Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found dead outside a Massachusetts home in January 2022, with blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia. Karen Read, O’Keefe’s girlfriend at the time, was accused of running him over in a drunken fight and fleeing the scene. However, her trial ended with a hung jury in July, and a judge has cleared the way for a second trial scheduled for January 2023.
Read claims the case is an elaborate cover-up and that she had nothing to do with O’Keefe’s death. She argues that the real killers are other members of law enforcement who got into a fight with O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the home of fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert.
The prosecution charges that Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV after a drunken fight and left him to die in a snowstorm. However, Read’s defense team has raised several questions about the case, including the discovery of animal wounds on O’Keefe’s arm and text messages from a Massachusetts State Trooper that appear to be biased against Read.
The defense has also raised concerns about the investigation, claiming that it was botched with questionable ethics. The prosecution has named a new special assistant prosecutor, Hank Brennan, who will lead the case if it goes to trial. Brennan has begun trying to obtain unpublished records from Massachusetts reporters who have interviewed Read.
A lawyer for the O’Keefe family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Read, alleging that she was reckless in her conduct leading up to O’Keefe’s death. The case is likely to be closely watched, with many predicting that the most likely outcome is that Read agrees to a plea deal or the case is dismissed.