After six weeks and dozens of witnesses, Massachusetts prosecutors read three years ago on the widely publicized murder charge of her boyfriend’s death.
The theory proposed by Special Counsel Hank Brennan was the same as that offered by the drunk, angry assistant district attorney who had previously tried to file a lawsuit, but struck John O’Keefe in a Lexus SUV and killed him on January 29, 2022, but there have been some notable changes since Reid’s first trial, which ended in a hang review last summer.
The absence was two famous witnesses who were key to the defense claim that the readings were framed. A former Massachusetts police officer who led an investigation into O’Keefe’s death and was fired after the emergence of fraudulent revelations at the first trial have also gone missing.
Read the Murder Retrial for more information about Karen
Another notable change was the role of the reading material, which maintained her own innocence. In addition to speaking with out-of-court reporters, her words were regular presence in Brennan’s presentations. This features a series of interview clips that show what Brennan described as a “campaign” official statement of the “campaign” of reading.
Read’s lawyers are expected to file a lawsuit on Friday.
Important witnesses try to recreate the scene
The final witness of the prosecution was one of the most important ones. No cameras captured the events that led to O’Keefe’s death. Nor did I see what happened on Fairview Road at 34. It turns out that O’Keefe, 46, from Canton’s home just south of Boston, had not responded after 6am on January 29th.
However, Judson Welcher, a biomechanical engineer and accident reconstruction expert, testified that Read’s 2021 Lexus data showed that at 12:32am, he advanced 34 feet outside of 34 Fairview, turning 53 feet back. The SUV was travelling near 24 miles, he said, with the throttle being 74%.
Although there was no vehicle data to support Brennan’s allegations of a crash, Welcher testified that the tear in O’Keefe’s right arm was “consistent” with a broken injury to the broken right tail in the right rear of the SUV.
Welcher testified that his height and weight were close to O’Keefe’s height and height of about 6 feet and 220 pounds, and he implemented a re-enactment showing what such a conflict would look like. In one video, Welcher was dressed similarly to O’Keefe on January 29th – a Lexus, the same model, with jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap – is a Lexus supported by him at 2 mph.
Welcher also knocked down the defense claim that the broken tail light came from another collision on January 29th. She panicked as the reading left her house to find O’Keefe around 5am and she assisted her Lexus with his Chevrolet Rubbers. A ring camera video played on the court captured the incident.
However, Welcher testified that a video analysis showed that the reads were driving under 1 mph at the time, indicating that neither vehicle had any evidence of damage.
“The effect didn’t break or break the light on its tail,” Welcher said.
Who didn’t call to testify?
Michael Proctor, a former trooper and case agent who managed the investigation into O’Keefe’s death, was on the list of possible witnesses for the prosecution. At the first trial, Proctor spent hours on the stands and admitted that comments he made to friends, family and supervisors about what he read were not experts, but “dehumanized.” However, the prosecutor called him and did not testify at the retrial.
Massachusetts State Police disgraced Proctor in March. After an internal investigation revealed that they violated the agency’s rules by sending a mildly rogative message and sharing details of the confidential investigation with non-law enforcement officials.
Proctor testified that his actions did not harm the investigation. He has not publicly commented on his termination, but his family has criticised his former employer and said he has become an unfairly scapegoat. His former manager testified this month that Proctor acted with “honor and integrity.”
“I think every human being has prejudice,” Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik told the ju judge. “They didn’t affect the findings of the survey, especially in this case.”
Bukenik admitted that he was partially disciplined and lost five days of leave due to failing to properly supervise Proctor.
Proctor is listed as a potential defense witness, accusing him of being evidence of bias and manipulation.
The other two figures who played an oversized role in the first trial — Brian Albert and Brian Higgins, also included on the prosecutor’s witness list, but were not called to testify.
Albert, a retired Boston Police Sergeant, lived with his family at 34 Fairview at the time of O’Keefe’s death, and met on January 29th at the home where O’Keefe planned to attend. Prosecutor, and Albert, say that O’Keefe has never reached the party and no one there that morning has seen him inside.
However, the defense claims that O’Keefe was entered into Albert’s house, beaten, bitten by his family’s German shepherd and dragged him outside where he died. They pointed to Higgins, an agent of the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A series of text messages introduced as evidence a few weeks before O’Keefe’s death showed Higgins who seemed annoyed, reading from him when he didn’t speak more openly about what he wanted. The tension likely prompted the fight that led to O’Keefe’s death, the lawyer said. (Both men have denied involvement through their lawyers.)
Both Albert and Higgins are on the list of potential defense witnesses.
What does Karen say?
Reed is very open with the journalist, and Brennan shows a series of clips from the interviews she gave to reinforce the prosecution’s theory of O’Keefe’s death.
One clip, presented in the April 22nd statement’s opening statement, incapacitated him by telling “Dateline” that he could “tag” Dateline and “Dateline.”
In another clip presented earlier this month, she was captured by telling her “study discovery” about the moment she spotted O’Keefe in her 34 Fairview garden. She yelled at whether she could run through his legs as she began driving from Albert’s house.
“He’s roughly where I left him, so yeah, when I found him, did I manage to like the clip?” she said.
Another series of clips featured as evidence last month showed that the readings were openly talking about her drinking. She and O’Keefe were at two bars before they went to Albert’s house, and in an interview with “20/20” she was asked if she felt it would be good to drive after four drinks.
“Yes,” she replied.
In another clip, she told a Boston magazine reporter she drank “the normal amount,” or a vodka tonic every 40 minutes.
Outside court last week, reading was asked if there was a response to the video.
“No,” she said.
