Catching up on the Karen Read trial so far

The Karen Read murder trial ended its 17th day with highly anticipated testimony from Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was partying with Read and the man she's accused of murdering the night of the crime.

Why it matters: The Read trial has captured the attention of Massachusetts and the eventual verdict will have people talking all summer.

Catch up quick: Read is accused of the second degree murder of her boyfriend John O'Keefe, who was found in the snow the morning after a party at a friend's in Milton in January 2022.

• Prosecutors claim Read ran O'Keefe over with her SUV after dropping him off at the party and left him for dead.
• The defense says Read is being framed and that O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, actually died after a fight at the party.

Higgins was asked to read aloud text messages he exchanged with Read where they expressed a mutual attraction and Read told him her relationship with O'Keefe was not good.

There was more bombshell testimony earlier in the week, when defense attorneys confronted Read's friend Jennifer McCabe about purported cell phone searches for misspelled phrases like "How long ti die in cikd" and "Hos long to die in cold."

• McCabe said she made the searches after finding O'Keefe's body in the snow alongside Read, but defense attorneys accused her of beginning the searches hours before finding the body.

Zoom in: Read, 44, grew up in Virginia and Taunton, graduated from Coyle & Cassidy and worked for Fidelity and as an adjunct finance professor at Bentley, her college alma mater.

What's next : This week, the Read trial will only be in session today.

• Defense attorneys are expected to finish cross-examining Higgins.

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