DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — Nearly one year after a mistrial in her first murder trial, Karen Read is standing trial for a second time on the same charges. The last nine months have been filled with explosive revelations and developments in the case that have the potential to make the second trial starkly different from the first.
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Read’s first trial ended when Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial on July 1, 2024. Read, accused of murdering her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, maintained during the initial trial that she was a victim of a botched police investigation and was being framed for O’Keefe’s death. The trial featured many big moments, with lead investigator Michael Proctor forced to read inappropriate text messages he had sent about the defendant and the defense’s revelation that video of Read’s car in the police department’s Sally Port appeared reversed.
Jurors come forward
Days after the mistrial, several people who said they served as jurors approached both Read’s defense team and prosecutors to say the panel had, in fact, agreed unanimously to acquit Read on two of the charges: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.
Victoria George stands in court on the first day of jury selection in Karen Read’s murder retrial. (Court TV)
“Unfortunately, at that time, we did not fill out any of the paperwork there, nor sign it,” juror Ronnie Estanislao told Court TV. Estanislao said the panel did not understand that they could consider each charge separately and return verdicts on only the two counts.
Read’s defense argued before Judge Cannone, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a federal judge that the two charges should be dismissed, but was unsuccessful.
Days before jury selection for the retrial began on April 1, 2025, Victoria George, a non-deliberating juror from Read’s first trial, joined her defense team as an attorney.
Why two jurors were dismissed from the first trial
In a written ruling addressing the defense’s allegations of governmental misconduct, Judge Cannone revealed why two jurors were removed from the first trial before deliberations began. “Juror A” reported to officials that “Juror B” had made comments about Read’s facial expressions and demeanor. Though no other jurors reported hearing Juror B’s comment — only Juror A’s report — Juror B was dismissed. Juror A was later dismissed after a report that they had been recorded talking about the case while under the influence of alcohol at an American Legion post.
New details from Jan. 2022
Witness Brian Higgins answers questions from prosecutor Adam Lally regarding text messages between Higgins and defendant Karen Read during Read’s trial in Norfolk Superior Court, Friday, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
O’Keefe was found in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022, and in the year since the first trial, new details have emerged about the first minutes and hours of the investigation.
In an interview for a documentary, Read gave new details about finding her boyfriend in the snow, telling a reporter that she removed a piece of glass from his face — a detail prosecutors said they had never heard before.
In evidentiary and motions hearings ahead of the retrial, Read’s defense also said they continued to receive new evidence and videos from the day O’Keefe was found. Among the evidence is a new piece of video showing Brian Higgins at the Canton Police Department. Higgins, who shared a kiss with Read and whom the defense has pointed to as a potential third-party culprit in the case, had previously denied going to the police department that morning.
Michael Proctor fired
The inappropriate messages Proctor sent after O’Keefe’s death led to awkward moments for him on the stand as he tried to defend his investigation into the murder. But the messages had far-reaching impact and soon had attorneys in other cases he’d investigated — such as that of Brian Walshe — asking to look through his records.
Proctor was called to appear three times before a police trial review board, which ultimately recommended he be dismissed from the Massachusetts State Police. He was formally dismissed on March 19.
Federal investigation closed
Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor testifies during Karen Read’s trial, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Norfolk Super Court in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Proctor’s behavior figured into a federal investigation that focused on the police work in the Read case. While federal investigators were tight-lipped about the specifics of their investigation, Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan announced at a hearing in early March that federal agents had closed their case. Despite confirming the change in the status of the investigation, Brennan did not reveal anything gleaned from the investigation but said that no charges were filed.
ARCCA witnesses were paid
Two expert witnesses in the area of crash reconstruction who testified for the defense in the first trial, Daniel Wolfe and Andrew Rentschler, presented themselves as impartial to the jury. Wolfe and Rentschler work for ARCCA and were hired by the Department of Justice as part of the federal investigation into the case.
However, with weeks to go before the retrial, Brennan revealed in court that the experts had submitted an invoice to the defense for $23,000, dated July 12 — 11 days after the mistrial. Brennan accused the defense of deliberately lying to the Court and wanted the experts barred from testifying at the retrial. Judge Cannone allowed Wolfe and Rentschler to return, but the defense will not be allowed to present them as unbiased experts.
