Jurors in the second murder trial of Karen Read on Friday visited the Massachusetts neighborhood where her Boston police officer boyfriend was found dead more than three years ago.
Prosecutors say Read backed her SUV into John O鈥橩eefe, 46, in 2022 after dropping him off at a party hosted by a fellow police officer and returned hours later to find him dead. Defense attorneys say she was a victim of a conspiracy involving the police and they plan, as they did in the first trial, to offer evidence pointing to the real killer.
Read, 45, with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene. A last year after jurors said they were at an impasse.
The second trial has thus far looked similar to the first. It is being held in the same courthouse before the same judge, and dozens of Read鈥檚 passionate supporters are again rallying outside. The primary defense lawyers and many of the nearly 200 witnesses will also be the same.
Jurors view the crime scene
On Friday, jurors traveled to Canton, where O'Keefe's body was found outside the home of Brian Albert on Jan. 29, 2022. Read's SUV also was parked there for the viewing.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan told jurors to view the scene from different vantage points and reminded them that it would have looked different at night, during a snowstorm. Defense attorney David Yannetti asked jurors to consider the distance between the home's windows and doors and the front lawn. Jurors also should take a good look at Read's vehicle, he said.
鈥淪ize it up,鈥 he said. 鈥淭ake it in.鈥
Doctor describes testing Read's blood alcohol level
Dr. Garrey Faller, former lab director at Good Samaritan Medical Center, testified Friday that Read's blood alcohol content was 93 milligrams per deciliter, or 0.093%, at 9 a.m. the day O'Keefe was found dead. The legal BAC limit in Massachusetts for driving is 0.08%.
In cross-examining Faller, Read's attorney suggested that the lab wasn't using the most reliable type of test or that the results could have been skewed by Read's medical conditions 鈥 anemia and multiple sclerosis.
鈥淥ur methodology is just as good,鈥 he said.
That testimony came a day after prosecutors showed clips from interviews in which Read described pouring extra shots of alcohol into cocktails she deemed too weak but denying that she was driving recklessly the night O'Keefe died.
Friend describes O鈥橩eefe and Read as an affectionate couple
O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 close friend, Michael Camerano, testified Thursday about the relationship between O鈥橩eefe and Read and their interactions the night he died. He said the couple greeted each other with affection at a Canton bar, and that O鈥橩eefe put his arm around Read and kissed her.
鈥淗e certainly never told you or even suggested that he was thinking about or planning to break up with Karen, right?鈥 defense attorney David Yannetti asked.
鈥淣o,鈥 Camerano said.
鈥淎nd during the month before John鈥檚 passing, that January of 2022, you observed their relationship in your presence to be normal, caring, and affectionate, right?鈥 Yannetti asked.
鈥淵es,鈥 Camerano said.
Texts tell a different story
At prosecutors called witnesses who described how the couple鈥檚 relationship had begun to sour before O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 death, including his brother and sister-in-law, who testified that Read told her the couple had argued in Aruba after she caught O鈥橩eefe kissing another woman.
On Thursday, a state police forensics investigator read a long series of tense text messages between Read and O'Keefe in the hours before they met up at a bar on the night he died. Jurors also saw screenshots of the messages.
鈥淪ick of always arguing and fighting,鈥 O'Keefe wrote. 鈥淚t's been weekly for several months now. So yeh I'm not as quick to jump back into being lovie dovie as you apparently.鈥
鈥淚 know your heart isn't in this anymore,鈥 Read wrote. 鈥淚've felt it for awhile and esp lately. I am willing to try more but not if you approaching the point of Indifference.鈥
New evidence to be offered
Prosecutors are relying on witnesses from the scene in the early days of the trial, counting on testimony from police officers and firefighters who recalled Read making comments that implicated her in the killing.
They are also introducing evidence of a broken taillight on Read鈥檚 SUV that prosecutors argue was damaged when she hit O鈥橩eefe and possible DNA from O鈥橩eefe found on her vehicle.
The defense鈥檚 goal is to raise doubts about the prosecution case and plant the seed that she was framed. They are expected to suggest that a hair found on the taillight was planted and the police investigation was marred by a conflict of interest.
The defense blames a third party for O'Keefe's death
The defense's approach has been to as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police officers and other law enforcement agents who were at the house party.
Among the key witnesses they will call is former State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation but has after a disciplinary board found he sent about Read to his family and colleagues. He is also on the prosecution's witness list.
Proctor鈥檚 testimony was a key moment during the first trial, when the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased and had singled her out early in the investigation, ignoring other potential suspects.
