The judge presiding over the murder case of a Boston police officer found dying in the cold last year in Canton denied on Wednesday the woman accused of killing him access to evidence her lawyers say could prove she's being framed.
Karen Read, of Mansfield, has been charged with hitting Officer John O'Keefe, her boyfriend, with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow in January 2022 after a night of drinking with friends. But her lawyers have been claiming she's innocent and that the identity of O'Keefe's true killer has been covered up — a claim prosecutors call a conspiracy theory that is being fed by a fishing expedition.
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Read's attorneys have already presented evidence they claim shows others were involved in Read's death, including a Google search from someone inside the house where O'Keefe was found asking, hours beforehand, "Ho[w] long to die in cold," but they've been searching for more. Wednesday's hearing was called to evaluate their request to subpoena the woman who made that Google search, which prosecutors say was actually made after O'Keefe's body was found, and the homeowner, another Boston police officer.
But after hearing arguments in Norfolk Superior Court, including from lawyers for the people the defense wanted to hear from, Judge Beverly Cannone denied the request. Attorneys for the people who would have been subpoenaed had argued the defense was going beyond the rules for the type of hearing that was scheduled.
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Outside of court, Read herself spoke out about what's been happening.
"It feels we're the only ones fighting for the truth of what happened to John O'Keefe, and me and my family and my attorneys and my team have marshaled every resource to get to the truth. It just feels like no one else wants it," she said.
Asked by a reporter if she killed O'Keefe, she said, "We know who did." One of her lawyers, Alan Jackson, jumped in to say, "No she didn't do it. No, she didn't do it. This is an innocent woman. She didn't do it."
And Read added that, when she found his body outside the home early on Jan. 29, "I was the only one trying to save his life."
Read's attorneys had won a different victory over evidence last week, when the judge granted their request for access to records involving a dog that lived at the home where O'Keefe died.
More on the trial of Karen Read
