A federal agent read “flirty” messages he allegedly exchanged with Karen Read to start the 17th day of the controversy-charged murder trial.
Read is charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O’Keefe, during an alcohol-fueled fight in January 2022 by hitting him with her truck and leaving him to die in a blizzard.
She denied the accusations, and her defense team claimed she was framed in an elaborate cover-up to protect the Alberts, an influential family with ties to law enforcement, first responders and prosecutors in the area.
O’Keefe was found dead outside Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb that’s been turned into an antagonistic battleground marred by vicious smear campaigns and clashes between hordes of supporters on both sides.
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Karen Read sits in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, on April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP)
More than two weeks into the trial, the truth about what happened to Officer O’Keefe appears to be as fuzzy as it was the night he was found dead.
Blurry dashcam footage, which was played for the jury two weeks ago, showed a commotion in front of the police vehicle, and first responders moving a gurney with O’Keefe’s body to an ambulance.
But the footage was obscured by heavy snowfall and flashing lights of the police cars against the pitch-black night sky.
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Witnesses’ testimony about what Read said that night has been all over the place.
One first responder said he heard Read scream, “He’s dead. He’s f—ing dead.” Another claimed she said, “I hit him. I hit him.”
That was backed by a key witness, Jennifer McCabe, whose sister owns the house where O’Keefe was found dead. She was also at the scene when they found the late Boston cop.
On the top dashcam video, Boston police officer John O’Keefe is on a gurney, as first responders rush him to an ambulance.
John O’Keefe was found dead outside a Massachusetts home in January 2022. (Boston Police Department)
For nearly two years, facts were spun into conspiracies and lies became gospel. Local blogger Aidan Kearney, known as “Turtleboy,” has a loyal following that call themselves “Turtleriders,” and he fueled the “Free Karen” movement.
Prosecutors alleged his activism crossed the line into witness intimidation, and he was arrested and charged.
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But that’s not even on the list of top three moments so far – neither was Friday’s testimony from ATF agent Brian Higgins, who read a text exchange he had with Read, which included Read saying, “You’re hot.”
Here are three moments during the first three weeks of the trial to know and one puzzling discovery request by the prosecutors that sent a jolt of electricity into the social media rumor mill.
Aidan Kearney, a local blogger known as “Turtleboy,” who has a loyal following that call themselves “Turtleriders,” fueled the “Free Karen” movement. (Aidan Kearney(@DoctorTurleboy)/X)
Karen Read was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court on charges of second-degree murder in John O’Keefe’s death in Dedham, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2022. A photo of the couple together was presented by the defense to the prosecution. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
1. Jennifer McCabe’s “hos [sic] long to die in cold” Internet search and testimony
McCabe was on the stand for several days, which included tense exchanges with Read’s defense team.
She said she searched phrases “hos [sic] long to die in cold” and “how long ti [sic] die in cid [sic]” at Read’s request after they found O’Keefe’s body on the front lawn.
But Read’s lawyer said she searched the phrase an additional time at 2:27 a.m., several hours before they found O’Keefe, and then deleted the search to cover her tracks, Read’s lawyers alleged.
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She denied the 2:27 a.m. search and denied deleting any searches.
“I did not make that search at that time,” McCabe testified. “I never would have left John O’Keefe out in the cold to die because he was my friend that I loved.”
Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor’easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP)
2. Tour of the crime scene
On the fourth day of the trial, jurors visited the neighborhood where O’Keefe died, saw the home and were able to inspect Read’s Lexus SUV that she allegedly hit her cop boyfriend with.
One tail light was missing, and there was a small-but-noticeable dent on the back, according to a report by WCVB, which noted reporters were kept about 300 feet away so they couldn’t hear what was said.
Jurors were allowed to look in the Lexus.
Picture of the crime scene after the blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022, when Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found dead.
3. Evidence collected in Solo cups
Investigators from the Canton Police Department collected evidence from plastic cups that they borrowed from a neighbor, and brought them back to the police station in Stop & Shop paper bags.
Canton Police Sgt. Micheal Lank testified during the sixth day of the trial that the blizzard made evidence collection difficult.
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Officers used a leaf blower to remove the snow and the Solo cups to gather blood samples, while witnesses looked on.
Even before the trial started, Read’s lawyers attacked Canton police’s evidence collection, and claimed O’Keefe’s blood was planted on their client’s car.
Sgt. Lank defended his department and said he doesn’t believe any evidence was tainted.
The defense for Karen Read holds up a poster board containing information they claim exonerates their client in the murder of John O’Keefe. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BONUS: Rumor mill spins after prosecutors request medical records
On Thursday, prosecutors filed a new discovery for Higgins’ medical records, as well as an enhanced image from a Canton police cruiser, and the curriculum vitae of an upcoming witness, Dr. Justin Rice of Brockton’s Good Samaritan Medical Center, where O’Keefe’s body was transported.
The request infused a jolt of electricity into the social media conspiracy factory.
Prosecutors in Karen Read’s murder trial made a sudden request for discovery that included ATF Agent Brian Higgins’ medical records on Thursday, a day before his testimony.
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Many X users and YouTubers speculated on the pertinence of the items requested, but it wasn’t clear Friday, so the mystery will live through the weekend before the trial resumes after the three-day Memorial Day weekend.
