Killing of John O'Keefe | |
---|---|
Location | Canton, Massachusetts, US |
Date | January 29, 2022 |
Deaths | 1 |
Victim | Officer John O'Keefe |
Accused | Karen A. Read |
In the early morning hours of January 29, 2022, Boston Police Department officer John O'Keefe was found dead outside the then home of then Boston Police Officer Brian Albert in Canton, Massachusetts. It is alleged by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that O'Keefe had been dropped off the night before by his girlfriend, Karen A. Read, to join a party hosted by Brian Albert and Jennifer McCabe. Upon being discovered, he was transported to a local hospital where cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia. [1]
Massachusetts state police trooper Michael Proctor filed charges against Read[ citation needed ], alleging that Karen Read hit John O'Keefe with her SUV and left the scene. Read was arrested and later indicted for second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an accident. Read has alleged that she did not hit O'Keefe, and that she was framed by police. [2] Her defense argues that the police were negligent in that they did not rule out other suspects and homed in on Read 16 hours into the investigation.
John J. O'Keefe (born December 8, 1975) grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts and graduated from Braintree High School and Northeastern University. He also earned a master's degree in criminal justice from UMass Lowell [3] and had lived in Canton since 2014, where he was raising his niece and nephew following his sister and brother-in-law's deaths. [2] O'Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. [4] John O'Keefe's former partner, the deceased Pat Rogers, was featured on the reality television show, Boston’s Finest . John's brother Paul was Captain and Quarterback of the Stonehill College Football team, which included Lieutenant Brian Tully, Michael Proctor's supervisor at the Norfolk Country District Attorney Mass State Police Investigative Unit.
Karen A. Read (born 1979) grew up in Taunton, Massachusetts and also in Blacksburg, Virginia. She graduated from Coyle & Cassidy, a private Catholic school in Taunton, [5] and went to Bentley University where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in finance. [6] [7] [8] She had been a financial analyst at Fidelity Investments since 2007, and was an adjunct professor at Bentley University. [2] [9] Read lived in Mansfield at the time of O'Keefe's death. [2] O'Keefe and Read began dating in 2019. [2]
Brian Albert, owner of the Canton home outside of which O’Keefe would be found dead, is a retired Boston Police Officer and was featured on 2013 reality television series Boston’s Finest . His brothers are Chris Albert, who serves on the Canton Select Board, and Kevin Albert, who serves in the Canton Police Department as a detective. Chris and his wife, Julie, and their son Colin, were neighbors with O'Keefe. The Albert family are also long time friends with Michael Proctor, lead investigator on the case.
On the night of January 28, 2022, O'Keefe and Read visited two bars in Canton: C.F. McCarthy's and Waterfall Bar & Grille. [9] At the second bar, they met up with several acquaintances including fellow police officer Brian Albert. Shortly after midnight Albert invited a group of people, including the couple, back to his home on Fairview Road in Canton. [2] [1]
The two drove to the home in Read's SUV. [1] Read claims to have dropped O'Keefe off in front of the home and left because she wasn't feeling well. [10]
A snow storm hit Canton in the early morning of January 29. Read reported that when she woke up the next day, O'Keefe had not returned home. After he did not respond to calls or texts, she contacted an acquaintance from that night, Jennifer McCabe, who agreed to join her and another woman, Kerry Roberts, in looking for him. [9] The three women returned to Fairview Road in Robert's vehicle, where they saw O'Keefe lying unresponsive in the snow. [2] Read exited the car and began CPR. McCabe called 911 at approximately 6:04 am and Canton Police, Fire, and EMS responded to the scene. [11]
O'Keefe was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, where he was pronounced dead. [9] A medical examiner later reported that O'Keefe had abrasions to his right arm, several lacerations to the face, two black eyes, and skull fractures which would have contributed to brain bleeding. They determined that hypothermia was a contributing factor to O'Keefe's death. [2] [1]
Read theorizes that O'Keefe was beaten inside the home, and his body was then left outside; however, there are 11 witness statements that say O'Keefe never entered the home. [1] [12]
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael D. Proctor, of the Norfolk State Police Detective Unit, was the lead investigator for this case. He produced a series of written reports (Case # 2022-112-0033) to Detective Lieutenant Brian P. Tully of the Massachusetts State Police.
According to police, pieces of a cocktail glass and patches of blood were found alongside O'Keefe's body. They also found pieces of a broken taillight, said to match a broken light on Read's car. [1]
Read was arrested on February 1, 2022. [9] Her phone was taken into custody. [2] She was charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a collision in the lower Stoughton District Court on February 2, 2022. [9]
In April 2023, Read's attorneys presented a theory that implicated Brian Albert, who owned the home outside of which where O'Keefe was found dead, and his sister-in-law Jennifer McCabe, who had been drinking with Read and O'Keefe on January 28, and helped Read find O'Keefe's body the morning of January 29. [1] [13] Evidence showed that Brian Albert sold his house and got rid of his dog after the incident, and Jennifer McCabe made a Google search "hos[sic] long to die in cold" at 2:27 a.m. [2]
In November 2023, residents of Canton voted to mount an independent investigation into the town's police department. [1]
In January 2024, letters between the General Counsel for the Department of Justice and Norfolk District Attorney, Michael W. Morrissey, were released, confirming a federal investigation was mounted into the Norfolk District Attorney's office. [14] [15] [16]
In March 2024, the Massachusetts State Police launched an internal investigation into the lead investigator in the case, Trooper Michael Proctor, due to potential violation of department policy, but have not said whether that investigation relates to a specific case. [17] Following the mistrial declared in July 2024, Trooper Proctor was relieved of duty and formally transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office State Police Detective's Unit. [18]
On February 2, 2022, Read was arraigned in Stoughton District Court on the charges of manslaughter, leaving the scene of a serious accident, and motor vehicle homicide. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $80,000 bail. [19]
In June 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Read for second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision. [20]
The case is being heard in Norfolk County Superior Court, with Judge Beverly J. Cannone presiding. The prosecution is led by Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey and Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally.
The defense is led by criminal defense attorneys David R. Yannetti, Alan Jackson, and Elizabeth Little. Jackson and Little are partners at a Los Angeles firm and have represented Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. [21]
On March 12, 2024, Read's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case due to alleged conflicts of interest and federal crash reconstruction experts determining that O’Keefe’s injuries were "inconsistent" with the damage to Read's car. [22] [23] The judge denied the motion on March 26 due to "extensive evidence supporting the indictments", such as O'Keefe's DNA being found on the broken taillight of Read's car. [24] [25]
In early April 2024, ahead of the trial date, the prosecutors filed a motion requesting special restrictions during the trial to keep demonstrations back at least 500 feet (150 m) from the courthouse to maintain an unbiased jury pool; Judge Cannone ruled that 500 feet was excessive, and ordered a 200-foot (61 m) buffer zone with no protesters allowed. This ruling came after the ACLU filed a memorandum opposing the prosecution's request, citing freedom of speech, and urged the court to consider more narrowly tailored restrictions. Read's attorney said the defense takes no position on the motion. [26] [27] The judge also approved the prosecution's request to prohibit anyone inside the courtroom from wearing any attire that says "Free Karen Read" and also prohibit law enforcement officers, whether they be testifying or attending the trial, from wearing their uniforms. [28] The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court approved the judge's ruling, and on May 2 formally approved the buffer zone. The SJC ruled that the Judge "struck a balance between the right to protest or demonstrate and the defendant’s right to a fair trial". [29]
Read's trial was first scheduled to begin in March 2024, [14] but was rescheduled to April. The trial started on April 16, 2024 with the jury selection, which was completed on April 24. [30] [31] [32] [33] Prosecutors previously asked the Judge to block Read’s lawyers from arguing that others are to blame for O’Keefe’s death, also known as third-party culprit defense. The judge instead offered the defense a chance to develop their argument through “relevant, competent, admissible evidence”, but still barred them from using the third-party culprit defense during opening statements. [34]
Commonwealth rested the case on June 21, 2024 after eight weeks of testimony from 68 witnesses. Defense completed its list of six witnesses and rested the case on June 24. [35] Closing arguments were delivered on June 25 and jury deliberation started on the same day. [36]
On July 1, after 25 hours of deliberation, the jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision. Judge Cannone declared a mistrial. [37] The Commonwealth plans to retry the case. [38]
On April 28, the prosecutors and the defense presented opening statements. Prosecutors outlined circumstantial evidence that pointed to Read’s guilt, while the defense told jurors that Read is being framed and that O’Keefe was beaten and attacked by a dog inside the home of another Boston police officer.
O'Keefe's brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Erin O'Keefe, took the stand for the prosecution describing the relationship between Read and O'Keefe. Paul acknowledged that there have been arguments between the two. Erin said she considered Read as a friend.
When asked about the day when John O'Keefe died, Paul recalled seeing Read in the hospital screaming, asking if John was alive, while she was being restrained by hospital employees. [39]
Nicholas and Karina Kolokithas, O'Keefe's friends, were at the Waterfall Bar & Grille with Read and O'Keefe. Karina described the couple as "quite lovey-dovey". Nicholas testified that the atmosphere at the Waterfall Bar & Grille was "a fun atmosphere" and he did not see any arguments or tension between Read and O'Keefe. [48]
Rebecca Trayers, a bartender at the Waterfall Bar & Grille, confirmed that the Albert family, who lived near O'Keefe, were a "well-known" family in Canton.
Curt Roberts, a mutual friend who was at the bar, testified that he did not see any arguments or bickering between Read and O'Keefe while they were at C.F. McCarthy's bar. He also said Read did not appear to be slurring her words, swaying, or experiencing confusion.
Michael and Katherine Camerano, O'Keefe's friends who lived close to him in Canton, also testified. Michael said that there was occasionally some tension in Read and O'Keefe's relationship over differing approaches to childrearing, but their relationship seemed normal in the month prior to O'Keefe's death. Katherine said she received a call from Read early morning on January 29 saying O’Keefe hadn’t come home. Read was "frantically screaming" as she called around looking for O'Keefe the morning he was found dead. [49]
The house party at 34 Fairview Road on January 28, 2022 was for Brian Albert's son, Brian Jr., who was celebrating his birthday.
Weeks before his death, Read and O'Keefe went to Aruba with their niece and nephew and 30 friends of O'Keefe, including sisters Laura and Marietta Sullivan. Laura Sullivan had a child with Pat Rogers, John O'Keefe's late partner. The sisters testified that they witnessed an argument between the couple during the trip, claiming that Read had falsely accused John of cheating and had an argument with Marietta for which Read later apologized. The prosecution has alleged that Read and O’Keefe's strained relationship is a possible motive for second-degree murder, citing the Aruba incident. [67] O'Keefe's niece and nephew, whose testimonies were not broadcast, testified about the relationship between their uncle and Read, saying arguing between them increased in January, but never in public. They also both said the couple never raised a hand in anger at each other. [68]
Read’s vehicle was towed from her parent’s home in Dighton [69] around 2:30 p.m on January 29, during the January 2022 North American blizzard. [70]
A mistrial was declared by the judge on July 1, 2024 due to the jury being deadlocked after several days of deliberations. After writing twice to the Judge that they cannot reach a verdict, the jury sent a final note, writing that "fundamental differences" in their beliefs making it impossible to reach a unanimous verdict. [88]
In August 2023, a Massachusetts citizen ballot initiative was proposed to add recall elections to the Massachusetts Constitution in response to Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey's perceived corruption in the case. [89]
The case has caused divisions in Canton, as town residents have debated whether O'Keefe was killed by Read, or whether Read was framed by the police. Social tensions and old family feuds have reportedly been inflamed by the case.
Local blogger Aidan Kearney, nicknamed Turtleboy, was indicted on "eight counts of witness intimidation, three counts of conspiracy to intimidate witnesses, and five counts of picketing a witness" in December 2023. After the defense released their affidavit in April 2023, [2] multiple news tipsters told Kearney to investigate the case. Kearney has covered the case extensively and made more than 200 posts about it on his website and hundreds of videos on his YouTube channel; [13] he often films himself confronting witnesses in public. In February 2024, he was also indicted on two new charges of harassing a witness and intercepting wire or oral communication. Kearney pleaded not guilty to all those charges. [90]
In July 2023, a "rolling rally" of around 50 cars in support of the coverup theory drove through Canton, stopping at the homes of key figures relating to the case and protesting with a bullhorn. [2]
In November 2023, Canton held a Special Town Meeting where residents voted in favor (903–800) of an independent audit of the Canton Police Department due to the ongoing investigation of this case. [1] [91]
On June 23, 2024, before the last week of the trial, Kearney was seen outside of C.F. McCarthy’s, one of the Canton bars O’Keefe went to before his death, confronting a group of people; police were called to the scene. [92] Two people, Jillian Daniels and James Farris, were charged with assault; Daniels has ties to the Albert family and is friends with Michael Proctor’s sister. [93]
American TV series Dateline plans to release an episode on the case. [94]
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