State Witness in Karen Read Retrial Dressed Like Deceased Boston Cop to Reconstruct Scene
Jurors in the controversial Karen Read retrial underway in Massachusetts in connection with the Jan. 29, 2022 death of her Boston cop boyfriend saw photos of a prosecution witness in similar clothes that were worn by John O'Keefe when he died as part of what he described as an accident reconstruction. Accident deconstructionist Dr. Judson Welcher, who is expected to be the state's last witness in the bombshell case, told jurors he dressed like O'Keefe to see whether the wounds on the officer's right arm were consistent the right taillight of Read's Lexus SUV. Welcher testified that because he's roughly the same height as O'Keefe he wore clothing identical to what O'Keefe was wearing when he was found in a snowbank on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, down to the same model of sneakers. Welcher works for Aperture, a company based in Texas that received roughly $400,000 in taxpayer funds to testify for the government, according to testimony in the case. "So there's been two potential theories. One is that a glass was thrown at rear of vehicle... the other was impact to the arm," Welcher told the court.
He testified about movements made by Read's Lexus before O'Keefe's phone stopped responding, which the government argues shows that she hit her boyfriend after a night of heavy drinking and left him to die during a blinding blizzard. Her defense team insists O'Keefe was beaten inside the house where his body was found on the lawn, and may have been attacked by the homeowner's former dog, a German Shepherd named Chloe. In recent testimony, another Aperture employee was forced to admit on the stand that he misrepresented his credentials before testifying in the Read trial, prompting a fiery exchange between that witness, Shannon Burgess, and Read's attorney Robert Alessi who asked: "Either you have a bachelor of science degree or you don't." Burgess replied that he did not. Read reacted to Welcher's testimony after court ended Tuesday, which came after a five day break. During the break, on May 21, Judge Beverly Cannone, who is overseeing Read's retrial after her first trial ended in a hung jury last year, was honored by the Norfolk County Bar Association as the "Person of the Year." 'So he tried to dress identically to John, but didn't do anything else to mimic what the commonwealth is accusing me of,' Read told reporters at the end of the court day Tuesday.Read added: 'I think it's important to demonstrate, what is the commonwealth accusing me of? The speed? The positioning? Recreate that for us. … That's what I would want to see if I were you.'
When Welcher's testimony concludes, the trial will be put into the hands of Read's defense team. Read is facing second-degree murder charges and the possibility of life in prison. Los Angeles defense attorneys Alan Jackson, a former prosecutor in the city, and Elizabeth Little, are working alongside Massachusetts lawyers David Yanetti and Robert Alessi. The state hired a special prosecutor, Hank Brennan, who had represented notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, who became a fugitive for more than a decade before his capture at a rent-controlled apartment building in Santa Monica.
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