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 huge interest online, ultimately drawing huge crowds outside the courthouse.

The jury tasked with reaching a verdict in the trial is currently deliberating and could ultimately decide Ms 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 faced many charges, including: dropping Mr O’Keefe off at another officer’s house after a night of drinking, hitting him with the 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 was troubled later in the year, prosecutors said during their case.

Before his death, O’Keefe spent 16 years with the Boston Police Department. When he died, he was 46 years old.

Ms. Read faces numerous charges, including second-degree murder, causing death by driving 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 charges brought against her.

Summary of the impeachment case

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

Mrs 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 several hours later with two other women and found Mr. O’Keefe in a snowdrift.

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

Throughout the case, prosecutors alleged that the couple’s relationship was difficult.

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

Mr O’Keefe’s brother, Paul O’Keefe, was one of those called to the podium and detailed the couple’s disagreements.

Defense Case Summary

Ms Read did not take the position in her defence.

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

The defense argued that O’Keefe was beaten during a house party and then dragged outside, where he was found.

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

Some of the investigators overseeing the case knew the police officers who were present at the house party that January evening, the defense argued.

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

The defense claims Ms Read was a “convenient outsider” whose purpose was to ensure investigators were not looking at other suspects.

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

According to the Associated Press, Mr O’Keefe’s body would have suffered more bruising if a heavy vehicle had hit him.

What is the current status of the case?

After nine weeks of testimony and other legal proceedings, Ms. Read’s defense team and prosecutors began making 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 will now face charges of intimidating witnesses participating 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 texts, he often 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.

In October 2023, Kearny was charged with witness intimidation and later pleaded guilty.

“They will never silence me, they will never, ever stop me from reporting the truth about what happened to John O’Keefe,” Mr. Kearney told reporters after his indictment in 2023. “Covering the news is not harassment. Asking questions is not harassment.”

He was charged again in December. This time, 16 new charges, including witness intimidation and conspiracy to intimidate witnesses.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Kearny and Ms. Read had been in contact with each other and that she had shared information from the case that had not yet been made 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.