Karen Read’s murder trial a ‘circus,’ says friend who criticizes murder charges against policeman’s boyfriend (exclusive)

Karen Read is accused of murdering her boyfriend John O’Keefe in 2022, but claims she was the victim of a massive police cover-up

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty; Boston Police Department

Karen Read, John O’Keefe

With its shocking revelations and countless twists and turns, the Karen Read murder trial was a wild ride for anyone who followed the sensational Boston case.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, is accused of driving her Lexus SUV into her boyfriend, 46-year-old Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022, while intoxicated and leaving him in the snow to die, prosecutors said.

Read and her lawyers say something else happened at the Canton, Mass., party where she dumped O’Keefe that night: that O’Keefe was allegedly beaten by someone with whom he had a long-standing feud. Read’s defense argues she is the victim of a massive cover-up by the local and state law enforcement community.

“Karen Read was framed,” defense attorney David Yannetti said during opening statements in April. “She didn’t cause his death, which means someone else did.”

David Yannetti

John O’Keefe and Karen Read

Related: Mass. woman charged in fatal hit-and-run of cop boyfriend — her lawyers say she was framed in a cover-up

For months, die-hard supporters of both sides have gathered daily in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, holding signs. Those supporting Read have held signs reading “Framed,” while opponents have shouted at her, “Cop killer!”

Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty

Supporting Karen Read

“It’s become a circus,” O’Keefe’s friend Sean Hickey tells PEOPLE. “People are shouting, ‘Free Karen Read!’ at his elderly parents. It’s a disgrace. Everyone has forgotten that someone lost their life, let alone what a good person he was.”

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Read, a financial analyst who worked as an associate professor at Bentley University, said she loved O’Keefe and did not kill him. “I never touched a hair on John O’Keefe’s head,” she told ABC News in August 2023.

Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/USA TODAY NETWORK

John O’Keefe’s Funeral

The prosecution disagrees, arguing in court that she allegedly confessed when she was heard saying, “I hit him,” at the scene. She and her lawyers argue that she did not know whether she hit him, and that she actually said, “Did I hit him?”

O’Keefe’s injuries were not consistent with those caused by a car — particularly his two black eyes and the deep claw-like marks found on his right arm, her attorneys say. Yannetti believes O’Keefe may have been attacked by a dog at the home of retired Boston police officer Brian Albert, who had organized a gathering that evening that O’Keefe may or may not have attended, a key point of contention in the case. (The dog has since been found in a new home.)

Read’s attorneys say theories of a police cover-up are further fueled by a series of alleged “anal hookups” that Albert and ATF agent Brian Higgins, who was there that night, had with each other, and that Albert’s sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, had with O’Keefe before he was found unconscious and bleeding in the backyard.

Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty

Brian Albert’s Canton House

Read’s attorneys point to group text messages among people who attended the party as further evidence of a cover-up.

“Tell them this guy never entered the house,” read a message from one of the partygoers.

According to Read’s lawyers, Albert allegedly replied, “Exactly.”

They also cite a Google search McCabe allegedly made at 2:27 a.m. to find out how long it would take to die in the cold.

Read’s longtime friend Jon Silveira hopes Read will be found innocent. Calling her “very honest, very generous, and a great friend,” he tells PEOPLE, “I’m honored to know her and honored to defend her through this whole mess that she’s dealing with.”

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