EXCLUSIVE FBI is still probing cops over 'shoddy' Karen Read investigation, claims 35-year police veteran: 'They're playing the long game'
An ex-federal agent believes that the FBI is 'playing the long game' while investigating possible police corruption surrounding the death of Boston cop John O'Keefe – just days after his girlfriend Karen Read was sensationally cleared of killing him.
Glamorous Read, 45, was found not guilty of the January 2022 murder after jurors rejected the prosecution's argument that she deliberately hit him with her SUV when she dropped him at a house party and left him to die in the snow.
Her defense team alleged that Read was the victim of an elaborate plot by local Boston law enforcement to frame her, claiming O'Keefe was killed by other police officers from Canton, Massachusetts, who were at the gathering.
Sean McDonough, a 35-year veteran of law enforcement, told DailyMail.com he believes that a probe into the bungled Massachusetts State Police investigation has been a long time coming.
'This is definitely not justice for John O'Keefe nor his family. That's number one,' McDonough, who spent 28 years with the DEA and seven years as a Washington DC-area cop and crime scene investigator, told the Daily Mail.
'In my opinion, based on my 28 years' experience as a federal agent, I wholeheartedly believe that they are still investigating.
'How it happened, I don't know, but I can tell you based on the shoddiness of that investigation – favors were called in.
'It's a public corruption case and civil rights violations case, and I just believe – as we said many times in my career – we hold the time, we hold the stopwatch, and anytime we want, we can stop it.
'So I believe they're playing the long game.'
Following the verdict, Colonel Geoffrey Noble of the Massachusetts State Police confirmed the case had caused the department to 'thoroughly review' their actions,
He added that they had 'taken concrete steps to deliver advanced investigative training, ensure appropriate oversight, and enhance accountability.
'Under my direction as colonel, the State Police has, and will continue to, improve in these regards,' Noble said.
'Our focus remains on delivering excellent police services that reflect the value of professionalism and maintain public trust.'
After Read's first trial last year ended in a hung jury, the case garnered national attention amid scrutiny over Read's claims that some of the investigators planted evidence and covered up for other suspects.
O'Keefe, 46, was found dead outside the home of retired Boston Police officer Brian Albert, after Read had dropped him off for a house party.
Karen Read 'got drunk, she hit him, she left him to die. It's that simple,' prosecutor Hank Brennan told the jury in Dedham, Massachusetts
O'Keefe's cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia after police say he was left outside in a blizzard.
At the center of Read's defense are claims that the investigation was inappropriately handled by dishonorably discharged State Trooper Michael Proctor, who sent vulgar text messages about Read.
He was fired over texts that included calling Read a 'whack job' and a 'c***.'
In other messages, he joked about rummaging through her phone for nude photos during the investigation, and remarked that she had 'no a**.'
Proctor appeared on Dateline NBC this week and denied that he had framed Read. 'It did not happen,' he said. 'I would never do something like that.'
In his closing arguments, defense attorney Alan Jackson hit out at Proctor, arguing that the prosecution could only feign a case because 'their investigation was flawed from the start because their investigator was corrupted from the start by bias, personal loyalties.'
He also argued that experts agree 'there was no collision,' and concluded by saying 'reasonable doubt abounds.'
But prosecutor Hank Brennan said the story of how O'Keefe died was 'simple.'
'Ms. Read was with Mr. O'Keefe and she got drunk. She drank. She was two to three times over the legal limit and they went to a party, an afterparty and they were fighting.
'...She got drunk, she hit him, she left him to die. It's that simple.'
Many of those at the party released a statement calling the verdict a miscarriage of justice.
The witnesses who signed the statement included Jennifer McCabe, who made the infamous 'How long to die in cold' Internet search in the early morning hours of O'Keefe's death, and Brian Albert, who owned the home where the party took place.
'While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John's family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media. The result is a devastating miscarriage of justice,' the statement said.
Brian Albert told ABC News that he had been called a murderer daily, with Matt McCabe adding: 'Anyone who has touched this case has been accused of murder at some point.'
His wife Jennifer interrupted by claiming that in many people's view 'anyone who is friends with us supports cop killers'.
Albert denied that O'Keefe entered his home at all during the blizzard, and they were unaware of what transpired until O'Keefe's body was discovered at 6.30am the following day.
Jennifer's internet search for 'how long to die in the cold' prior to O'Keefe's body being found became central to the defense.
Prosecutors argued that there was no evidence that O'Keefe ever went in the house, however forensic investigators never took evidence from inside Albert's home, muddying theories over whether he was beaten inside.
Read and O'Keefe had been drinking heavily on the night he died, and voice messages she left him that night where she fumed over their turbulent relationship were also played in court.
The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O'Keefe's death. He had been with the Boston Police Department for 16 years.
Speculation of a continuing FBI probe has been rife after Read was cleared Wednesday of killing her boyfriend.
McDonough believes that following the not guilty verdict, the FBI will still be looking into the case – telling DailyMail.com the agency 'never confirms anything'.
'The FBI is small', he told DailyMail.com. 'You've got to play well with the locals, the state police, all the different local agencies.
'So my assessment is they took an incredible, massive swing, not only at state police investigators that did the investigation, John O'Keefe, the witnesses that they used, in their case.
'So as a federal agent, I'm thinking, the Feds would never, ever walk away without having something concrete.
'Now, that's my opinion, because of the political nature, they have to work with those guys,' McDonough added. 'They have to be a team player.
'Unless Hank wants to out the alleged person who said the investigation is over, I don't believe it.
'I think with the new administration, my suspicion, that I think they said, Well, we're going to have to kind of draw this back, because, we've got to give this air of maybe that we're not investigating and maybe they're not investigating a certain aspect.'
Read's case sharply divided opinions in Boston and the true crime community, with the accused gaining an ardent following who gathered at court during her trial.
'Free Karen Read' supporters were such a presence at her trial that the judge ordered they be kept 500 feet away from the courthouse and banned attendees inside the court from wearing pink, a color chosen to show support for Read.
Huge cheers erupted outside the trial as the not guilty verdict was read on Wednesday, with Read thanking her supporters in a speech from the courthouse steps soon after.
'I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters,' she said. 'No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have.'
Read was found not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter, but was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
John Comeau, who grew up in Canton with the Alberts, told DailyMail.com that he wasn't surprised to hear allegations of a drunken fight and cover up by the group.
'I think there was a drunken fight gone wrong and a lot of panic,' he said. 'All you need is the people at the top, and then everybody else is just a yes man following orders, not knowing what's really going on.
'So it's not a full-blown conspiracy. It's a bunch of people that are doing as they told but the other people are the ones that know.'
'It's sad that you can't have both justice for John and have Karen be free, because everyone will always be looking at her until there is proper investigation.
'A lot of us in town believe the FBI investigation is still ongoing through our own sources.'
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