Brian Albert, Jennifer McCabe, more witnesses speak out after Karen Read verdict
In the hours since Karen Read was found not guilty of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, several key witnesses from both trials have broken their silence on the verdict.
Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Police lead investigator on the case, who testified in the first trial and was later fired for misconduct stemming from the case, spoke out in interviews on ABC's "20/20" and NBC's "Dateline" that aired on June 18 and 19, respectively.
A group of O'Keefe's friends, including Brian and Nicole Albert and Jennifer and Matt McCabe, also shared their thoughts in an interview with ABC News that aired on June 20. The group earlier called the verdict "a devastating miscarriage of justice" in a statement released to USA TODAY.
Both Proctor and the Albert and McCabe families were at the center of the theory presented by Read's defense team about a possible police cover-up in O'Keefe's death. They have consistently denied the allegations.
A Massachusetts jury on June 18 found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.
Karen Read timeline Key dates in John O' Keefe murder case
Brian Albert says he 'would have taken a bullet' for John O'Keefe
In an interview with ABC News that aired on June 20, Brian Albert, a retired Boston police officer who owned the home where O'Keefe's body was found on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, said he and his family "did the civic duty" in this case.
"The criminal justice system has let us down at every turn, and yesterday was the final letdown," he said.
Brian Albert also said the theories that he was involved in O'Keefe's death are "preposterous and silly." He responded to lingering questions about why he did not go outside on the morning O'Keefe's body was found, calling it "ridiculous."
"I would have taken a bullet for John O'Keefe because he was a fellow cop," Brian Albert said.
During the interview, Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when O'Keefe's body was found, also spoke about the "hos (sic) long to die in cold" Google search she made that became a contentious piece of evidence in both trials.
She has maintained that she made the search because Read asked her to after they found O'Keefe's body, while the defense alleged she made the search hours before he was found.
"Doesn't matter how much I say about it, people will not believe it," she said.
Michael Proctor says crude texts 'don't define me as a person'
Proctor's personal text messages, many of which expressed crude comments about Read, came under scrutiny during the first trial. He was later fired for misconduct stemming from the case and broke his silence in a series of interviews after Read's verdict was announced, after he was not invited to take the stand in her second trial.
He said in an interview with ABC News that he developed negative feelings toward Read "as the case went on."
"When you have a fellow police officer around my age, two kids of his own, it generates emotion," he said. "And I expressed those emotions in a negative way, which I shouldn't've."
Proctor added, "They are what they are, they don't define me as a person."
In an interview on NBC's "Dateline," Proctor laughed at the theory that he was involved in a possible cover-up.
"I laugh because it's such a ridiculous accusation," he said. "There's not one piece of evidence or fact to support that."
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Man whose parents were kidnapped after $245M Bitcoin theft pleads guilty to charges
A Connecticut man whose parents were kidnapped after he took part in a $245 million Bitcoin theft has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges and has agreed to testify against his co-defendants, according to court documents that were unsealed this week. Veer Chetal, 19, from Danbury, Connecticut, was one of three men charged with stealing 4,100 Bitcoins from a victim in Washington, D.C., in an elaborate online scam last August. The trio lived large after the heist, spending millions of dollars on cars, jewelry, rental mansions and nightclub parties, prosecutors say. A week after the theft, Chetal's parents were assaulted and kidnapped briefly in Danbury in a failed ransom plot aimed at Chetal, who the attackers believed had a large amount of cryptocurrency, authorities said. Chetal's criminal case was unsealed on Monday in federal court in Washington, revealing his guilty pleas in November and his agreement to cooperate with federal authorities investigating the Bitcoin theft. It also revealed new allegations that he was involved in about 50 similar thefts that raked in another $3 million between November 2023 and September 2024. Another man charged in the Bitcoin theft, Malone Lam, was also among 13 people indicted by a federal grand jury in May in an alleged online racketeering conspiracy involving cryptocurrency thefts across the U.S. and overseas that netted more than $260 million, including the $245 million Bitcoin theft. Chetal is facing 19 to 24 years in prison, a fine between $50,000 and $500,000 and restitution to the victim that has yet to be determined, according federal sentencing guidelines and his plea agreement. His lawyer, David Weinstein, declined to comment, saying Chetal's case is still pending. In September, federal agents with a search warrant raided Chetal's apartment in Brunswick, New Jersey, and his parents' home in Danbury in connection with the $245 million Bitcoin heist. Authorities said they found more than $500,000 in cash, expensive jewelry and watches and high-end clothing. Federal agents also said Chetal had $39 million worth of cryptocurrency that he turned over to investigators. Authorities alleged Chetal, Lam and Jeandiel Serrano were involved in online 'social engineering' attacks against cryptocurrency holders. Lam would send victims alerts about unauthorized attempts to access their crypto accounts, while the others would call the victims posing as representatives from well-known companies like Google and Yahoo and gain access to their accounts, authorities said. Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for Lam and Serrano on Friday. A week after the theft, six Florida men were accused of kidnapping Chetal's parents in broad daylight in Danbury. One of them crashed a car into the parents' Lamborghini, while others pulled up in a van, police said. The attackers forced the couple out of their vehicle, beat them, put them in the van and tied them up, police said. The plot was foiled, and the attackers were arrested quickly because there were eyewitnesses who immediately called police, and an off-duty FBI agent happened to be driving by at the time of the kidnapping, authorities said. Federal agents said a seventh man who was later arrested in connection with the kidnapping had previously gotten into a dispute with Chetal that turned physical at a Miami nightclub. The attack on the couple is part of an increasing trend worldwide in robbers using violence to steal cryptocurrency. Chetal, who was attending Rutgers University in New Jersey at the time of the $245 million theft and later withdrew, was born in India and came to the U.S. with his family when he was 4 years old in 2010, according to court documents. His father was granted a foreign worker's visa, and his wife and children obtained related dependent visas. Federal authorities said Chetal could face deportation as a result of the criminal case. Authorities say Chetal's father lost his job at Morgan Stanley because of the kidnapping and his son's connection to it. Chetal was initially released from federal custody on his own recognizance. But a judge ordered him detained until trial earlier this year after federal prosecutors said they discovered Chetal was involved in another crypto theft worth $2 million in October that he didn't tell them about, after he had begun cooperating with federal authorities.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man whose parents were kidnapped after $245M Bitcoin theft has pleaded guilty to federal charges
A Connecticut man whose parents were kidnapped after he took part in a $245 million Bitcoin theft has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges and has agreed to testify against his co-defendants, according to court documents that were unsealed this week. Veer Chetal, 19, from Danbury, Connecticut, was one of three men charged with stealing 4,100 Bitcoins from a victim in Washington, D.C., in an elaborate online scam last August. The trio lived large after the heist, spending millions of dollars on cars, jewelry, rental mansions and nightclub parties, prosecutors say. A week after the theft, Chetal's parents were assaulted and kidnapped briefly in Danbury in a failed ransom plot aimed at Chetal, who the attackers believed had a large amount of cryptocurrency, authorities said. Chetal's criminal case was unsealed on Monday in federal court in Washington, revealing his guilty pleas in November and his agreement to cooperate with federal authorities investigating the Bitcoin theft. It also revealed new allegations that he was involved in about 50 similar thefts that raked in another $3 million between November 2023 and September 2024. Another man charged in the Bitcoin theft, Malone Lam, was also among 13 people indicted by a federal grand jury in May in an alleged online racketeering conspiracy involving cryptocurrency thefts across the U.S. and overseas that netted more than $260 million, including the $245 million Bitcoin theft. Chetal is facing 19 to 24 years in prison, a fine between $50,000 and $500,000 and restitution to the victim that has yet to be determined, according federal sentencing guidelines and his plea agreement. His lawyer, David Weinstein, declined to comment, saying Chetal's case is still pending. In September, federal agents with a search warrant raided Chetal's apartment in Brunswick, New Jersey, and his parents' home in Danbury in connection with the $245 million Bitcoin heist. Authorities said they found more than $500,000 in cash, expensive jewelry and watches and high-end clothing. Federal agents also said Chetal had $39 million worth of cryptocurrency that he turned over to investigators. Authorities alleged Chetal, Lam and Jeandiel Serrano were involved in online 'social engineering' attacks against cryptocurrency holders. Lam would send victims alerts about unauthorized attempts to access their crypto accounts, while the others would call the victims posing as representatives from well-known companies like Google and Yahoo and gain access to their accounts, authorities said. Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for Lam and Serrano on Friday. A week after the theft, six Florida men were accused of kidnapping Chetal's parents in broad daylight in Danbury. One of them crashed a car into the parents' Lamborghini, while others pulled up in a van, police said. The attackers forced the couple out of their vehicle, beat them, put them in the van and tied them up, police said. The plot was foiled, and the attackers were arrested quickly because there were eyewitnesses who immediately called police, and an off-duty FBI agent happened to be driving by at the time of the kidnapping, authorities said. Federal agents said a seventh man who was later arrested in connection with the kidnapping had previously gotten into a dispute with Chetal that turned physical at a Miami nightclub. The attack on the couple is part of an increasing trend worldwide in robbers using violence to steal cryptocurrency. Chetal, who was attending Rutgers University in New Jersey at the time of the $245 million theft and later withdrew, was born in India and came to the U.S. with his family when he was 4 years old in 2010, according to court documents. His father was granted a foreign worker's visa, and his wife and children obtained related dependent visas. Federal authorities said Chetal could face deportation as a result of the criminal case. Authorities say Chetal's father lost his job at Morgan Stanley because of the kidnapping and his son's connection to it. Chetal was initially released from federal custody on his own recognizance. But a judge ordered him detained until trial earlier this year after federal prosecutors said they discovered Chetal was involved in another crypto theft worth $2 million in October that he didn't tell them about, after he had begun cooperating with federal authorities. Dave Collins, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
2 hours ago
Fat Joe accused of sex trafficking, fraud in new lawsuit
Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena is being accused of sex trafficking, fraud and more in a new lawsuit brought by a former employee. The 157-page lawsuit was filed June 19 in the Southern District of New York by lawyer Tyrone Blackburn on behalf of Terrance "T. A." Dixon, who says he worked with Cartagena for over 15 years from 2005 to 2020 as a "hype man," "lyricist, background vocalist, security team member, and creative collaborator," according to the suit. In the complaint, Dixon alleges Cartagena and his associates "systematically engaged in coercive labor exploitation, financial fraud, sexual manipulation, violent intimidation, and psychological coercion." Dixon claims he "contributed lyrics, vocals, and creative direction" to several of Cartagena's songs, including "Congratulations" and "Ice Cream," "without recognition or fair compensation." In addition to financial allegations, Dixon claims the rapper allegedly forced him "into humiliating situations, including sex acts performed under duress and surveillance" and allegedly threatened abandonment in foreign countries, job loss or physical harm if he didn't comply, according to the complaint. The lawsuit also claims that Cartagena and his associates allegedly trafficked minors and psychologically groomed them, with Dixon claiming he "personally witnessed" Cartagena allegedly "engage in sexual relations with children who were fifteen and sixteen years old." Given the nature of the allegations, a trigger warning was included at the top of the court document, noting it contains "highly graphic information of a sexual nature, including sexual assault." Dixon is seeking over $2 million for "unpaid performance wages" as well as additional damages. When reached by ABC News, Cartagena's attorney, Joe Tacopina, said Cartagena sued Dixon and lawyer Blackburn back in April alleging "extortion, slander and more." He claimed Dixon's lawsuit against his client was "a blatant act of retaliation." "The lawsuit filed by Tyrone Blackburn and Terrance Dixon is a blatant act of retaliation -- a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort Mr. Cartagena through lies, threats, and manufactured allegations," Tacopina said. Dixon and Blackburn have until June 23 to submit a response to the first lawsuit and a hearing for the case is scheduled to take place Aug. 1. Tacopina described Dixon as a "disgruntled former employee" and claimed Blackburn has "a pattern of abusing" the court system. "We didn't just sue a disgruntled former employee trying to revive a false claim from 15 years ago -- we sued the lawyer behind it all," Tacopina continued. "Tyrone Blackburn has a well-documented pattern of abusing the courts to harass defendants and generate media attention." "Mr. Cartagena will not be intimidated," he added. "We have taken legal action to expose this fraudulent campaign and hold everyone involved accountable." In a statement to ABC News, Blackburn pushed back against Tacopina's claims. "Joe [Tacopina] is desperate. He thought only of himself when he erroneously advised his client to take this course," Blackburn said in part. He continued, "Fat Joe knows what he has done. My client was with him for nearly 20 years. My client does not do drugs, nor does he drink alcohol. His memory is perfect, and he has receipts. We have three additional pages of predicated acts, which detail trafficking of another sort. Joe [Tacopina] should better advise his client to do the smart thing."
