Boston-area teacher charged with killing her boyfriend, a police officer, in January 2022 after he allegedly hit him with his vehicle while intoxicated, described the case against her as a “cover-up”.
In June 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Bentley University professor Karen Read, 42, of Mansfield, with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision, which allegedly caused Boston Police Department 46-year-old John O’ Keefe’s death.
“I tried to save his life. I tried to save his life at 6 a.m. I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life,” said Read to reporters Thursday outside Norfolk Superior Court after a hearing, earning applause from friends and family, according to FOX 25.
The decision to speak independently to the media with the support of her lawyers was unusual given that Read has not yet been tried.
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In June 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Bentley University professor Karen Read, 42, of Mansfield, with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision, which allegedly caused Boston Police Department 46-year-old John O’ Keefe’s death. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
“We know who led this cover-up. You all know that,” she said.
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O’Keefe died in the snow outside Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s former home in Canton in the early morning hours of January 29, 2022. Albert has since sold the home.
Investigators said Read drove O’Keefe to Albert’s home on Fairview Road in Canton shortly after midnight on January 29, 2022, after drinking. That morning, around 6 a.m., authorities found O’Keefe on the ground in front of Canton’s home just before a northeasterly hit the town with 21 inches of snow. (Google Maps)
Investigators say Read drove O’Keefe to Albert’s home on Fairview Road in Canton for a party shortly after midnight on January 29, 2022, after drinking. Phone records and testimony suggest the couple was experiencing “strain in their relationship,” FOX 25 reported, citing police.
In a voicemail left after Read dropped O’Keefe off at the party, she apparently “screamed at the victim that she hated him,” according to FOX 25.
That morning, around 6 a.m., authorities found O’Keefe on the ground outside Canton’s home just before a northeasterly hit the town with 21 inches of snow. Authorities transported the off-duty officer to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead several hours later.
Authorities discovered John O’Keefe outside a home in Canton, Mass., on the morning of January 29, 2022. (Boston Police Department)
Albert and his sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, were home at the time, but both witnesses told investigators they had never seen O’Keefe enter the house that night before McCabe did not find his body outside the next morning.
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Read apparently became concerned when she did not hear from O’Keefe later and returned to the Canton home on the morning of January 29, where she and McCabe found him on the floor.
The officer had cuts to his arms and a 2-inch laceration on the back of his head, skull fractures and both of his eyes were swollen, according to hospital records obtained by FOX 25.
John O’Keefe had cuts to his arms, a 2-inch laceration on the back of his head, skull fractures and both of his eyes were swollen, according to hospital records obtained by FOX 25. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
Read repeatedly asked McCabe, “Could I have hit him?” and “Did I hit him?” that morning after noticing that one of his taillights had been smashed, evidence the state is using against Read.
But lawyers for Read argued that the phone evidence implicated Albert and McCabe in O’Keefe’s murder, according to a motion filed April 12 in Norfolk County.
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McCabe reportedly researched how long it takes to “freeze to death” at 2:27 a.m. on Jan. 29, three hours after O’Keefe was last seen walking toward Albert’s house, the motion says.
“I tried to save his life. I tried to save his life at six in the morning. I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life,” said Read to journalists on Thursday, May 25, 2023. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
McCabe also allegedly “took calculated steps to purge her phone of this incriminating search and, at the same time, attempted to delete her communications with Brian Albert and delete a screenshot of his contact details from her phone, which she obviously had shared with someone that morning,” the motion reads.
McCabe’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said Thursday that McCabe “cooperated with the government every step of the way” and “provided his testimony as any good citizen would,” FOX 25 reported.
Lawyers for Read questioned whether O’Keefe may have been beaten at the party or bitten by a dog who has apparently not been seen since that day, according to FOX 25, but a medical examiner did not see. no signs that O’Keefe had been in any kind of fight.
“Me and my family, my lawyers and my team pulled together all the resources to find out the truth. It’s like no one else wants it,” Read said Thursday. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
“Me and my family, my lawyers and my team pulled together all the resources to find out the truth. It’s like no one else wants it,” Read said Thursday.
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THE Boston Police Department described O’Keefe as “a kind person” who was “devoted to his family” in a February 2022 statement following his death.