Fifteen months later Alex Murdaugh used to be guilty of murdering his wife and son, after a dramatic trial in which the disgraced lawyer took the stand in his own defense, another intriguing murder defendant is making headlines: Karen Read. The case has rocked Massachusetts since early 2022, when Read was named the prime suspect in the mysterious death of her police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe. But national and even global interests—along with an unannounced Netflix project, Vanity fair can confirm—has increased sharply as Read’s second-degree murder trial continues.
What is indisputable is that in the early morning of January 29, 2022, Read discovered O’Keefe unresponsive in a snowbank. He was declared dead a few hours later. The cause was later determined to be hypothermia and head trauma.
According to prosecutors, Read hit him with her Lexus SUV after a fight on Jan. 28, after an evening of drinking and left the scene. Read, now 44, faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of personal injury or death.
The defense suggested something completely different: that Read was being set up by law enforcement officers – colleagues and close friends of O’Keefe who were among the last people to see him alive – and his death was caused by a violent brawl in the office of a former police officer. home page. Last week, bombshell testimony from the lead investigator on the case attracted attention gasp from the jury members. Outside the courthouse, the six-week trial inspired such heated debate that it led to derivative criminal charges, a ban on protests and what a friend of O’Keefe claimed was “circus” overshadows the real victim. So what exactly made the Karen Read case so shocking?
For starters, it has all the elements of a thriller: a woman accused of murder, an unlikely weapon (a car is less common than poison), a conspiracy believed to be related to a powerful law enforcement family and Courtroom dynamics of a John Grisham script. But it’s real.
Among the plot twists: defense call to the Judge Beverly Cannone to identify herself, claiming that she had relationships with people involved in the case. (She refused the request.) Brian Higgins, a special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, witness about being attracted to Read and flirting with her in the weeks before O’Keefe’s death. The defense suggested that a friend of O’Keefe Googled “cough[w] looking forward to dying in the cold” at 2:25 a.m., long before O’Keefe’s body was found; The prosecution said Read asked her friend to google the phrase the morning after O’Keefe’s body was found.
A fervent local blogger named “Turtle Boy” is said to be spent More than 40 hours of direct contact with Read in about 189 phone calls fanned the flames of online conspiracy theories. As a result, Turtleboy, aka Aidan Kearney, was indicted on more than 16 counts, including witness intimidation. (Kearney has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.)
Conspiracy theories have also gained momentum, said the lawyer, journalist and Court TV host Julie Grant, because “the defense team spoke out about the cover-up before the trial, while the prosecution was largely silent. Prosecutors are held to higher ethical standards than private attorneys… and have a duty not to make unlawful comments that are likely to raise public condemnation of the defendant. I think that’s largely why the cover-up allegations really started to pick up steam.”
Passions became so high outside the court that Cannone prohibited protest within 200 feet of the building and clothes or case-related accessories such as a “Free Karen” T-shirt inside. (Some supporters wore pink outside the courthouse, believing it was Read’s favorite color.)
“The story is compelling,” said Grant, the Court TV host. Opening statement with Julie Grant. “Court monitor wants to know if there really was a cover-up in Canton as the defense claims.” (In a statement to ABC News, the prosecution said, “There was no conspiracy or cover-up. Such claims were systematically refuted by evidence submitted to Norfolk Superior Court .”)
As if there wasn’t enough to do experiment a hot issue, said lead investigator on the case, Massachusetts State Police Michael Proctor, admitted in testimony last week to sending misleading text messages about Read. in one group text string Along with eight of his high school friends, Proctor crudely commented on Read’s appearance; joke about searching the word “nude” on her phone; calling her “darling,” “nutbag,” and “a terrible job”; and made crude comments about the medical condition Read was suffering from. In a text message to his sister, Proctor said he hoped Read would commit suicide.
Proctor called the messages “unprofessional and unfortunate” and admitted, “my emotions got the best of me,” but argued that his comments “have no bearing on the facts, the evidence as well as the integrity of this investigation.” However, the case’s lead investigator was asked by the defense whether he had dehumanized Read.
“I would say based on that language, yes,” Proctor replied.
Then, Governor Maura Healey issued a statement saying she was “disgusted” by Proctor’s behavior and that it put the “dignity and integrity” of all state police at risk. Proctor’s statements made national headlines, but more deeply, they also seemed to terrify some of the mostly female jurors.
“A woman opened her mouth,” speak Boston’s NBC10 Sue O’Connell, who was present in the courtroom when he heard Proctor’s testimony. “One woman looked back and looked at every female juror she could make eye contact with… at one point they just shook their heads. A woman laughed.”
However, that’s not the only thing worth noting. At a time when America is less confident in policing more than ever, the idea of exposing a law enforcement cover-up is exciting to some skeptics. And testimony from Massachusetts State Police officers about their choices in the investigation could convince skeptics that their law enforcement suspicions were justified.
Last week, Massachusetts State Police Lt Brian Tully testified that investigators did not search the house on the property where O’Keefe’s body was found, which belonged to a retired police officer Brian Albert, because he did not believe O’Keefe had entered the house. (Supervisor texted friends that the homeowner would not suffer much from O’Keefe’s death because he was a “Boston police officer.”) The blood evidence was regroup in red Solo cups inside grocery bags. Just 17 hours into the inquest into O’Keefe’s death, Proctor texted friends that Read had “no chance” of escaping unpunished. “She is such a bitch,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, another officer, admit that he failed to record important information in his official report. Like the four words “This is my fault,” which were not in the report but which the officer claimed Read said. The defense also alleges that, on the night of O’Keefe’s death, O’Keefe was injured by a dog that Albert’s family owned – a dog that the family adopted the same month that the defense said they took led the investigation into O’Keefe’s injuries. Brian Albert testified that the dog “went into the bathroom and ran right back inside,” the night O’Keefe died.
Because Read, a woman, is fighting against the Massachusetts State Police and what some see as an unfair legal system, she has received the PR treatment of a social justice hero rather not of a second-degree murder defendant. It’s a role she plays very well, appearing mostly stoic and calm—giving reporters a clear soundbite and the audience a compelling star turn in this non-fiction film. usually this. testing. (Her legal defense fund has raised more than $370,000 to date.)
Outside the courtroom last week, Read was asked what she thought of Proctor’s damning testimony, in which he admitted to dehumanizing her. The defendant responded to what a superhero might be like: “One day he will have to answer to someone.”
Speaking about the trial process, Court TV lawyer and journalist Julie Grant praised the defense team. “They always show confidence. Even with damaging testimony involving Karen Read, they showed everyone in the courtroom a winning attitude,” Grant said. “It was a smart strategy that was noticed by the juries. The way things and people appear is equally important. She dresses impeccably every day and appears calm when incriminating evidence is presented against her.”
