A judge in the US state of Massachusetts has ruled that Karen Read’s trial on charges that she killed her boyfriend, a police officer, with her SUV will be restarted, thus thwarting her attempts to have the case dismissed.
Days after the case ended in a mistrial on July 1, Read’s lawyers claimed that several jurors had said they planned to acquit her of charges of alleged second-degree murder and fleeing the scene of the crime.
They further claimed that the jury could only disagree on the manslaughter charge, but Norfolk County Judge Beverly Cannone rejected this.
“Because there was no public and publicly certified verdict in this case, the defendant was not acquitted of any of the charges,” Cannone’s decision said. “The only unanimous decision of the jury here was their statement to the court that they were at an impasse and could not agree.”
David Traub, a spokesman for the Norfolk County district attorney’s office, told the New York Post that their trial for the murder of John O’Keefe is expected to begin on January 27.
On January 27, the trial of Karen Read, 44, for the murder of Boston police officer John O’Keefe is scheduled to resume after her prosecutors’ first attempt ended in a mistrial.
Judge Beverly Cannone rejected arguments from Read’s lawyers to drop the second-degree murder charge, saying the former college professor had not been acquitted.
Cannone added that Read’s lawyers initially expressed no objection to declaring a mistrial, saying they had multiple opportunities to do so as jurors submitted notes expressing their disagreements with each other.
Prosecutors accused Read, 44, of running over John O’Keefe during a snowstorm in January 2022 to escape their toxic relationship.
On the evening of O’Keefe’s death, he and Read had gone out drinking with a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton, about 14 miles south of Boston, and were invited to an after-party at the house of his friend Brian Albert.
Read, who prosecutors said had consumed several alcoholic drinks beforehand, decided to drop her boyfriend off at the after-party and then head to his home, which O’Keefe shared with his orphaned niece and nephew, to sleep around 1 a.m.
Court documents show the couple had previously argued bitterly for weeks. On the night of O’Keefe’s death, Read left him a voicemail calling him a “fucking loser” and telling him, “John, I f***ing hate you.”
John O’Keefe, 46, was found dead at 6 a.m. on January 29, 2022, outside a house where Read had dropped him off for an after-party at around 12:45 a.m.
Read and O’Keefe had gone out drinking together the night of his death before she drove him to an after-party while she went home to sleep. He was found dead hours later on the lawn of the after-party house.
At the time of O’Keefe’s death, the couple had been together for two years. He had been with the Boston Police Department for 16 years.
According to Read’s version of events, she woke up at 4 a.m. to find that O’Keefe had not come home, and she frantically drove off to find him.
After O’Keefe’s body was found outside Albert’s house – which party attendees said he never entered – first responders on the scene claimed Read repeatedly told them she had hit him in a state of panic.
Vehicle records also showed Read backed her SUV for 63 feet at 24 mph near Albert’s home. O’Keefe’s cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia. Pieces of Read’s taillight were found around his body, prosecutors said.
Read, a financial analyst and former professor at Bentley College, was called America’s “happiest murder defendant” because she smiled so often during her trial and even winked at the cameras.
As her trial began, Read received an outpouring of support from true crime fans and locals who camped outside the courthouse carrying signs reading “Free Karen Read.”
Given the intense media scrutiny and large demonstrations surrounding her hearings, public opinion about Read’s innocence was divided – some called for her “release”, others accused her of being a vile murderer.
Given the intense media scrutiny and large demonstrations surrounding her hearings, public opinion about Read’s innocence was divided: some called for her “release,” others accused her of being a vile murderer.
Just two weeks after the verdict, Read decided to list her 2,000-square-foot Colonial-style home in Mansfield for $849,900.
Her real estate agent revealed that she has not lived in Mansfield since last year and “wants another family to enjoy the property that she has spent many years improving.”
Read maintained her innocence from the beginning, claiming that the police and people at the party the night of O’Keefe’s death had framed her.
