Latest news with #O'Keefe
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Fossils found in North America reveal new species of 'very odd' sea monster: Scientists
A prehistoric sea monster never-before-known to man was hunting prey in North America 85 million years ago, fossils found decades ago in Canada reveal. The first set of fossils, found in 1988 along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island, were determined to belong to elasmosaurs, a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80.6 to 77 million years ago, according to the paper, published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Additional fossils found since include an isolated right humerus and a well-preserved juvenile skeleton comprising of a thorax, girdles and limbs, according to the study. MORE: Evidence of 30-foot ancient sea monster found in Mississippi But they have now been formally identified to belong to a "very odd" new genus of sea monster called Traskasaura sandrae, the researchers said. The long-necked creature likely measured about 39 feet and had heavy, sharp teeth that were "ideal for crushing" ammonite shells, according to paleontologists. Dozens of well-preserved cervical vertebrae indicate at least 50 bones in the neck -- likely more, the researchers said. T. sandrae also had a "strange mix" of primitive and derived traits, unlike any other elasmosaur. Its unique adaptations allowed it to hunt prey from above -- the first of the plesiosaur taxa to do so, the paper states. Prey was likely abundant in the region at the time, the scientists said. "It has a very odd mix of primitive and derived traits," O'Keefe said. "The shoulder, in particular, is unlike any other plesiosaur I have ever seen, and I have seen a few." MORE: Underwater camera captures elusive tentacled creature 3 miles below ocean surface When lead author F. Robin O'Keefe first saw the fossils and realized they belonged to an entirely new taxon, he hypothesized that they may be related to the plesiosaurs from Antarctica, he said in a statement. But it is "a strange, convergently evolved, fascinating beast," O'Keefe said. "The fossil record is full of surprises," O'Keefe said. "It is always gratifying to discover something unexpected." The fossils are among the most famous in the country. In 2002, they were adopted by the Province of British Columbia and declared the official fossil emblem of British Columbia. "Plesiosaur fossils have been known for decades in British Columbia," O'Keefe said. "However, the identity of the animal that left the fossils has remained a mystery, even as it were declared BC's provincial fossil in 2023. Our new research, published today, finally solves this mystery." MORE: What paleontologists learned from fossils of a 3-eyed predator that lived 500 million years ago Paleontologists were reluctant at first to erect a new genus based solely on the adult skeleton of the elasmosaur. But a new 'excellently preserved' partial skeleton enabled this latest international team of scientists from Canada, Chile and the U.S. to eventually identify the new genus and species. The genus name Traskasaura was given in honor of Courtenay, British Columbia, where the researchers who discovered the original specimen in 1988 were based. The species name sandrae honors Sandra Lee O'Keefe, a member of the team of researchers who identified the fossils in 2002. They are currently on display at the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre in Courtenay, British Columbia. Fossils found in North America reveal new species of 'very odd' sea monster: Scientists originally appeared on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Karen Read's defense set to call its first witness in her retrial in the killing of her Boston police officer boyfriend
Karen Read's defense is set to call its first witness on Friday, marking a new phase in her retrial in the killing of John O'Keefe, her off-duty Boston police officer boyfriend whose body was found buried in the snow outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022. Read – whose first trial ended with a hung jury – has already promised a 'more robust' case than the one her attorneys put on last year, when they called six witnesses for less than two full days of testimony. Their case this time is 'broader and deeper,' Read told reporters last week, saying it will include 'more witnesses' and last at least a week. Prosecutors have accused Read of putting her Lexus SUV in reverse and striking O'Keefe with her vehicle just after midnight on January 29, 2022, after the couple went out with drinking with friends who were gathering for an after party at a home on Fairview Road. But Read's defense argues she has been framed by other off-duty law enforcement who were inside that home, alleging they killed O'Keefe and conspired to frame her. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. A key question is whether Read will take the stand. She did not testify in the first trial. But jurors in her retrial have already heard from the defendant: Throughout their case, prosecutors – led by special prosecutor Hank Brennan – have played numerous clips taken from interviews Read gave reporters or documentary film crews, working to use her statements against her. 'This is my version of testifying. Doing this film is my testimony,' she said in Investigation Discovery's 'A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read.' (Investigation Discovery, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) 'I want to say what happened,' she added, 'exactly as it happened.' Prosecutors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts rested their case in chief on Thursday after calling 38 witnesses over more than 20 days of testimony, including the victim's friends and family; members of state and local law enforcement who played a role in the investigation; and experts who analyzed a raft of digital and physical forensic evidence. Notably absent from the prosecution's case was Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Trooper who led the investigation into O'Keefe's death but was dishonorably discharged from the agency earlier this year for sexist and offensive text messages he sent about the suspect. Proctor apologized for the texts during his testimony in the first trial, but Read's defense attorneys used them to paint a picture of a flawed and biased investigation – a strategy they have so far echoed in the retrial. Proctor is included on the defense's list of prospective witnesses, but whether he will testify again remains to be seen. This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
Karen Read's defense set to call its first witness in her retrial in the killing of her Boston police officer boyfriend
FacebookTweetLink Follow Karen Read's defense is set to call its first witness on Friday, marking a new phase in her retrial in the killing of John O'Keefe, her off-duty Boston police officer boyfriend whose body was found buried in the snow outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022. Read – whose first trial ended with a hung jury – has already promised a 'more robust' case than the one her attorneys put on last year, when they called six witnesses for less than two full days of testimony. Their case this time is 'broader and deeper,' Read told reporters last week, saying it will include 'more witnesses' and last at least a week. Prosecutors have accused Read of putting her Lexus SUV in reverse and striking O'Keefe with her vehicle just after midnight on January 29, 2022, after the couple went out with drinking with friends who were gathering for an after party at a home on Fairview Road. But Read's defense argues she has been framed by other off-duty law enforcement who were inside that home, alleging they killed O'Keefe and conspired to frame her. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. A key question is whether Read will take the stand. She did not testify in the first trial. But jurors in her retrial have already heard from the defendant: Throughout their case, prosecutors – led by special prosecutor Hank Brennan – have played numerous clips taken from interviews Read gave reporters or documentary film crews, working to use her statements against her. 'This is my version of testifying. Doing this film is my testimony,' she said in Investigation Discovery's 'A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read.' (Investigation Discovery, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) 'I want to say what happened,' she added, 'exactly as it happened.' Prosecutors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts rested their case in chief on Thursday after calling 38 witnesses over more than 20 days of testimony, including the victim's friends and family; members of state and local law enforcement who played a role in the investigation; and experts who analyzed a raft of digital and physical forensic evidence. Notably absent from the prosecution's case was Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Trooper who led the investigation into O'Keefe's death but was dishonorably discharged from the agency earlier this year for sexist and offensive text messages he sent about the suspect. Proctor apologized for the texts during his testimony in the first trial, but Read's defense attorneys used them to paint a picture of a flawed and biased investigation – a strategy they have so far echoed in the retrial. Proctor is included on the defense's list of prospective witnesses, but whether he will testify again remains to be seen. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Fossils found in North America reveal new species of 'very odd' sea monster: Scientists
A prehistoric sea monster never-before-known to man was hunting prey in North America 85 million years ago, fossils found decades ago in Canada reveal. The first set of fossils, found in 1988 along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island, were determined to belong to elasmosaurs, a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80.6 to 77 million years ago, according to the paper, published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Additional fossils found since include an isolated right humerus and a well-preserved juvenile skeleton comprising of a thorax, girdles and limbs, according to the study. MORE: Evidence of 30-foot ancient sea monster found in Mississippi But they have now been formally identified to belong to a "very odd" new genus of sea monster called Traskasaura sandrae, the researchers said. The long-necked creature likely measured about 39 feet and had heavy, sharp teeth that were "ideal for crushing" ammonite shells, according to paleontologists. Dozens of well-preserved cervical vertebrae indicate at least 50 bones in the neck -- likely more, the researchers said. T. sandrae also had a "strange mix" of primitive and derived traits, unlike any other elasmosaur. Its unique adaptations allowed it to hunt prey from above -- the first of the plesiosaur taxa to do so, the paper states. Prey was likely abundant in the region at the time, the scientists said. "It has a very odd mix of primitive and derived traits," O'Keefe said. "The shoulder, in particular, is unlike any other plesiosaur I have ever seen, and I have seen a few." MORE: Underwater camera captures elusive tentacled creature 3 miles below ocean surface When lead author F. Robin O'Keefe first saw the fossils and realized they belonged to an entirely new taxon, he hypothesized that they may be related to the plesiosaurs from Antarctica, he said in a statement. But it is "a strange, convergently evolved, fascinating beast," O'Keefe said. "The fossil record is full of surprises," O'Keefe said. "It is always gratifying to discover something unexpected." The fossils are among the most famous in the country. In 2002, they were adopted by the Province of British Columbia and declared the official fossil emblem of British Columbia. "Plesiosaur fossils have been known for decades in British Columbia," O'Keefe said. "However, the identity of the animal that left the fossils has remained a mystery, even as it were declared BC's provincial fossil in 2023. Our new research, published today, finally solves this mystery." MORE: What paleontologists learned from fossils of a 3-eyed predator that lived 500 million years ago Paleontologists were reluctant at first to erect a new genus based solely on the adult skeleton of the elasmosaur. But a new 'excellently preserved' partial skeleton enabled this latest international team of scientists from Canada, Chile and the U.S. to eventually identify the new genus and species. The genus name Traskasaura was given in honor of Courtenay, British Columbia, where the researchers who discovered the original specimen in 1988 were based. The species name sandrae honors Sandra Lee O'Keefe, a member of the team of researchers who identified the fossils in 2002. They are currently on display at the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre in Courtenay, British Columbia. Fossils found in North America reveal new species of 'very odd' sea monster: Scientists originally appeared on
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Karen Read prosecution rests case with video of her wondering whether she killed her boyfriend: ‘What if I clipped him?'
Prosecutors rested their case in Karen Read's new murder trial after more than a month of testimony — and closed with a video of Read expressing fears that she may have struck and killed her boyfriend John O'Keefe with her car. 'What if I ran his foot over or what if I clipped him in the knee, and he passed out or went to care for himself and he threw up or passed out?' Read said in an interview clip played for Massachusetts jurors Thursday. 'I thought, could I have run him over? Did he try to get me as I was leaving, and I didn't know it?' she said in the clip, which came from an April 2024 documentary released ahead of her first trial, according to WCVB. Advertisement 3 Karen Read called the prosecution's case against her 'unjust' after the case was rested on Thursday. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'I always have the music blasting. It's snowing. I had the wipers going, the heater blasting. Did he come and hit the back of my car, and I hit him in the knee, and he was drunk and passed out and [he] asphyxiated or something,' Read said in the video. Once the clip ended — with Read explaining that her lawyer, David Yannetti, said she would have 'some element of culpability' if all that had happened — the video dramatically faded to black, and jurors were left in silence as prosecutors closed. Advertisement Read, 45, is accused of deliberately backing her Lexus SUV into 46-year-old O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, before he died on a night of drunken arguing in January 2022. O'Keefe's body was found bloodied and battered in the snow outside a friend's house in Canton the morning after Read drove him there to party with some of his cop bodies during a blizzard. The couple reportedly had a rocky relationship before the fateful night. 3 Read and her boyfriend John O'Keefe, who prosecutors say she deliberately ran down with her car. Courtesy of David Yannetti Advertisement Earlier in the week prosecutors called accident reconstructionist Judson Welcher to the stand, who testified that data from Read's Lexus indicated she had driven forward then stopped and accelerated in reverse at 74% throttle — about 23 mph — at the time that she was dropping O'Keefe off at the house. And on Thursday, prosecutors pressed Welcher on whether or not the data could suffer from 'confirmation bias' — which Welcher denied, saying the car presented them with 'objective information.' With the prosecution's case finished, the defense will begin calling witnesses Friday, and is expected to kick things off with their own accident reconstructionist, according to Read told reporters it remains 'TBD' whether she will take the stand herself, which she did not during her first trial last year. Advertisement 3 Prosecutor Hank Brennan revisited testimony that data from Read's car suggested she reversed into O'Keefe. AP The defense will likely take about two weeks to present its case, Read added, before calling the prosecution's case against her 'unjust.' Read's first case ended in a mistrial last summer after jurors were unable to reach an agreement on her charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. She pleaded not guilty, with her defense arguing O'Keefe was beaten by his cop friends and dumped in the snow where he was found — and that the pals then tried to frame Read. The last trial dredged up responding officers' questionable investigation tactics — which included using leaf-blowers to melt snow and storing O'Keefe's frozen blood in Solo cups, along with vulgar texts officers exchanged about Read — to support their claims.
