KAREN Read told her cop boyfriend she hated him in a barrage of expletive-riddled voicemails as he lay dying in the snow, a court has heard.
The suspect, aged 45, repeatedly called Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, more than 50 times leading up to his tragic death in subzero weather.
In the ongoing trial for Read’s second homicide case, the jury was presented with several enraged voicemails she had left for the victim shortly before his lifeless body was discovered in a frozen Massachusetts driveway.
Prosecutors have alleged that Read backed her SUV into O’Keefe and left him to die after dropping him off at a party hosted by a fellow cop.
Her lawyers have said she was framed in a police conspiracy, and that someone inside the home that night in January 2022 must have killed him.
Prosecutors called State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino, who confirmed that he had retrieved cellphone data from O’Keefe’s phone.
He detailed how the data showed Read called O’Keefe 52 times – without a pickup – early on the morning of January 29, 2022.
She also left him eight voicemails.
On the tenth day of her new murder trial, the court was shown the call and text message log on a PowerPoint presentation.
There were four unanswered phone calls from the defendant to O’Keefe between 12:33 am and 12:35 am.
Between 12:35 am and 12:36 am, an additional three calls were placed to O’Keefe, all of which went unanswered. The eighth attempt at 12:37 am resulted in a voicemail being recorded.
In this first voicemail, Read can be heard yelling, “John I f**king hate you.”
There were four more unanswered calls to his phone until 12:40 am. At 12:41 am – her 13th call – a second voicemail was left for the cop.
However, the court was told that it appeared to be an “accidental butt dial” as there were just a series of loud beeps heard.
Read then texted him, saying “I’m going home” at 12:55 am.
She followed that up with a further text saying, “See u later” seconds afterward.
After two more unanswered calls to his phone, the 16th call, at 12:59 am resulted in a third voicemail from her.
She said, “John I’m here with your f**king kids, nobody knows where the f**k you are, you f**king pervert.”
A 17th call was also unanswered, while the 18th phone call to O’Keefe resulted in a fourth voicemail.
A text sent at 1:02 am read, “Your kids are kucking [sic] ALONE.”
Seconds later, another text said, “Im back in Mansfield. The kids are home alone.”
At 1:10 am, Read left her fifth voicemail, saying, “Yeah, it’s one in the morning… f**k you you f**king pervert. You’re a f**king pervert.”
More calls were made until a sixth voicemail was left at 1:17 am, in which she said, “John, I’m going home… I need to go home, you are f**king using me right now, you are f**king another girl, you’re a f**king loser… f**k yourself.”
A timeline of Karen Read’s case
Karen Read, the Mansfield woman accused of fatally striking her cop boyfriend with her SUV in January 2022, is currently undergoing a second murder trial.
A judge declared a mistrial on July 1, 2024, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberation.
- January 29, 2022: O’Keefe’s body is found outside of a friend’s home.
- February 1, 2022: Read was arrested and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a vehicle homicide.
- February 2, 2022: Read pleads not guilty in Stoughton District Court.
- June 9, 2022: A state grand jury indicts Read on upgraded charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene.
- April 12, 2023: Read’s attorneys publicly release court documents they say contain “bombshell exculpatory information,” including Jennifer McCabe’s Google search.
- Nov. 20, 2023: Residents of the divided community vote 903-800 to audit the Canton Police Department over the case.
- May 23, 2023: During another pre-trial hearing, the defense says that the murder of John O’Keefe is a massive cover-up involving members of law enforcement and their friends and family members.
- Feb. 22, 2024: Prosecutors unveil long-awaited results of crime scene evidence tests, alleging that O’Keefe’s DNA was recovered from the broken taillight of Read’s vehicle.
- April 12, 2024: Read’s defense attorneys say in court that Brian Albert, his son Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins could have each killed O’Keefe at the party that night.
- April 16, 2024: Read’s trial began in Massachusetts Superior Court.
- May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when she discovered O’Keefe’s body, testifies that during their search, Read repeatedly said: “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?” She also says Read later said when emergency workers were on the scene: “I hit him.”
- June 3, 2024: The defense accuses police of planting the shattered fragments of taillight from Read’s car at the scene of the crime.
- June 24, 2024: The defense rests their case.
- July 1, 2024: A judge declared a hung jury after five days of deliberation.
- April 22, 2025: Read’s second murder trial begins.
Read also left several profanity-laced emails.
These included one in which she accused O’Keefe of sleeping with someone else and leaving his two adopted children home alone.
The calls from Read resumed several hours later, with most not connecting.
But one voicemail just after 6 am sounded like it came from the scene and included a muffled voice, apparently Read’s, screaming and sounding distraught.
SHOE FOUND
Also on Tuesday, Canton Police Lieutenant Charles Rae testified that police officers searched the site on the afternoon of January 29, 2022.
The court was told that they found a shoe along the curb – O’Keefe was missing a shoe when he was found.
They also found six or seven pieces of a broken taillight.
The pieces were red and clear, the jury was told, with prosecutors showing the court images of them.
The search was suspended that day because of the darkness.
EVIDENCE IN CUP
Earlier yesterday, former Canton Police Lieutenant Paul Gallagher finished his testimony.
Gallagher was asked about evidence-gathering at the scene.
In Read’s first trial, which ended on July 1, 2024, with a mistrial, he had testified about the use of red Solo cups to gather O’Keefe’s blood, and a leaf blower to clear snow.
He agreed this time that a plastic cup was not normally used to collect evidence.
But he maintained that the circumstances required quick thinking and improvisation.
“If we didn’t collect that biological matter, we weren’t going to get that biological matter,” Gallagher said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Alan Jackson grilled Gallagher on the evidence collection method.
He asked why police didn’t go back to the station to obtain proper equipment, including swabs and an evidence bag.
Instead, they relied on a neighbor’s cups and transported the materials in a Stop & Shop bag to the station.
“With an evidence bag, you know exactly where it came from and who is handling it,” Jackson said.
Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene.
