Testimony continued Thursday in the murder trial of Karen Read, with Canton Select Board member Chris Albert and his wife Julie Albert taking the stand.
Read is charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of O'Keefe. He was found in the snow outside fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert's home in Canton. Prosecutors say Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, while Read says she has been framed in a wide-ranging coverup, claiming the Albert family — which includes a Canton police officer and current selectman — and the state's lead investigator, a family friend, put the blame on Read.
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Read has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.
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Chris Albert's testimony
Chris Albert, the brother of Boston Police Officer Brian Albert and a friend of O'Keefe's, testified about how he met up with O'Keefe at the Waterfall Bar & Grill in Canton on the night before O'Keefe's death.
He said he left around midnight, right around when O'Keefe and Read did, and went home to go to sleep. He said his son Colin had been at his brother's house that night celebrating his nephew's birthday, and returned home a short time later.
Albert said he woke up the next morning and his wife told him that O'Keefe had died and had been found on his brother's lawn on Fairview Road.
"I was in shock," he said. "I was like, 'What are you talking about?'"
He said he and his wife went over to his brother's house, where a number of other people had gathered, including several of those who had been at the Waterfall the night before.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney David Yannetti attempted to establish that the Albert family has a long standing in town and is a powerful family, with Albert on the Select Board and a brother who was on the Canton Police Department.
He then started to ask Albert about his connections to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case who is currently the subject of an internal investigation into a potential violation of department policy. Sources have told NBC10 Boston the investigation is connected to the Read case.
Albert confirmed that he has known Proctor for about 15 years.
The defense also sought to establish that Albert and former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz have known each other for decades. Albert said Berkowitz once attended a campaign event of his and donated to his campaign for Select Board.
Yannetti even displayed a photo for jurors showing the two of them together at the event.
The defense also asked about Albert's brother, Brian Albert, and his involvement in the Boston Police Department's fugitive unit. Chris Albert testified that he and Brian Albert spent time together at the holidays and would occasionally socialize together.
"You would agree with me that the Albert family is well-known in the town of Canton," Yannetti said in his cross-examination.
"We have a big family," Albert replied.
Yannetti went on to ask if he agreed that "the Albert family is a powerful family in the town of Canton," but the prosecution objected, and Judge Beverly Cannone sustained.
Yannetti also got Albert to acknowledge that he and Proctor had attended social events together in the past.
The defense also entered a text exchange between Chris Albert and O'Keefe into evidence where Albert told O'Keefe to come to the Waterfall.
"Get over here," the first text message from Albert said, followed by another that said, "If not I'm going to f--- up your lawn," followed by a laughing emoji.
"It's a joke," Albert told Yannetti.
Yannetti also asked Albert about the amount Albert had to drink on the night before O'Keefe's death. Albert said he was fine and in control of his faculties. He was also asked if he noticed any arguments between O'Keefe and Read.
"I didn't notice anything irregular," he said.
Albert also testified that he was the last person to leave the Waterfall that night. Yannetti questioned Albert about his assertion that he arrived back home between 12:05 and 12:10 a.m., showing a short clip of the Waterfall surveillance video showing Albert leaving the bar just before 12:14 a.m.
"That would mean it would have been impossible for you to get home to Maple Street by 12:05 or 12:10, correct?" Yannetti said.
"Yes," Albert replied.
Albert said the walking distance from Waterfall to his house was about five minutes, meaning he would have actually arrived home closer to 12:19 or 12:20 a.m.
Soon after arriving home, Albert testified that he changed out of his wet clothes and then began to drift of to sleep within about 15 minutes, or about 12:35 a.m. He said his son Colin came home at some point after that and woke him up to say goodnight.
Yannetti tried to get Albert to acknowledge that O'Keefe, who lived nearby, did not like people walking on his lawn. But Albert denied that Colin ever did anything on O'Keefe's lawn that would have annoyed him. He also denied that he knew that O'Keefe didn't like people going on his lawn.
He did say that O'Keefe once yelled at Albert's younger son Dylan for walking on his lawn, but said it was meant as a joke and O'Keefe later brought Dylan candy as a way to apologize.
The jury was also shown a photo of Chris Albert and his wife, Julie, in front of O'Keefe home.
Julie Albert's testimony
Julie Albert was the second witness of the day called by the defense.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally started by establishing her relationship with O'Keefe. She said they were friends and neighbors and she was friendly with O'Keefe's niece and nephew and met Read in 2021 and had socialized with her on numerous occasions.
She was also asked to talk about the evening of Jan. 28, the night before O'Keefe's death, including the gathering that night at the Waterfall.
Julie Albert testified she was at the Waterfall with husband, recalling Read arriving with a drink under her coat from another bar across the street, C.F. McCarthy's.
She said she spoke with Read. Much of her testimony was similar to her husband's, describing who was at the bar and when they arrived and departed.
She said she had a migraine and left fairly soon after arriving to go home. She said her youngest son was home. Her oldest son was in the Navy and living in California at the time and her middle son Colin was at Brian Albert's home on Fairview Road.
She said her husband returned home sometime after 12, possibly 12:10 a.m., got undressed and went straight to bed. Another 10-15 minutes later, she said her son Colin returned home.
Lally asked if Colin had any injuries, and Julie said he did not.
The next morning, Julie Albert said she woke up around 8 a.m. and went to Dunkin' to buy donuts for her nephew Brian Albert Jr. for his birthday. She noticed a missed call from her friend Jennifer McCabe on her phone from 5:55 a.m., but no voicemail or text message.
She drove to her nephew's home on Fairview Road and pulled into the driveway around 8:30 a.m. She said McCabe's car was in the driveway.
She went to leave the donuts and a birthday card in her nephew's car, but her brother-in-law, Brian Albert, told her to come inside for a second.
Julie Albert said she went into the house, and Brian Albert, his wife Nicole Albert, their Brian Higgins and Jennifer McCabe and her husband Matt were already inside.
"Everyone was just sitting there and I was just looking around and everyone was visibly upset and I asked, 'What's going on?' and another maybe 30 seconds went by, and Jen said 'Something's happened to John' and I said 'John?' and she said 'John O'Keefe.' I said, 'Is he OK?' and she said, 'We don't know.'"
She said she then went home to wake her husband up and let him know what happened. They then both went back to Brian and Nicole Albert's home on Fairview Road.
Several days later, Julie Albert said she met with two state police troopers investigating O'Keefe's death.
During cross examination, Yannetti asked Julie Albert to clarify that the interview with the two state police troopers actually took place almost two weeks later instead of just several days later as Lally had said. She said that was the first time any investigators spoke to her and her husband.
Julie Albert also acknowledged that she knew one of the investigators, Proctor, who is the brother of one of her close friends. She said she has spent time at Michael Proctor's childhood home and has been to the pool at the Proctors' home.
She also said she texted regularly with Courtney Proctor, Michael Proctor's sister, but said she didn't recall how often she spoke with her on the phone.
Yannetti asked Julie Albert if she used Courtney Proctor as an intermediary to speak with Michael Proctor about the Read case. Cannone overruled the prosecution's objection, and Albert replied, "No, I did not."
Yannetti said Julie Albert and Courtney Proctor spoke on the phone 67 times, but Albert said she didn't recall the exact number of times.
The defense attorney also asked Albert if she remembered talking with Courtney Proctor on the phone for 12 minutes on Feb. 1, 2022, the date when Read was arrested in connection with O'Keefe's death. He showed her phone records, but Albert said that did not refresh her memory.
Yannetti asked Albert if she spoke with Courtney Proctor on Feb 1., 2022, and she said she did.
"What did you discuss?" Yannetti asked.
"I don't recall," Albert said.
The next day, when Read was arraigned, Yannetti said Albert spoke with Courtney Proctor thee times before the arraignment happened. After the arraignment, he said she spoke with Courtney Proctor for 27 minutes.
Albert acknowledged that she knew Read had been arrested on Feb. 1 and she was being arraigned the following day.
Court adjourned for the day just before 12:30 p.m., with Julie Albert still on the stand. A full day of testimony is expected on Friday, beginning at 9 a.m.
Wednesday was another day of heavy testimony.
Jurors were taken back in time to learn more about the days before Boston police Officer John O'Keefe, Read's boyfriend, died. And more specifically, we learned more about the night before O'Keefe was found dead.
You can watch a full recap of Wednesday's testimony below:
