Karen Read, who is accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston cop, in January amid a nor’easter weather event, is facing a retrial this week following a previous trial that ended in a hung jury.
The 45-year-old Read is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection to the death of John O’Keefe on January 29, 2022. O’Keefe, who was 46 years old, was discovered in the snow outside another police officer’s residence after a gathering for drinks turned into an after-party.
She was originally charged with manslaughter – typical in a deadly hit-and-run case – but authorities later tacked on the murder charge.
Judge Beverly Cannone overseeing the jury selection process in the Karen Read trial at Norfolk County Superior Court on April 18, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)
April 16, 2024 to July 1
Read’s first trial stretched on for weeks and ended with a hung jury. Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors accused Read of a drunken hit-and-run. Her defense argued that O’Keefe had been attacked inside the home and suffered injuries to his arm caused by a dog before being carried outside and left in the storm.
Officer John O’Keefe (Boston Police Department)
March 19, 2025
After a months-long internal investigation into the lewd text messages he sent about Read in the initial investigation, Proctor was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after a 12-year career.
March 31
On the eve of jury selection for Read’s second trial, Cannone released several impactful rulings on the case.
She rejected the defense’s attempt to have a former FBI agent testify about failures to meet police protocol with the initial investigation and limited the scope of arguments the defense would be allowed to raise regarding potential third-party culprits, including Albert and ATF Agent Brian Higgins, both of whom were present at both the Waterfall bar and Albert’s house the night O’Keefe died.
ATF Agent Brian Higgins speaks at the Karen Read murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court, May 28, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald via AP/Pool)
The witness list also revealed Proctor would take the stand, even after his firing, and so would Aidan Kearney, a local blogger and prominent Read supporter who has been accused of witness intimidation.
April 1
Jury selection in Read’s second trial kicked off in Dedham, Massachusetts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
