What You Need to Know About Karen Read’s Murder Trial

The trial of Karen Read, accused of murdering her boyfriend in January 2022, generated enormous attention online, ultimately drawing huge crowds outside the courthouse.

The jury charged with reaching a verdict in the trial is currently deliberating and may ultimately decide Mrs. Read’s fate.

The case involves Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who was found unconscious in the snow outside a friend’s suburban home in January 2022 and later pronounced dead.

His girlfriend, Mrs. Read, is accused of his murder, but she claims she is innocent.

She faces multiple charges and is accused of driving Mr O’Keefe to another police officer’s home after a night of drinking, hitting him with her car and driving away from the scene.

Here’s everything you need to know about the case.

Who are Karen Read and John O’Keefe?

Before the case, Ms. Read, 44, worked as an adjunct professor at Bentley University and an equity analyst at Fidelity Investments.

She and Mr. O’Keefe were together for about two years before his death in 2022, but the relationship became troubled thereafter, prosecutors said during their case.

Mr. O’Keefe spent 16 years with the Boston Police Department before his death. He was 46 years old when he died.

Ms. Read faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

If found guilty of second-degree murder, she could face up to life in prison under Massachusetts law.

She did not plead guilty to any of the acts she was accused of.

Summary of the prosecution case

Prosecutors allege the pair had been drinking alcohol the evening before Mr O’Keefe’s body was found.

Ms. Read allegedly left her boyfriend at a house party. On her way out, she made a three-point turn and hit Mr. O’Keefe before driving away, according to prosecutors.

She returned to the party a few hours later with two other women and found Mr. O’Keefe in a snowdrift.

His cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia, NBC News later reported.

During the proceedings, prosecutors claimed that the couple’s relationship was stormy.

They claim Ms Read deliberately hit her then-boyfriend with her car because of their relationship problems.

Mr O’Keefe’s brother, Paul O’Keefe, was among those called as a witness, who detailed the couple’s disagreements.

Summary of the defense arguments

Ms. Read did not appear at the podium in defense.

Instead, her lawyers argued that she was framed and that investigators had improper relationships with witnesses and others involved in the case.

The defence argued that Mr O’Keefe was beaten at the party and then dragged outside where he was found.

Much of their case focused on what the defense called a mishandled investigation into O’Keefe’s death by local law enforcement.

The defense argued that some of the investigators who oversaw the case knew police officers who were present at the house party that January evening.

For example, the lead investigator, Massachusetts State Police Officer Michael Proctor, admitted that he was friends with the Boston police officers who organized the party at which Mr. O’Keefe was killed.

The defence claims Ms Read was a “convenient outsider” whose job was to ensure investigators did not look at other suspects.

Among the witnesses who testified for the defense was retired forensic pathologist Dr. Frank Sheridan.

According to the Associated Press, Mr. O’Keefe’s body would have suffered more bruises had he been hit by a heavy vehicle.

What is the current status of the case?

After nine weeks of testimony and other court proceedings, Ms. Read’s defense team and prosecutors began closing arguments on Tuesday.

On Friday, the jury, which had been deliberating since Tuesday, sent the judge a note saying it could not reach a unanimous verdict.

In many cases, if jurors cannot agree, the judge will ask them to return to the deliberation room and try again. This instruction is known as the Allen objection.

That’s exactly what Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone told a Massachusetts jury on Friday.

The 12-person jury – six men and six women – is expected to return to deliberations on Monday.

Who is “Turtleboy”?

Aidan Kearny, also known as “Turtleboy,” is an intriguing character who emerged from this process.

He has now been charged with allegedly intimidating witnesses in the trial.

Mr. Kearny runs the website TB Daily News, where he publishes under the pseudonym “Turtleboy.”

He maintained that Mrs. Read was innocent and followed the case closely.

In his writings, he frequently questions the investigation into Mr. O’Keefe’s death and often publicly confronts witnesses in the case.

During the trial, prosecutors shared several examples of witness intimidation with the jury.

Mr. Kearny was charged with witness intimidation in October 2023 and later pleaded not guilty.

“They will never silence me, they will never, ever, ever stop me from coming forward with the truth about what happened to John O’Keefe,” Kearney told reporters after his 2023 impeachment. “Reporting news is not harassment. Asking questions is not harassment.”

In December, he was indicted again, this time on 16 new charges, including witness intimidation and conspiracy to intimidate witnesses.

Prosecutors say Mr. Kearny and Ms. Read communicated, and Ms. Read shared information with each other from the case that has not yet been released to the public.

Judge Cannone, who is overseeing the case, ruled that Mr Kearny would have to leave the courtroom when some witnesses testified because of allegations of witness intimidation against him.