After eight weeks of testimony, a Massachusetts jury has found Karen Read not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, in what prosecutors called a tragic case of love turned lethal but what the defense claimed was a police cover-up.
Jurors spent about 22 hours deliberating before finding Read, 45, not guilty of the main charge but guilty of a lesser charge of drunk driving in the 2022 death of O’Keefe, 46, who was found unresponsive in a snowbank outside a Canton home after a night of drinking. Prosecutors argued Read hit her boyfriend with her SUV before driving away, but the defense maintained O’Keefe was killed inside the home and later dragged outside.
When the verdict came down on Wednesday, a sea of pink-clad Read supporters who had been anxiously waiting outside the courthouse for hours, broke into cheers and hugged each other as they chanted “Free Karen Read.”
“I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially and more importantly emotionally for almost four years,” Read told the crowd outside the courthouse. “No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have, and my team.”
Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, had been accused of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
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A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a life sentence. Instead, she will get just one year of probation for the OUI charge.
The major victory for Read and her team comes nearly a year after a separate jury was unable to come to a decision, leading Judge Beverly Cannon to declare a mistrial.
The case has captured national attention since before her trial last summer when her defense team claimed that she had been framed by police. Many came to her defense both in person and online as a dramatic saga about the case has engulfed the small community of Dedham, Massachusetts.
Read’s supporters are known to wear pink and cheer loudly as she enters the courthouse. But in recent weeks, they have started making silent hand gestures to her instead of cheering. They hold up one hand with their pointer, pinky finger, and thumb extended, which is the American Sign Language sign for “I love you.” Read and her lawyers have done the same in response to their supporters.
The first trial ended in a mistrial on July 1, with jurors unable to reach a unanimous decision. The defense has said several jurors from the first trial came forward and said the jury was set to acquit Read of two charges but deadlocked on a third, leading to the mistrial.
In the second trial, Read’s team did not back down from their claims, and throughout the trial, argued that O’Keefe was beaten, bitten by a dog and then left outside a home in Canton in a conspiracy orchestrated by police that included planting evidence against Read.
Meanwhile, prosecutors claimed that Read was upset after an argument with O’Keefe, struck him with her SUV and then drove away, leaving him to die in the snow.
The state focused on key forensic evidence, including pieces of Read’s broken taillight found near the body and data from her Lexus showing she reversed and accelerated after dropping O’Keefe off.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan emphasized Read’s own words — repeated several times to first responders, according to testimony — that she had “hit him.”
“She was drunk. She hit him and she left him to die,” Brennan told the jury, adding that Read’s emotional reactions at the scene showed a woman beginning to “face the reality of what she had done.”
Prosecutors also leaned on statements Read made during an interview where she acknowledged the possibility of having “clipped” O’Keefe with her SUV, despite previously saying she didn’t think she hit him.
But the defense painted a vastly different picture — one of corruption, conspiracy, and a massive cover-up by a close-knit circle of Boston-area law enforcement officers.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson began his closing argument Friday by repeating three times: “There was no collision.”
He told the jury that Read is an innocent woman victimized by a police cover-up in which officers sought to protect their own and obscure the real killer.
“There is no evidence that John was hit by a car. None,” Jackson declared. “This case should be over right now.”
The defense maintained that O’Keefe was beaten, bitten by a dog and left outside by others at the house party, which was attended by several police officers and at least one federal agent.
They accused the lead investigator, State Trooper Michael Proctor, of bias and misconduct, pointing to crude and inappropriate text messages he sent about Read — messages so egregious that Proctor was later fired.
Jackson argued that key evidence, including the taillight fragments, was planted to frame Read.
He pointed suspicion at federal agent Brian Higgins, who exchanged flirtatious texts with Read and was present the night of O’Keefe’s death, suggesting a possible motive for a confrontation inside the house.
“What happened in that basement, or that garage?” Jackson asked. “What did investigators ignore?”
The defense also dismissed Read’s alleged admissions at the scene as grief-stricken confusion rather than a confession.
“It wasn’t a confession. It was confusion,” Jackson said. “Shock makes people ask irrational questions.”
In this retrial, Brennan — who replaced the initial lead prosecutor — called fewer witnesses, but leaned heavily on physical evidence, expert testimony and Read’s own words.
Brennan said Read's blood alcohol level was two to three times the legal limit after the couple downed multiple drinks at two Canton bars. The couple, whose “toxic” relationship was “crumbling,” had an argument on the way to the house party that increased tensions and ultimately led to O'Keefe's death, the prosecutor said.
Many were drawn to the case because of an online blog run by Aidan Kearney, aka Turtleboy, who relentlessly questioned the prosecution. He has also been accused of harassing witnesses. Kearney was charged with witness intimidation and conspiracy, which he denies.
