What did this star witness Google? Latest in Karen Read trial over killing of boyfriend
Editor's note: This page summarizes testimony in the Karen Read trial for Wednesday, May 7. For the latest updates on the Karen Read retrial, visit USA TODAY's coverage for Thursday, May 8.
A Google search for how long it takes to die in the cold. Pieces of broken taillight found where prosecutors say the woman hit her cop boyfriend with her SUV and left him in the snow. And details from the autopsy.
The new evidence introduced Wednesday is the latest in the trial of Karen Read, a 45-year-old woman accused of hitting Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with her Lexus and leaving him for dead outside the home of a fellow cop in January 2022. Prosecutors say the former finance professor deliberately hit O'Keefe, 46, in a drunken rage. Read's lawyers say she was framed by cops.
An analysis of the phone of Jennifer McCabe, a friend of the couple and star witness for the prosecution, found she Googled how long does it take to die in the cold the day O'Keefe was found. A forensic expert testified Wednesday that the search was made after O'Keefe was found unconscious, not before as the defense has suggested.
Testimony heard May 7 – the 11th day of the trial – comes as jurors this week already heard anguished and enraged voicemails Read left O'Keefe the morning he died; a bombshell admission Read confessed to a first responder at the scene; and from investigators who used red Solo cups and a leaf blower to collect evidence from outside the Canton, Massachusetts home where O'Keefe was found.
Read's lawyers say the investigation was marred by bias and incompetence. They have also called out inconsistencies in testimony of witnesses called by prosecutors, highlighting changes in what they said to the grand jury, at Read's first trial in 2024 and at the ongoing trial. Read is back in court after the 2024 trial ended in a hung jury. The first full day of testimony was April 23.
Among evidence from the first two weeks of testimony, jurors heard from a star witness who testified that Read told her 'I hit him' three times; cryptic text messages a key witness for prosecutors sent other witnesses; and Read admitting to reporters that she drank heavily the night before O'Keefe died.
The case out of Dedham, Massachusetts has turned into a years-long whodunnit legal saga that has garnered massive intrigue from true-crime fans across the country, spurring an array of podcasts, movies, and television shows. The former financial professor is back in court after a 2024 trial ended in a hung jury.
Here's what else happened at the Norfolk County courthouse on Wednesday, May 7.
Read's attorney attempted to poke holes in the testimony of Jessica Hyde, a digital forensics examiner, by pointing out differences between her previous testimony, her report and the findings of another expert witness for the prosecution, Ian Whiffin.
Hyde determined that before O'Keefe was found around 6 a.m., his phone was last used at 12:20 a.m. But Whiffin, a digital intelligence expert, said the device was locked with its lock button for the last time at 12:32 a.m.
Hyde said she could not contest Whiffin's findings because she had not evaluated that specific information. She later clarified to prosecutors that her report also found the last movement of O'Keefe's phone occurred at 12:32 a.m.
Turning to McCabe's phone, Read's attorney also noted Hyde wrote in her report that a definitive reason for the 2:27 a.m. timestamp of the 'hos (sic) long to die in cold' search is 'unknown.'
Hyde described in detail the best practices for extracting data from an iPhone, including putting the phone on airplane mode or in a Faraday box or bag to prevent it from being wiped and stop new data from coming in. Hyde agreed data in her report indicated this best practice wasn't followed, but said this had no impact on her conclusions.
Hyde said a key witness searched 'hos (sic) long to die in cold' after O'Keefe was found unconscious, not before as the defense has suggested.
Hyde said a tab was opened on Jennifer McCabe's phone at 2:27 a.m. on Jan. 29 and multiple searches were made at some point, including for sporting events, a video of the song It's Raining Men and two crucial, misspelled questions 'hos (sic) long to die in the cold' and 'how long ti die in cikd (sic)'
McCabe is a star witness for the prosecution who testified that she heard Read say 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,' that morning and shared vivid details about discovering the body of 'one of her closest friends.'
Catch up on the murder case: Who is Karen Read and why is she on trial again?
Hyde said 'there is a really scary danger' that an untrained examiner might assume the search was made at 2:27 a.m., but the timestamp actually reflects when the tab was first opened or backgrounded. 'You could erroneously implicate a search was done hours or even days before it actually occurred. Some of us leave our tabs open forever,' she said.
Hyde said 'hos (sic) long to die in cold' was actually the final search made in the tab at 6:24 a.m. O'Keefe was found around 6 a.m.
Hyde is the second expert to tell jurors this search was made after 6 a.m. Whiffin testified on April 28 that forensic data showed the Google search occurred at about 6:23 a.m. Whiffin gave a live demonstration of why, according to his analysis, the earlier timestamp is inaccurate.
Connor Keefe, a Massachusetts State Police trooper assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney's office homicide unit, showed jurors more pieces of evidence found near the area where O'Keefe was found lying in the snow.
Keefe, who was tasked with bagging evidence uncovered by the team searching the lawn and street in front of 34 Fairview Road, unsealed evidence bags in court containing a shoe and pieces of broken taillight found at the scene. Jurors previously heard from the leader of the search team that sifted through the snow using rakes and brooms to find the evidence.
Keefe also attended the autopsy of O'Keefe, which he said is common practice for law enforcement. On cross-examination, Read's attorney attempted to question Keefe about injuries to O'Keefe's arm seen during the autopsy, but faced repeated objections from the prosecution.
Keefe said he did not provide a theory of what happened to O'Keefe to the medical examiner, but agreed he provided information to her during the autopsy.
A judge agreed to keep testimony from the Sandra Birchmore case, another notorious death in Canton, out of the Karen Read murder trial.
Birchmore's death, initially ruled a suicide, is now a federal case against former Stoughton cop Matthew Farwell. Prosecutors came around to what family and friends of Birchmore had said from the beginning: Farwell killed her and made the scene look like she had taken her own life. Farwell has pleaded not guilty.
Guarino, who has testified multiple times in Read's second trial, worked both cases.
Guarino initially failed to identify any messages from Farwell's phones to Birchmore. Investigators later revealed 32,709 messages between the two from December 2019 to her death in February 2021. Critics say Guarino botched data analysis in the O'Keefe case as well.
In a Tuesday, May 6 ruling, Judge Beverly Cannone sided with prosecutors who argued that "[t]estimony about this unrelated death investigation would result in a trial within a trial, with much information being inadmissible, confidential or offered without a proper foundation."
Cannone left a loophole: If "the door is opened" to Birchmore-related testimony, it could theoretically be allowed into Read's second trial
CourtTV has been covering the case against Read and the criminal investigation since early 2022, when O'Keefe's body was found outside a Canton home.
You can watch CourtTV's live feed of the Read trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings begin at 9 a.m. ET.
Contributing: Chris Helms, The Enterprise; Michael Loria, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Karen Read trial: Star witness' Google search scrutinized
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