Karen Read’s taillight is crucial evidence as jury mulls if she killed cop boyfriend or fell victim to police frame job

JURORS are set to decide Karen Read’s fate after chilling evidence was revealed during the chaotic months-long trial.

Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Department officer, John O’Keefe , by hitting him with her car in a drunken rage.

AP

AP

AP

O’Keefe’s body was found on January 29, 2022, outside the home of another Boston police officer, in Canton, Massachusetts .

Both Read and O’Keefe were said to have been drinking the night before, when things suddenly got out of hand, according to prosecutors.

They claimed that Read and O’Keefe had got into a drunken fight, and she hit him with her car and abandoned him.

She was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death, per Boston.com .

Read pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought against her.

Prosecutors called 68 witnesses to the stand to expand on their theory.

This included a range of people from those who had a few drinks with the couple that night, to close friends who could attest to any volatility in the relationship.

Canton cops and paramedics who testified also claimed that Read made incriminating statements at the scene of the crime saying things like “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”

Massachusetts State Police investigators revealed during the trial they found broken taillight fragments as well as a drinking glass resembling the one O’Keef took from the bar.

Forensic scientists also testified that a hair that was below the taillight of Read’s vehicle was a match to O’Keefe.

READ’S DEFENSE

Her attorneys vouched for her innocence claiming there was no way Read could have killed her boyfriend.

“I have an innocent client, period,” Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson told NBC in August.

Her lawyers have argued that the 43-year-old was framed for her boyfriend’s murder.

One of the arguments they brought was that multiple people attacked O’Keefe.

A timeline of the Karen Reede's case

• January 29, 2022: O’Keefe’s body was found outside of a friend’s home.
• February 1, 2022: Read was arrested and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a vehicle homicide.
• February 2, 2022: Read pleads not guilty in Stoughton District Court.
• June 9, 2022: A state grand jury indicts Read on upgraded charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene.
• April 12, 2023: Read’s attorneys publicly release court documents they say contain “bombshell exculpatory information,” including Jennifer McCabe’s Google search.
• Nov. 20, 2023: Residents of the divided community vote 903-800 to audit the Canton Police Department over the case.
• May 23, 2023 – During another pre-trial hearing, the defense says that the murder of John O’Keefe is a massive cover-up involving members of law enforcement and their friends and family members.
• Feb. 22, 2024: Prosecutors unveil long-awaited results of crime scene evidence tests, alleging that O’Keefe’s DNA was recovered from the broken taillight of Read’s vehicle.
• April 12, 2024: Read’s defense attorneys say in court that Brian Albert, his son Colin Albert and Brian Higgins could have each killed O’Keefe at the party that night.
• April 16, 2024: Read’s trial began in Massachusetts Superior Court.
• May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when she discovered O’Keefe’s body, testifies that during their search, Read repeatedly said: “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?” She also says Read later said when emergency workers were on the scene: “I hit him.”
• June 3, 2024: The defense accuses police of planting the shattered fragments of taillight from Read’s car at the scene of the crime.
• June 24, 2024: The defense rests their case

The theory was that the people inside the home where the police officer’s body was found had beaten him to death and placed his body there.

They claim that Read was easy to blame, so they set her up in order to walk free.

During the last few days of the trial, Read’s attorneys called six witnesses who seemed to poke holes in the case.

A Canton snow plow operator testified on Friday that he had seen another car outside the home, the night of the murder.

A doctor also took the stand claiming that O’Keefe’s right arm appeared to have dog bites and claw marks.

This was pivotal to the defense, as her attorneys believed the homeowner’s dog, Chloe, could have attacked the police officer as well.

A computer forensics expert also pointed out that Jennifer McCabe, a key witness, searched “how long to die in the cold,” hours before O’Keefe was found.

On Monday, three more witnesses appeared on the stand and questioned whether O’Keefe was ever hit by a car to begin with.

A forensic pathologist backed up the idea that a dog could have bitten Read’s boyfriend.

They added that O’Keefe did not have the typical bruising that you would see in a victim who was hit by a car.

Two consulting forensic scientists, who worked on the initial investigation also testified that the science does not back the theory that the victim was hit by Read’s car.

A TOWN DIVIDED

Since O’Keefe’s death, Canton has been split on Read’s innocence.

Several residents have placed signs in front of their homes showing support for either Read or O’Keefe.

“Free Karen Read!” read one sign.

Another read: “Remember it’s about justice for John.”

“You can’t even go out to eat at a local restaurant without having folks walk in, you know, saying, ‘Oh, John. Oh, Karen. Oh, Kelly.’ I mean, you’re just hearing stuff everywhere you go,” Alex Weingart told a local NBC affiliate WBTS-CD last year.

Weingart said the case has “caused a clear divide in town.”

“I think that we really need to come together,” he said.”

In 2023, protests surrounding the case broke out around downtown.

Protestors had shown up to the Select Board’s last six meetings wearing tape over that mouth with signs that read “Silenced” and “We need to be heard.”

Some people shouted, “Shame on you!” as Canton Select Chair Thomas Theodore tried to ease the mob.

Mary Harnum, who also lives in Canton, said she just hopes everything gets resolved.

“I just pray and we all pray that the truth will come out and we just have to let the justice system do their job,” she said.

“Let’s all take a step back and take a deep breath. We all care about this community.”

Getty

Getty

AP