Karen Read cleared of murdering police officer boyfriend
Karen Read has been found not guilty of murdering her police officer boyfriend.
Ms Read, 45, had been accused of killing John O'Keefe in 2022 near Boston, Massachusetts, with prosecutors claiming she hit him with her car and left him to die during a blizzard.
The defence claimed she had been framed by police, who dropped O'Keefe off at a party at the home of a fellow officer, where they allege he was beaten and then thrown outside to die.
Ms Read, who faced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene outside Boston, would have faced life in prison if found guilty of the murder charge,
She has been found guilty of a lesser charge of drunk driving.
The jury deliberated for around 21 hours for more than four days before reaching the verdict.
The verdict in the polarising case comes almost a year after a jury deadlocked over Ms Read's involvement in O'Keefe's death, resulting in a mistrial.
The defence had maintained there was no evidence that O'Keefe, 46, had died in a collision, citing multiple expert witnesses who gave evidence in court.
'There is no evidence that John was hit by a car. None. This case should be over right now, done, because there was no collision,' said Alan Jackson, acting for Ms Read.
Hank Brennan, who led the prosecution, said O'Keefe had been a 'good man' who 'helped people', but argued Ms Read had hit him with her car and then driven away.
Describing her as a scorned lover, he told the court in closing arguments: 'She was drunk. She hit him and she left him to die.'
Ms Read, who tearfully hugged her defence team after the verdict was read out, will not spend any time in prison, but will serve a one-year probation over the drunk-driving charge.
Her supporters, who had gathered outside the courthouse during the trial wearing pink, cheered and hugged each other as they celebrated the decision.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Key takeaways from the acquittal of Karen Read in her Boston police officer boyfriend's death
Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer's home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O'Keefe was in fact killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year's probation. Though her criminal case is over, Read still faces civil litigation. O'Keefe's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her and two bars where the couple drank that night. The two trials were filled with moments that raised reasonable doubt, both in the public's mind and, as illustrated by Wednesday's verdict, the minds of jurors. Here are some key takeaways: The defense theory: Crooked cops and 'the blue wall of silence' Defense lawyers asserted from the beginning that there was no collision between O'Keefe and the 6,000-pound (2,700-kilogram) SUV driven by Read, arguing instead that a crew of tightly knit local and state cops were shielding one of their own and framing her. Lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after the first trial for misconduct, knew some people at the party at the house outside of which O'Keefe was found. Proctor sent text messages to friends, family and co-workers calling Read a 'whack job' while implying that she was the lone suspect and he wanted her to pay. 'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl ... Zero chance she skates. She's f'd,' he texted just hours into the investigation. A federal agent who was at the party, Brian Higgins, acknowledged at trial destroying his phone and SIM card afterward and disposing of them in two different locations on a military base. In another exchange, Jackson questioned a former officer who originally reported seeing Higgins and the Canton police chief near the SUV in a station garage, a statement she later recanted. 'Have you ever heard of something called the blue wall of silence?' Jackson asked the officer. In closing arguments, he suggested that she changed her story under pressure from the department. What the evidence showed the jury The prosecution's evidence included pieces of Read's broken taillight that were recovered at the scene; accounts of the couple's crumbling relationship, fueled by booze; and several witnesses testifying that they heard her repeatedly say, 'I hit him.' But defense lawyers portrayed the case as riddled with errors, missteps and malfeasance. They emphasized that the taillight fragments were not found immediately and argued that police had time to take them from Read's impounded vehicle and plant them. They also presented video evidence that Read's taillight could have been damaged instead when she hit O'Keefe's car at home later that morning. The shards, which the state claimed cut into O'Keefe's arm, had no blood, tissue or DNA on them. The only DNA found was on an intact piece of taillight on Read's SUV, and it contained three possible sources — O'Keefe and two unknown males. A hair traced to O'Keefe was found on the rear of the SUV, but the defense questioned how it could have stayed there through the blizzard. Prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Neither side produced witnesses who saw him enter into the house, but the defense was able to show a fight was possible. A medical expert testified that wounds on his arm were consistent with an animal bite, supporting the theory that a family dog at the home attacked O'Keefe. A cut over his right eye and injuries to the back of his head, they said, more likely came from being punched and falling backward on a hard surface. It was hard to know, defense attorneys argued, since police never searched the home or treated anyone there as a suspect. Even Read's comments about having 'hit him' were explained away by the defense, which said prosecutors were trying to twist into a confession the dazed words of someone who was grieving and in shock. 'It wasn't a confession. It was confusion,' Jackson said, noting that it is common to be in such a state after an emotional trauma. If Read didn't kill O'Keefe, who did? Any number of people at the home, defense lawyers suggested, while questioning why multiple key law enforcement witnesses were never considered potential suspects or investigated. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. Higgins, the federal agent, had sent sexually charged and flirtatious text messages to Read despite knowing she was in a relationship with O'Keefe. On the night in question, Higgins texted her while they were at a bar — 'Umm, well?' he wrote. Moments later he was seen 'play fighting' with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police detective and the owner of the home where the party took place. They defense also pointed to a group text that morning in which one person suggested they all agree that O'Keefe never entered the home and Albert said, 'exactly.' Albert, the defense said, never bothered to exit the house after O'Keefe was found. He later sold it, got rid of the family dog and ditched his cellphone. They also portrayed the family as politically connected, noting that Albert's brother was a police officer and a second brother was on the town's governing body. The defense also questioned Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read when they discovered the body, about a misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe made it just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. ___ See an AP Photo Gallery from Read's acquittal here.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Reporter is arrested by ICE while live-streaming from anti-Trump protest
A reporter live-streamed his own dramatic arrest by ICE while covering an anti-Trump protest. Journalist Mario Guevara, 47, was broadcasting live from a 'No Kings' protest in Atlanta on Saturday when he was handcuffed. He now faces misdemeanor charges including obstructing police, unlawful assembly and improperly entering a roadway. Guevara was released from the DeKalb County Jail on a recognizance bond, which is standard for misdemeanor offenses, on Wednesday. However, he was immediately handed over to ICE custody, the New York Times reported. The seasoned journalist was one of eight individuals detained during the June 14 'No Kings' protest, part of a nationwide demonstration spanning more than 2,000 US locations to oppose the 47th President's political agenda. Video footage captured the moment Guevara stood on a sidewalk with fellow journalists, live-streaming the protest, when police handcuffed him despite his protestations. 'I'm a member of the media, officer,' he can be heard saying in the clip. Speaking in Spanish while inside a police van, Guevara asks for his lawyer. Police tell Guevara (in red) to move back during a protest on ICE raids and deportation arrests in Atlanta on Saturday, June 14 'By any chance, are we still live? Someone please call the lawyer Giovanni Díaz, my lawyer, so he can pull the strings he needs to pull,' Guevara can be heard asking. 'Yes, we're still live, right? Please, someone let lawyer Giovanni Díaz know what just happened,' he continued. An arrest warrant issued by the police stated Guevara ignored repeated commands to move off the roadway, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But his legal team, led by Díaz, insists he was simply performing his journalistic duties and broke no laws. Díaz also noted during a Tuesday night news conference that Guevara was the only reporter arrested at the protest. Just before Guevara's arrest, officers had deployed tear gas for the third time and were attempting to clear the area of reporters and protesters, the Atlanta Civic Circle reported. The outlet also stated that Guevara was complying with orders to move back, but happened to be closer to police officers than other members of the press. DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry has since called for an investigation into the police's use of tear gas at the event. 'The decision to deploy teargas - particularly in a neighborhood context with nearby homes and businesses - raises serious questions about the proportionality and justification of the county's response to peaceful civil action,' he wrote. Guevara's arrest has become a flashpoint in growing tensions between journalism and state authority, especially during the nationwide 'No Kings' protests, held on Trump's 79th birthday to call for an end to what organizers describe as authoritarian governance. With more than 782,000 followers on Facebook, Guevara is one of the most prominent Spanish-language reporters covering immigration issues. His supporters say the actions against him reflect a broader crackdown targeting immigrants, even those with legal status. Journalistic watchdogs and civil liberties advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have also condemned Guevara's arrest as a blow to press freedom. They warn that even credentialed reporters may now be vulnerable if their coverage places them at odds with law enforcement. Katherine Jacobsen, US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at CPJ, called for Guevara's release, saying, 'His ongoing detention signals a frightening erosion of press freedom in the US,' The Guardian reported. She also wrote to DeKalb County officials urging them to drop the charges. Guevara (pictured) is an Emmy-winning journalist from El Salvador who fled threats from leftwing paramilitary groups in 2004 and now runs the online news outlet MGNews, focusing on immigration enforcement 'Continuing to pursue these charges against Guevara would not only set off a costly legal battle about journalists' established First Amendment rights to report matters of public interest,' she said, 'it could create a pathway to deport a man who has been a valuable member of the Atlanta community for over 20 years.' As protests continue across the country - including a planned rally in Lawrenceville on June 21 - media and immigrant-rights advocates are closely watching Guevara's case. Many view it as a pivotal moment that could determine whether journalists can continue to report on immigration and protest without fear of arrest or deportation.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Government says Harvard researcher accused of smuggling frog embryos brought 'biological materials'
Attorneys argued over whether a Harvard researcher accused of smuggling frog embryos brought 'biological materials' into the U.S. in a court hearing Wednesday. Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist conducting cancer research for Harvard Medical School, appeared in Massachusetts federal court Wednesday for a probable cause hearing, where government and defense attorneys argued over whether she brought 'biological materials' into the U.S., ABC News reported. She was returning from a vacation from France in February when she was questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Boston Logan International Airport. Petrova, 30, had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for research. Federal officials on the social media website X accused her of lying about 'carrying substances' into the country and alleged that she planned to smuggle the embryos through customs without declaring them. She told The Associated Press in an interview in April that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. Petrova was told her visa was being canceled and detained by immigration officials in Vermont after her initial arrest. She filed a petition seeking her release and was briefly sent to an ICE facility in Louisiana, after which a judge ruled the immigration officers' actions were unlawful. In May, she was charged with one count of smuggling. The Homeland Security Investigations agent who wrote the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Brian Goldsworthy, testified Wednesday that Petrova would not have been able to leave the airport had she declared the frog embryos in her luggage, ABC News reported. He said that Customs and Border Protection agriculture experts and a federal laboratory that reviewed the samples deemed them to be biological material, ABC News reported. Petrova's attorney argued it was unclear what definition the government was operating under and the requirement to declare items entering the country doesn't hinge on whether something is a biological material, ABC News reported. After Wednesday's hearing, both sides will now have the opportunity to submit briefs to the judge. If convicted of the smuggling charge, Petrova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
