggy) O’Keefe, victim John O’Keefe’s mother, gave gut-wrenching testimony about suffering through the loss of her daughter, who died of cancer, her son-in-law whose death followed two months later and the death of her son John, ‘who you all know about.’
    • O’Keefe recounted learning about her son and being driven to the hospital by family friend Kerry Roberts.
    • She testified that just before she was ushered into the room where she would view her son’s battered body, Read shouted, ‘Peg, Peg is he dead, is he dead?’
    • Peggy testified that later in the day Karen and her father showed up at John’s house wanting to go upstairs to where the bedrooms were. Peggy said she did not recall talking to Karen at all and denied ever saying to her that John looked like he had been hit by a car.
    • In an interview she gave 20/20, Karen Read said, “I was presuming they saw my cracked tail light and thinking did you hit my son. I could sense from her she was looking at me very warily…I think John’s mother thinks I did something to John.”
    • In the second clip Read mocks Peggy O’Keefe claiming she leaned over and said, ‘John looks like he was hit by a car.’
    • The jury heard the first clip, admitted into evidence with no objection from the defense but reserved ruling on the second clip after the defense argued it was being used to make their client look bad.
    • Hank Brennan argued that the clips demonstrate consciousness of guilt, and an effort by Read and her father to conceal the ‘murder weapon,’ when they showed up at O’Keefe’s house uninvited, did not engage Peggy O’Keefe in any way and left after less than an hour taking both cars with them, including Read’s car with the broken tail light. After Peggy O’Keefe’s testimony, Hank Brennan sought to introduce two clips from interviews Karen Read gave to the media.
  • Trooper Nicholas Guarino, a Massachusetts State Police digital forensics expert, testified about extracting data from the phones of John O’Keefe, Kerry Roberts, and Karen Read.
  • Daniel Whitley, Canton firefighter and paramedic, testified that he took Karen Read to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation; he described her demeanor as going from distress to snarkiness when he mentioned Kerry Roberts to Karen.
  • WATCH: Karen Read Murder Retrial: Day 2 Recap

DAY 1 – 4/22/25

  • VIDEO: MA v. Karen Read Murder Retrial – Day 1
  • Prosecutor Hank Brennan delivered the Commonwealth’s opening statement in the retrial of Karen Read. Brennan told the jury that Read and John O’Keefe were arguing in his last minutes before she allegedly hit him with her Lexus and fled.
    • Brennan told jurors that the actions of Karen Read led to the death of her boyfriend John O’Keefe and that in a fit of anger fueled by alcohol Read clipped O’Keefe with her car, causing him to fall hit his head and sustain a head injury that eventually led to his death.
    • Brennan told jurors that in the days preceding O’Keefe’s death – Read was fighting to save their unraveling relationship, “it was the beginning of the end.”
    • On the day O’Keefe died, they went out together and eventually ended up at the Albert home at 34 Fairview. Brennan said they argued and by Read’s own admission they spent his last moments fighting. Brennan said after O’Keefe got out of the car, Read floored the gas in reverse striking him and left him to die in the cold.
    • Brennan noted Karen Read’s own statements acknowledged hitting O’Keefe, recalling she said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,’ to a first responder, and played for jurors a clip from an interview she gave Dateline, “I didn’t think I hit him, I could have clipped him…he didn’t look mortally wounded as far as I could see.”
    • Brennan told jurors to pay close attention to the data and battery temperature of O’Keefe’s phone which was recovered from under his body. The data which recorded and time-stamped O’Keefe’s movements and would show a small window when only Read and he were together and he said would ultimately prove that he died where he was found.
  • Defense attorney Alan Jackson tells the jury that the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death was “corrupted from the start,” and the case against Karen Read is the “definition of reasonable doubt.”
    • Alan Jackson opened for the defense telling jurors that his experts would prove that no collision had occurred and that the police investigation into O’Keefe’s death was marred by bias and corruption.
    • Jackson singled out Michael Proctor the lead investigator calling him the cancer that touched every part of this case – and told jurors he was the disgraced trooper that had been investigated, suspended and fired from the Massachusetts State Police.
    • Jackson claimed that O’Keefe’s injuries were not related to hypothermia, or frost bite, but rather a dog. He displayed a photo of O’Keefe’s arm and noted that the pattern of injuries could be blamed on the Albert’s dog. Jackson said his experts will prove that the O’Keefe was killed elsewhere and his body moved.
    • Jackson told jurors that this case was riddled with reasonable doubt and that his client was the victim of a corrupt and botched investigation and urged jurors to return verdicts of not guilty.
  • Firefighter/Paramedic Timothy Nuttall testified that while he was ventilating O’Keefe – he asked Read if she knew him – she responded “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”
  • Kerry Roberts, victim John O’Keefe’s longtime friend testified about going out with Karen Read to look for John O’Keefe.

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