Two years ago, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snowy front yard of another officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts. It was a cold January morning, and despite efforts to save him, John was pronounced dead shortly after. His girlfriend, Karen Read, has been at the center of a storm ever since—charged with his murder, yet adamantly claiming she’s innocent. She says it’s all part of a larger conspiracy to frame her.
Karen, now 44, faced a long and intense trial. But after nine weeks of arguments and five days of jury deliberations, the jury couldn’t agree on a verdict. The judge declared a mistrial on July 1, and the case is far from over. Prosecutors are determined to try her again, with a new trial scheduled for April 1.
Here’s what’s happened so far.
John O’Keefe and Karen Read were a couple. John, 46, had served with the Boston Police Department for 16 years. Karen worked as an equity analyst at Fidelity Investments. The two had been together for about two years. According to prosecutors, their relationship had hit a rocky patch in the months leading up to John’s death. Defense attorneys, however, said they were making future plans and seemed fine during a night out on January 28, 2022.
That night, John and Karen were at a bar in Canton, hanging out with friends, including several law enforcement officers. After leaving the bar, Karen says she dropped John off at a house party hosted by Brian Albert, a now-retired Boston sergeant. But John never came home. Worried, Karen began searching for him early the next morning, with help from two women. Tragically, they found John’s body in the front yard of Albert’s house. He’d been there all night.
John was rushed to the hospital but couldn’t be saved. The medical examiner said he died from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia.
The prosecution’s case centers on Karen’s SUV. Prosecutors allege Karen backed her Lexus into John, causing his fatal injuries. They say she left him to die in the cold. According to Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, data from Karen’s car shows it reversed 60 feet at 24 miles per hour near Albert’s home around 12:45 a.m. on January 29.
Pieces of her broken taillight were later found in the yard, and John’s hair and DNA were discovered on the car’s bumper. Lally also pointed to a cocktail glass found on the bumper, matching the drink John was seen holding on surveillance video earlier that night.
But Karen’s defense team says that’s not what happened at all. They argue she’s been set up. They claim John was beaten, possibly bitten by a dog (Albert owned a German shepherd), and left outside during the party. Defense attorney David Yannetti pointed out that no one from the party saw John enter the house, even though his body was found just feet from where partygoers would have walked.
The defense says the investigation was biased from the start, accusing authorities of protecting Albert and his family, who have strong ties to law enforcement. Albert testified that John never came to his house that night but said he would have been “welcomed with open arms.”
The lead investigator, Trooper Michael Proctor, became a focal point of the defense’s criticism. He admitted to using offensive language about Karen in text messages and making inappropriate jokes during the investigation. After the mistrial, Proctor was suspended for seven days without pay.
Another key figure in the case is Jennifer McCabe, Albert’s sister-in-law. She was at the bar and party that night and later helped Karen search for John. During the trial, the defense accused McCabe of changing her story. Initially, she told a grand jury Karen had asked, “Did I hit him?” after finding John’s body. But in court, McCabe claimed Karen said, “I hit him,” three times to a paramedic.
The defense also brought up a suspicious Google search on McCabe’s phone. At 2:27 a.m. on January 29, hours before John’s body was found, McCabe allegedly searched, “How long to die in cold.” McCabe denied doing the search at that time, claiming she looked it up later after Karen asked her about hypothermia.
Adding another twist, the defense pointed to Karen’s explanation for her broken taillight. They say it didn’t happen at Albert’s house but earlier that morning when she accidentally backed into John’s car while leaving her own driveway in a panic. Surveillance footage supports this claim, they argue.
This case has captivated the community, with many questioning how such a tragedy could happen and who’s truly responsible. The stakes are high, and with a new trial on the horizon, it’s clear this story is far from over.
