Karen Read not guilty of murder at second trial
By David Propper
Karen Read is not guilty of murdering her Boston cop boyfriend, and got off with a slap on the wrist at her second trial for drunk driving.
The resounding victory concluded a twisting, yearslong case that captivated New England, and later the country — with hundreds of Read’s supporters flooding the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, to cheer her Wednesday.
Read, accused of leaving John O’Keefe to die in a 2022 snowstorm after hitting him with her car outside a suburban Boston house party, was acquitted of both second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
Woman crying in court, comforted by another woman.
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Karen Read wipes away tears after being found not guilty of murder on Wednesday.
Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The only charge Read was found guilty of is operating under the influence of liquor — landing her with one year of probation. The drunk driving charge was the lesser sub-charge of a manslaughter count, which jurors also acquitted Read of.
Read, 45, addressed reporters and supporters outside of the courthouse Wednesday after her legal triumph.
“No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have — Than I have, and my team,” she said, thanking her loyal advocates.
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The legal spectacle caught nationwide attention when Read was initially charged in February 2022 and finally came to a close Wednesday afternoon to throngs of raucous Read supporters.
Read first stood trial last year, but a hung jury led to a bombshell mistrial and a second trial that got underway in April.
Jury deliberations took about three full days before the conviction for only the minor infraction was reached.
In a fitting finale to the chaos, the jury initially said it had a verdict early Wednesday afternoon, but then quickly told a court officer it changed its mind.
Karen Read embracing a person after a verdict is read.
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Karen Read gives hugs in the courtroom after her not guilty verdict.
Then shortly after Judge Beverly Cannone’s update, the jury flipped again and announced it reached a final decision.
Read was sentenced shortly after the verdict was read.
“We’re all Karen Read,” one supporter told NBC 10 Boston following the trial.
“God blessed Karen Read,” another supporter exclaimed. “She didn’t even get to mourn John’s death.
Karen Read leaving the courthouse after a not guilty verdict.
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Karen Read and her legal team after the verdict was read.
AP
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Questions posed by jurors during deliberations suggested they were not going to find Read guilty of killing O’Keefe, including what the timeframe was for the drunk driving charge.
Her defense team argued that O’Keefe, 46, was beaten, bitten by a dog and then left outside the Canton home in freezing temperatures. They claimed the authorities constructed a conspiracy to paint Read as the culprit behind O’Keefe’s death.
Photo of Karen Read and John O'Keefe.
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Anxiety is mounting over whether Read will be found guilty of killing her Boston cop boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
Courtesy of David Yannetti
The stunning verdict comes as Read’s second trial had key differences than the first.
The now-fired lead investigator on the case, Michael Proctor, did not testify at the second trial after he was confronted with a series of lewd texts he sent about Read during the first trial.
He said on the stand at the time that he regretted sending the messages – including calling her “‘wack job c–t” — and he wasn’t proud of it. He lost his job between the trials, though his supporters have argued he led a thorough probe into Read.
Supporters of Karen Read react to a not-guilty verdict.
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Supporters of Karen Read react after the not guilty verdict is read.
AP
Karen Read at her trial.
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The jury reached a verdict in the Karen Read trial.
AP
While Read again didn’t testify during the second trial, jurors heard a series of news interviews she did between the two courtroom battles.
She’s spoken to Vanity Fair, appeared in a documentary and commented to TV reporters outside the courthouse.
Security camera footage of Karen Read arriving at John O'Keefe's home in a snowstorm.
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In a video from a Ring camera at John O’Keefe’s home, Karen Read is seen arriving in her SUV.
AP
“I didn’t think I hit him, hit him, but could I have clipped him, could I have tagged him in the knee and incapacitated him?” Read said on an October 2024 “Dateline” episode that was played in court, according to CNN.
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“He didn’t look mortally wounded, as far as I could see – but could I have done something that knocked him out and in drunkenness and in the cold, he didn’t come to again?”
The lawyers representing the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office were also different this time around with a special prosecutor, Hank Brennan, taking the lead instead of Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally.
Brennan focused more on O’Keefe outside of his job instead of his work as a Boston police officer, NBC 10 Boston reported at the time.
Meanwhile, Read added new lawyers to her team, including New York-based attorney Robert Alessi and Victoria George, a civil attorney who was an alternate juror during Read’s first trial.
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