Karen Read murder trial: Live updates as key witness returns to stand
She’s accused of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with an SUV during a winter storm
The cross-examination of a key witness began Tuesday in the murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of hitting her boyfriend with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her black SUV outside of a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense plans to argue that someone else is responsible for killing O’Keefe. Jennifer McCabe, a prosecution witness who was at the house party in Canton where O’Keefe was eventually found, returned to the witness stand Tuesday. She clashed with defense attorney Alan Jackson, who questioned her aggressively about her account of what happened on the night of Jan. 28., 2022, and the following morning. Jennifer McCabe testified again Tuesday that Read confessed at the scene.”I can tell you today with 100 percent clarity, she said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.'” McCabe said.Jennifer McCabe previously testified that she was at the Waterfall Bar & Grille with the couple on the night in question and asked them to go to the Albert family’s house on Fairview Road after the bar closed. Live updates: 12:20 p.m. McCabe texted family members that Roberts was telling police “EVERYTHING”. Jackson: She was telling them everything you’d told her to. 12:10 p.m. McCabe says she heard Kerry Roberts telling police over the phone something “personal” about O’Keefe and Read’s relationship. “And I was horrified,” McCabe says without elaborating. 11:40 a.m. McCabe agrees with Jackson that she was “allowed” to go into the Alberts house and have “private conversations” with Brian and Nicole before the police came in to question them. 11:20 a.m. Jackson plays a portion of 911 call 10:45 a.m. Jackson reads from McCabe’s grand jury testimony she testified 12 times that she heard Read say, “Could I have hit him”? McCabe maintains she heard “I hit him” when an officer or EMT asked about O’Keefe’s history at the scene. 10:30 a.m. Jackson wants to make the point that if McCabe saw the SUV she would have seen a body on the front yard. “Do you think you’d see if there was an alligator in front of me?” 10:25 a.m. McCabe says she had a “clear view” of the SUV. Jackson asks, “Where was the body? 10:20 a.m. Read looks at McCabe while she’s testifying but the two of them seem to avoid eye contact during pauses. McCabe repeatedly looks over the O’Keefe family. 10:10 a.m. Jacksons is now asking about McCabe’s texts to O’Keefe outside the house and how many times she looked out the window. 9:50 a.m. Jackson is asking McCabe about the Alberts’ dog, Chloe. “I have no memory of seeing that dog.”9:40 a.m. Jackson wants to imply the witnesses coordinated their stories by talking about the case. McCabe says they talk but mainly about the “vicious harassment.” 9:35 a.m. Jackson is now asking if she’s spoken with Alberts about the case. McCabe: Of course I speak to them about the harassment we are all receiving. Jackson: I understand you want to add editorializing but that’s not what I asked. 9:30 a.m. Defense attorney Alan Jackson plays surveillance video from outside Waterfall bar showing Jen McCabe, O’Keefe and Read. 9:20 a.m. Good morning from Day 15 of testimony. Defense attorneys are cross examining Jen McCabe Follow posts from reporter David BienickRelated links:Recap of testimony, evidence from each day of the case Evidence slideshowWhat to know about the case:Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.Read has pleaded not guilty.Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.Opening statements were delivered on April 29.The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks.Case evidence slideshow:Jennifer McCabe and her husband, Matt McCabe, both testified that they had seen Read’s black SUV outside 34 Fairview Road. During Jennifer McCabe’s testimony, the prosecution showed a message she sent to O’Keefe asking, “Here!?”The Albert family previously testified that neither O’Keefe nor Read ever came inside.The McCabes said Read was hysterical the next morning. Jennifer McCabe said Read told her O’Keefe hadn’t come home, that they’d gotten into a fight and that she’d left him at the bar.Jennifer McCabe eventually drove Read to Fairview Road in Read’s SUV. She said that Read spotted O’Keefe in the snow before anyone else and repeatedly made incriminating statements.Jennifer McCabe said Read asked several times that morning, “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?”She also said that when Read spoke to the paramedic, the question became a statement, “I hit him.”Prosecutors are trying to show that Read’s actions were intentional. To do that, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said evidence would show that the couple’s stormy relationship had begun to “sour” in the month before O’Keefe died and that the two got into arguments.Read’s lawyers have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten by someone else inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.They argued investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider,” and that prevented them from considering other suspects. The defense is trying to convince the jury that John O’Keefe was beaten and argues that Colin Albert had been in a fight. Albert said the injury came when he fell in a driveway and that he never saw O’Keefe on the night in question.He was in high school at the time but previously testified that he was drinking beer at a friend’s house before going to 34 Fairview Road to celebrate his cousin’s birthday. Albert said he spent about 90 minutes there before texting Allie McCabe for a ride and leaving around 12:10 p.m. Albert said he never saw O’Keefe on the night in question and testified that they had no animosity or arguments.Albert is the nephew of the couple that owned the Canton property where John O’Keefe was found in January 2022. He also confirmed on cross-examination that he has known the lead state police investigator in this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a child. The trial’s first few days also detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save O’Keefe. They found him face up when they arrived just before dawn on Jan. 29. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, and an autopsy later found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.Several of the first responders said they heard Read make statements, including, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was found. Defense attorneys confronted several of those witnesses by asking why those alleged remarks were not included in official reports.Officers also testified about unusual procedures used during the investigation, including the decision to collect bloody snow in red plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
The cross-examination of a key witness began Tuesday in the murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of hitting her boyfriend with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her black SUV outside of a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense plans to argue that someone else is responsible for killing O’Keefe.
Jennifer McCabe, a prosecution witness who was at the house party in Canton where O’Keefe was eventually found, returned to the witness stand Tuesday.
She clashed with defense attorney Alan Jackson, who questioned her aggressively about her account of what happened on the night of Jan. 28., 2022, and the following morning.
Jennifer McCabe testified again Tuesday that Read confessed at the scene.
“I can tell you today with 100 percent clarity, she said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.'” McCabe said.
Jennifer McCabe previously testified that she was at the Waterfall Bar & Grille with the couple on the night in question and asked them to go to the Albert family’s house on Fairview Road after the bar closed.
Live updates:
- 12:20 p.m. McCabe texted family members that Roberts was telling police “EVERYTHING”. Jackson: She was telling them everything you’d told her to.
- 12:10 p.m. McCabe says she heard Kerry Roberts telling police over the phone something “personal” about O’Keefe and Read’s relationship. “And I was horrified,” McCabe says without elaborating.
- 11:40 a.m. McCabe agrees with Jackson that she was “allowed” to go into the Alberts house and have “private conversations” with Brian and Nicole before the police came in to question them.
- 11:20 a.m. Jackson plays a portion of 911 call
- 10:45 a.m. Jackson reads from McCabe’s grand jury testimony she testified 12 times that she heard Read say, “Could I have hit him”? McCabe maintains she heard “I hit him” when an officer or EMT asked about O’Keefe’s history at the scene.
- 10:30 a.m. Jackson wants to make the point that if McCabe saw the SUV she would have seen a body on the front yard. “Do you think you’d see if there was an alligator in front of me?”
- 10:25 a.m. McCabe says she had a “clear view” of the SUV. Jackson asks, “Where was the body?
- 10:20 a.m. Read looks at McCabe while she’s testifying but the two of them seem to avoid eye contact during pauses. McCabe repeatedly looks over the O’Keefe family.
- 10:10 a.m. Jacksons is now asking about McCabe’s texts to O’Keefe outside the house and how many times she looked out the window.
- 9:50 a.m. Jackson is asking McCabe about the Alberts’ dog, Chloe. “I have no memory of seeing that dog.”
- 9:40 a.m. Jackson wants to imply the witnesses coordinated their stories by talking about the case. McCabe says they talk but mainly about the “vicious harassment.”
- 9:35 a.m. Jackson is now asking if she’s spoken with Alberts about the case. McCabe: Of course I speak to them about the harassment we are all receiving. Jackson: I understand you want to add editorializing but that’s not what I asked.
- 9:30 a.m. Defense attorney Alan Jackson plays surveillance video from outside Waterfall bar showing Jen McCabe, O’Keefe and Read.
- 9:20 a.m. Good morning from Day 15 of testimony. Defense attorneys are cross examining Jen McCabe
- Follow posts from reporter David Bienick
Related links:
What to know about the case:
- Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.
- Read has pleaded not guilty.
- Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.
- In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.
- Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.
- Opening statements were delivered on April 29.
- The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks.
Case evidence slideshow:
Jennifer McCabe and her husband, Matt McCabe, both testified that they had seen Read’s black SUV outside 34 Fairview Road. During Jennifer McCabe’s testimony, the prosecution showed a message she sent to O’Keefe asking, “Here!?”
The Albert family previously testified that neither O’Keefe nor Read ever came inside.
The McCabes said Read was hysterical the next morning. Jennifer McCabe said Read told her O’Keefe hadn’t come home, that they’d gotten into a fight and that she’d left him at the bar.
Jennifer McCabe eventually drove Read to Fairview Road in Read’s SUV. She said that Read spotted O’Keefe in the snow before anyone else and repeatedly made incriminating statements.
Jennifer McCabe said Read asked several times that morning, “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?”
She also said that when Read spoke to the paramedic, the question became a statement, “I hit him.”
Prosecutors are trying to show that Read’s actions were intentional. To do that, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said evidence would show that the couple’s stormy relationship had begun to “sour” in the month before O’Keefe died and that the two got into arguments.
Read’s lawyers have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten by someone else inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.
They argued investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider,” and that prevented them from considering other suspects.
The defense is trying to convince the jury that John O’Keefe was beaten and argues that Colin Albert had been in a fight. Albert said the injury came when he fell in a driveway and that he never saw O’Keefe on the night in question.
He was in high school at the time but previously testified that he was drinking beer at a friend’s house before going to 34 Fairview Road to celebrate his cousin’s birthday.
Albert said he spent about 90 minutes there before texting Allie McCabe for a ride and leaving around 12:10 p.m. Albert said he never saw O’Keefe on the night in question and testified that they had no animosity or arguments.
Albert is the nephew of the couple that owned the Canton property where John O’Keefe was found in January 2022. He also confirmed on cross-examination that he has known the lead state police investigator in this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a child.
The trial’s first few days also detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save O’Keefe. They found him face up when they arrived just before dawn on Jan. 29. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, and an autopsy later found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Several of the first responders said they heard Read make statements, including, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was found. Defense attorneys confronted several of those witnesses by asking why those alleged remarks were not included in official reports.
Officers also testified about unusual procedures used during the investigation, including the decision to collect bloody snow in red plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
