The trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of murdering her boyfriend John O'Keefe, entered its third week after heated testimony from a star witness for the prosecution wrapped up on May 2.
Jennifer McCabe, a friend who went out drinking with the couple the night before O'Keefe died, testified that the 45-year-old former finance professor confessed to hitting O'Keefe with her Lexus. Prosecutors say Read then fled the scene, leaving O'Keefe for dead in the snow outside the Canton, Massachusetts home of a fellow Boston police officer in January 2022.
Defense attorneys have long maintained that Read was framed. They say text messages McCabe sent in the aftermath of O'Keefe's death show she helped cover-up how the 46-year-old officer died and pressed her about records showing her phone made a browser search for "hos (sic) long to die in cold" at 2:27 a.m.
McCabe took the witness stand for three days, delivering testimony about Read's bombshell admission, vivid details about discovering the body of "one of her closest friends" and Read's "crazy" and "erratic" behavior that morning after a night of drinking.
After McCabe's testimony ended, Hannah Knowles, a forensic scientist at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab told jurors Read's blood alcohol level at 12:45 a.m. the morning O'Keefe died could have been between 0.14% and 0.28%. The legal limit for driving in Massachusetts is 0.08%
Read is standing trial for O'Keefe's murder again after her first trial in 2024 ended in a hung jury. The years-long legal saga has garnered massive intrigue from true-crime fans across the country, spurring an array of podcasts, movies and television shows. The trial is expected to last at least six more weeks.
Sarah Levinson testified that she and a friend went to 34 Fairview Road to celebrate Brian Albert Jr.'s birthday. Levinson said the atmosphere was "celebratory, light, joyful" as friends and family members came and went throughout the night.
Around midnight, Albert's father, mother, sister, aunt, uncle and a friend, Brian Higgins, arrived at the house. Albert's aunt Jennifer McCabe, is one of the prosecution's key witnesses. She is the sister of Nicole Albert, who is married to Brian Albert Sr., one of the men Read's defense team has alleged killed O'Keefe. McCabe testified that Read and O'Keefe were supposed to join the party at the Alberts' house, but never arrived.
Levinson said her friend left the house briefly to speak with her brother, but no one else entered the house after that. Levinson said she left 34 Fairview between 1:30 and 2 in the morning with the McCabes as a light dusting of snow covered the ground.
A defense attorney for Read began questioning Levinson by asking why she had never met the Albert's German Shepard, Chloe. "Is that because the dog was not really good with strangers?" Alan Jackson asked.
Chief among evidence in Read's defense was a series of marks on O'Keefe's arm that appeared to come from an animal attack. David Yanetti, Read's lawyer, argued at a trial in 2024 that the dog did it.
Two witnesses told jurors they spotted a black SUV while on their way to pick up a friend from the home where O'Keefe was later found unconscious in the snow.
Heather Maxon said she saw a woman driving and a man in the front passenger seat of the SUV as both cars turned onto Fairview Road. Maxon said she did not recognize either person.
Ryan Nagel, Maxon's then boyfriend, estimated they arrived at 34 Fairview Road just before 12:30 and saw the SUV parked nearby. Nagel said he saw a woman in the drivers' seat of the SUV, illuminated by the interior dome light, but his glimpse was too brief to identify her.
Nagel and Maxon both said they never saw anyone exiting the SUV, lying on the lawn or entering the home while they were parked outside other than Nagel's sister. After a brief conversation, Nagel's sister ultimately decided to stay at the house and the group left the scene.
Knowles returned to the stand May 5 to briefly wrap up her testimony. Knowles previously told jurors Read's blood alcohol level was between 0.078% and 0.092% when she was tested at the hospital after 9 a.m. on January 29, 2022. Based on a retrograde analysis, she found Read's blood alcohol level at 12:45 a.m. that morning could have been between 0.14% and 0.28%, far beyond the legal limit for driving in Massachusetts.
The findings were based on a blood sample taken from Read at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Read's attorney attempted to sow doubt about the accuracy of the calculations, questioning Knowles about the many factors that affect a person's blood alcohol level and calling her results "imprecise." Knowles explained to prosecutors the blood alcohol level range that she produced was "intentionally wide" to account for many of the factors the defense raised.
Before her second trial even began, Read told Vanity Fair she owed her attorneys more than $5 million in deferred fees.
Read told the magazine she's living off of what's left of her 401(k) retirement fund after losing her jobs as a Fidelity Investments equities analyst and Bentley University finance professor after being arrested and charged with O'Keefe's murder.
"If I can get the entire truth of this case out in the public forum, that, to me, is priceless," she told Vanity Fair.
A Justice for Karen Read legal defense fund, organized by Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, has raised more than $900,000 from more than 11,000 donors. Donations have continued to flow during her second trial.
Read supporters from across Massachusetts and beyond have sold T-shirts and held events, including a recent cocktail-style party, to raise funds for her defense. Read also sold her four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Mansfield for $810,000. The sale closed on November 13, 2024.
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: Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger; Karissa Waddick, Michael Loria and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY