Current:Home > ScamsTrial starts in conspiracy-fueled case of girlfriend charged in Boston police officer’s death -ChatGPT
Trial starts in conspiracy-fueled case of girlfriend charged in Boston police officer’s death
View
Date:2025-04-19 10:56:03
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The trial of a Massachusetts woman who prosecutors say killed her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him begins Monday amid allegations of a vast police coverup.
Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces several charges including second degree murder in the death of John O’Keefe, 46, in 2022. O’Keefe, a 16-year police veteran, was found unresponsive outside a home of a fellow Boston police officer and later was pronounced dead at a hospital. Read has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.
As the case unfolded, the defense’s strategy has been to portray a vast conspiracy involving a police coverup. It has earned Read a loyal band of supporters - who often can be found camped out at the courthouse — and has garnered the case national attention.
The couple had been to two bars on a night in January 2022, prosecutors alleged, and were then headed to a party in nearby Canton. Read said she did not feel well and decided not to attend. Once at the home, O’Keefe got out of Read’s vehicle, and while she made a three-point turn, she allegedly struck him, then drove away, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors haven’t said where they think she went after that, however they allege she later became frantic after she said she couldn’t reach O’Keefe. She returned to the site of the party home where she and two friends found O’Keefe covered in snow. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. An autopsy concluded he died from head trauma and hypothermia.
One friend who returned to the home with Read recalled her wondering if she had hit O’Keefe. Investigators found a cracked right rear tail light near where O’Keefe was found and scratches on her SUV.
The defense have spent months arguing in court that the case was marred by conflicts of interest and accused prosecutors of presenting false and deceptive evidence to the grand jury. In a motion to dismiss the case, the defense called the prosecution’s case “predicated entirely on flimsy speculation and presumption.” A Superior Court judge denied the request.
Among their claims is that local and state police officers involved in the investigation failed to disclose their relationship with the host of the party. They also alleged the statements from the couple who owned the home were inconsistent.
The defense also floated various theories aimed at casting doubt on Read’s guilt, including suggestions that partygoers in the house beat up O’Keefe and later put his body outside.
In August, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey criticized suggestions that state and local enforcement were orchestrating a cover up, saying there is no evidence to support O’Keefe was in the Canton home where the party took place nor was in a fight.
The idea that multiple police departments and his office would be involved in a “vast conspiracy” in this case is “a desperate attempt to reassign guilt.”
Such comments have done little to silence Read’s supporters.
Most days, a few dozen supporters — some carrying signs or wearing shirts reading “Free Karen Read” — can be seen standing near the courthouse. Many had no connection to Read, who worked in the financial industry and taught finance at Bentley University before this case.
Among her most ardent supporters is a confrontational blogger Aidan Timothy Kearney, known as “Turtleboy.” He has been charged with harassing, threatening and intimidating witnesses in the case. For months, he has raised doubts about Read’s guilt on his blog that has become a popular page for those who believe Read is innocent.
“Karen is being railroaded,” said Amy Dewar, a supporter from Weymouth from outside the courthouse where the jury was being chosen. “She did not do it.”
Friends and family of O’Keefe fear the focus on Read and the conspiracy theories are taking away from the fact a good man was killed. In interviews with The Boston Globe, they described how O’Keefe took in his sister’s two children after their parents died.
To them, Read is responsible for his death. “No one planted anything in our heads,” his brother, Paul O’Keefe told the Globe. “No one brainwashed us.”
veryGood! (7677)
Related
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Sheriff’s posting of the mugshot of a boy accused of school threat draws praise, criticism
- 'Survivor' Season 47: Who went home first? See who was voted out in the premiere episode
- Orioles DFA nine-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel right before MLB playoffs
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- 'Sacred': Cherokee name in, Confederate general out for Tennessee's highest mountain
- Bryce Young needs to escape Panthers to have any shot at reviving NFL career
- Justin Bieber's Mom Shares How She Likes Being a Grandmother to His and Hailey Bieber’s Baby
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Hunter Biden’s sentencing on federal firearms charges delayed until December
Ranking
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- 4 Albany officers suffer head injuries when 2 police SUVs collide
- The Smoky Mountains’ highest peak is reverting to the Cherokee name Kuwohi
- Lala Kent Shares Baby Girl Turned Purple and Was Vomiting After Challenging Birth
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- New Hampshire class action approved for foster teens with mental health disabilities
- Demolition to begin on long-troubled St. Louis jail
- Pennsylvania state senator sues critics of his book about WWI hero Sgt. York
Recommendation
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Disney Store Sale Extravaganza: Unlock Magical 40% Off Deals Starting at $17.49
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff seeks more control over postmaster general after mail meltdown
Orioles DFA nine-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel right before MLB playoffs
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
Leave your finesse at the door: USC, Lincoln Riley can change soft image at Michigan
Bruins' Jeremy Swayman among unsigned players as NHL training camps open
Newly released Coast Guard footage shows wreckage of Titan submersible on ocean floor