Killing of John O'Keefe

Killing of John O'Keefe
Location	Canton, Massachusetts, US
Date	January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)
Deaths	1
Victim	John O'Keefe
Accused	Karen A. Read

On January 29, 2022, Boston police officer John O'Keefe (born 1975) was found dead outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts. He had been dropped off at the home by his girlfriend, Karen A. Read (born 1979), in the early hours of the morning, to join a gathering hosted by fellow police officer Brian Albert. He was discovered hours later and transported to a local hospital where cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia.

Police arrested Read on February 1, alleging that Read hit her boyfriend with her SUV and left him to die in the snow. She was later indicted with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision. Read has alleged that she did not hit O'Keefe, and that she was framed by police.

Background

John J. O'Keefe (born December 8, 1975) grew up in Braintree and graduated from Braintree High School and Northeastern University. He also earned a master's degree in criminal justice from UMass Lowell and had lived in Canton since 2014, where he was raising his niece and nephew following his sister and brother-in-law's deaths. O'Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department.

Karen A. Read (born 1979) is from Taunton and graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science in Global Financial Analysis degree. She had been a financial analyst at Fidelity Investments since 2007, and was an adjunct professor at Bentley University. Read lived in Mansfield at the time of O'Keefe's death. O'Keefe and Read began dating in 2019.

Event

On the night of January 28, 2022, O'Keefe and Read visited two bars in Canton: C.F. McCarthy's and Waterfall Bar & Grille. At the second bar, they met up with several acquaintances including fellow police officer Brian Albert. Shortly after midnight Albert invited a group of people, including the couple, back to his home on Fairview Road in Canton.

The two drove to the home in Read's SUV. Read claims to have dropped O'Keefe off in front of the home and left because she wasn't feeling well.

A snow storm hit Canton in the early morning of January 29. Read reported that when she woke up the next day, O'Keefe had not returned home. After he did not respond to calls or texts, she contacted an acquaintance from that night, Jennifer McCabe, who agreed to join her and another woman, Kerry Roberts, in looking for him. The three women returned to Fairview Road in Robert's vehicle, where they saw O'Keefe lying unresponsive in the snow. Read exited the car and began CPR. McCabe called 911 at approximately 6:04 am and Canton Police, Fire, and EMS responded to the scene.

O'Keefe was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, where he was pronounced dead. A medical examiner later reported that O'Keefe had abrasions to his right arm, several lacerations to the face, two black eyes, and skull fractures which would have contributed to brain bleeding. They determined that hypothermia was a contributing factor to O'Keefe's death.

Read theorizes that O'Keefe was beaten inside the home, and his body was then left outside; however, there are 11 witness statements that say O'Keefe never entered the home.

Investigation

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael D. Proctor, of the Norfolk State Police Detective Unit, was the lead investigator for this case. He produced a series of written reports (Case # 2022-112-0033) to Detective Lieutenant Brian P. Tully of the Massachusetts State Police.

According to police, pieces of a cocktail glass and patches of blood were found alongside O'Keefe's body. They also found pieces of a broken taillight, said to match a broken light on Read's car.

Read was arrested on February 1, 2022. Her phone was taken into custody. She was charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a collision in the lower Stoughton District Court on February 2, 2022.

In April 2023, Read's attorneys presented a theory that implicated Brian Albert, who owned the home outside of which where O'Keefe was found dead, and his sister-in-law Jennifer McCabe, who had been drinking with Read and O'Keefe on January 28, and helped Read find O'Keefe's body the morning of January 29.

In November 2023, residents of Canton voted to mount an independent investigation into the town's police department.

In January 2024, letters between the General Counsel for the Department of Justice and Norfolk District Attorney, Michael W. Morrissey, were released, confirming a federal investigation was mounted into the Norfolk District Attorney's office.

In March 2024, the Massachusetts State Police launched an internal investigation into the lead investigator in the case, Trooper Michael Proctor, due to potential violation of department policy, but have not said whether that investigation relates to a specific case.

Court proceedings

On February 2, 2022, Read was arraigned in Stoughton District Court on the charges of manslaughter, leaving the scene of a serious accident, and motor vehicle homicide. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $80,000 bail.

In June 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Read for second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision.

The case is being heard in Norfolk County Superior Court, with Judge Beverly J. Cannone presiding. The prosecution is led by Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey and Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally.

The defense is led by criminal defense attorneys David R. Yannetti, Alan Jackson, and Elizabeth Little. Jackson and Little are partners at a Los Angeles firm and have represented Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey.

On March 12, 2024, Read's attorneys filed for a motion to dismiss the case due to alleged conflicts of interest and federal crash reconstruction experts determining that O’Keefe’s injuries were “inconsistent” with the damage to Read’s car. The judge denied the motion on March 26 due to "extensive evidence supporting the indictments," such as O'Keefe's DNA being found on the broken taillight of Read's car.

In early April 2024, ahead of the trial date, the prosecutors filed a motion requesting special restrictions during the trial to keep demonstrations back at least 500 feet from the courthouse to maintain an unbiased jury pool; Judge Cannone argued that 500 feet was too excessive, but has ordered a 200 feet buffer zone where no protesters are allowed. This ruling came after ACLU filed a memorandum opposing the prosecution's request, citing freedom of speech, and urged the court to consider more narrowly tailored restrictions. Read's attorney said the defense takes no position on the motion. The judge also approved the prosecution's request to prohibit anyone inside the courtroom from wearing any attire that says “Free Karen Read” and also prohibit law enforcement officers, whether they be testifying or attending the trial, from wearing their uniforms. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court approved the judge's ruling, and later on May 2 issued a formal document affirming the approval of the buffer zone. The SJC argued that the Judge "struck a balance between the right to protest or demonstrate and the defendant’s right to a fair trial".

Trial

Read's trial was first scheduled to begin in March 2024, but was rescheduled to April. The trial started on April 16, 2024 with the jury selection, which was completed on April 24. Prosecutors previously asked the Judge to block Read’s lawyers from arguing that others are to blame for O’Keefe’s death, also known as third-party culprit defense. The judge instead offered the defense a chance to develop their argument through “relevant, competent, admissible evidence”, but still barred them from using the third-party culprit defense during opening statements.

On April 28, the prosecutors and the defense presented opening statements. Prosecutors outlined circumstantial evidence that pointed to Read’s guilt, while the defense told jurors that Read is being framed and that O’Keefe was beaten and attacked by a dog inside the home of another Boston police officer.

O'Keefe's brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Erin O'Keefe, took the stand for the prosecution describing the relationship between Read and O'Keefe and the day when O'Keefe died. Canton Police Officer Steve Saraf, the first police officer to arrive at the scene, testified that Read appeared to be giving O’Keefe CPR, and was "visibly upset", repeatedly asked if O'Keefe is dead and said "this is my fault". Four paramedics testified and told the court that Read was saying "I hit him" repeatedly at the scene.

The defense pointed out that Officer Saraf's initial report did not include what Read said, but included the statement when he testified to the grand jury in April 2022. Defense attorney Alan Jackson argued that not including the quote “This is my fault” in the initial police report was an important omission.

After the testimony from the paramedics, the defense raised questions about the ties between Canton firefighter and paramedic Katie McLaughlin and the Albert family. When asked about her relationship with Brian Albert's daughter, she acknowledged that they went to high school together, but they are only acquaintances; however, the defense later accused McLaughlin of perjury after dozens of pictures of them together emerged, including one from June 2021.

Canton Police Lt. Paul Gallagher, who was in charge of preserving the crime scene that day, testified that he and other two sergeants used a leaf blower to remove the snow, and collected DNA evidence with uncovered solo cups and put them in a brown paper shopping bag. He also said it was not standard practice to do so.

Impact

In August 2023, a Massachusetts citizen ballot initiative was proposed to add recall elections to the Massachusetts Constitution in response to the Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey's perceived corruption in the case.

The case has caused divisions in Canton, as town residents have debated whether O'Keefe was killed by Read, or whether Read was framed by the police. Social tensions and old family feuds have reportedly been inflamed by the case. Blogger and self-described independent journalist, Aidan Kearney, nicknamed Turtleboy, was indicted on "eight counts of witness intimidation, three counts of conspiracy to intimidate witnesses, and five counts of picketing a witness" in December 2023.

In July 2023, a "rolling rally" of around 50 cars in support of the coverup theory drove through Canton, stopping at the homes of key figures relating to the case and verbally harassing them with a bullhorn.

In November 2023, Canton held a Special Town Meeting where residents voted in favor (903-800) of an independent audit of the Canton Police Department due to the ongoing investigation of this case.

In popular media

American TV series Dateline plans to release an episode on the case.