The Karen Read murder trial got underway on Tuesday with jury selection at Norfolk Superior Court. An eager public is about to hear the full arguments by the prosecutors and defense in the controversial case.
The body of Boston police officer John O'Keefe was found in the snowy front lawn of a Canton home in January of 2022. His girlfriend, Read, was arrested and prosecutors claimed that she hit him with her Lexus SUV while dropping him off at a house party after a night out drinking.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while impaired and leaving the scene of an accident. She's pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Her defense team has alleged a large-scale coverup — and their theory hinges on a web of connections they say exist between the people at the house party that night. Read's attorneys claim that law enforcement is covering up for the actual person — or people — behind O'Keefe's killing, leaving Read at the receiving end of a frame job.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The defense team's theory has become popular with parts of the public, due in large part to coverage by blogger Aidan Kearney, also known as "Turtleboy," who himself was arrested, accused of intimidating witnesses in the case.
The Norfolk District Attorney's Office has slammed the defense and Kearney, saying that they are pushing speculation with no evidence, while their own evidence points clearly to Read as the culprit.
For anyone who will be following Read's trial, this list features some important names that may come up. Aside from Read and O'Keefe, the people on the list have been named as potential witnesses; none is facing charges in O'Keefe's death aside from Read.
Karen Read is the 44-year-old defendant of the trial. She is charged in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors alleged that after a night out, Read dropped O'Keefe off at a house party in Canton. She is accused of hitting him with her SUV and leaving the scene. Read’s defense has argued that a complex cover-up scheme is framing her for the murder. The defense says that they have evidence suggesting that O’Keefe died after being in a fight after being attacked by one or more people in the house. Read is facing a second-degree murder charge.
Before the murder allegation, Read worked as an equity analyst at Fidelity Investments and also was an adjunct professor at Bentley University, her alma mater.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
John O’Keefe was a Boston police officer whose body was found in the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. He was found in the front lawn of a home on Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, the morning after a night out with his girlfriend, Read, and a group of others. He was 46.
The home he was found outside of was owned by fellow Boston police officer, Brian Albert. A gathering was being held at the home for Brian's son's birthday, according to Boston Magazine.
O'Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. O’Keefe became the guardian of his niece and nephew after the death of his sister around 10 years ago, The Boston Globe reported.
“He was a good man,” a close friend of O’Keefe’s, John Jackson, told the Globe.
He and Karen reportedly first dated in their 20s, then reconnected years later, during the pandemic.
Brian Albert, a Boston police officer, was among the group drinking on the night of Jan. 28, 2022, as well as the owner of the home outside of which O’Keefe would be found dead.
Read’s defense team has voiced its intent to use a third-party culprit defense during the trial. Her lawyer said that Albert and two other people had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O'Keefe.”
Prosecutors said that there was nothing to the defense's claims other than "fertile imagination."
Brian Albert Jr. is the son of Brian Albert. The gathering at the Alberts’ home the night of Jan. 28 was for his birthday.
Chris Albert is Brian Albert’s brother. He also serves on the Canton Select Board. He has testified that he was at the restaurant and bar with the group in the hours before O'Keefe's death.
Chris was neighbors with John O'Keefe, Boston Magazine reported.
Julie Albert is Chris Albert's wife. She has testified that she was at the restaurant and bar with the group in the hours before O'Keefe's death.
Colin Albert is the son of Chris and Julie Albert. Read’s defense team says that Colin was at the Canton home the night before O’Keefe was found dead. He is one of the three that Read’s lawyer said had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O'Keefe.”
Prosecutors have said that Colin had left his uncle’s home before O’Keefe and Read arrived.
Kevin Albert is Brian’s brother. He serves in the Canton Police Department as a detective.
Brian Higgins is an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He was reportedly at the Fairview Road home the night before O’Keefe was found dead. He is one of the three who Read’s defense team says had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O'Keefe.” Higgins was reportedly a friend of Brian Albert.
The Commonwealth stated that the defense's statements about Higgins lacked evidence and made for a "fanciful" story.
Jennifer McCabe is Brian's sister-in-law. McCabe was part of the group that was out drinking the night of Jan. 28. The defense has long alleged that McCabe used her phone to search "Hos [sic] long to die in cold" around 2:30 a.m. -- something prosecutors have claimed she actually searched hours later, after O'Keefe had been found.
Michael Proctor is a Massachusetts State Police trooper who led the investigation in the Read case.
Read’s attorneys allege Proctor never fully disclosed his personal relationship with multiple people involved in the case. This includes the Albert family, who lived at the home on the property where O’Keefe’s body was found.
Proctor is under internal investigation for an undisclosed potential violation of department policy.
Sources have told NBC10 Boston the investigation is in connection to the Read case.
Proctor remains on full duty while the internal investigation unfolds, and the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office told NBC10 Boston the internal affairs investigation had not impacted Proctor's case assignments.
