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New York Post
17 hours ago
- New York Post
John O'Keefe pal slams Karen Read for claiming she fought for ‘justice': ‘More evidence that points to her than anybody else'
A close friend of slain Boston cop John O'Keefe slammed Karen Read for proclaiming she's fought for justice in her beau's case harder than anyone else — just after she was acquitted of his murder. The officer's pal, John Jackson, told The Post that Read, who was accused of hitting O'Keefe with her car and leaving him to die in the snow, wasn't there for him when he desperately needed her. 'The irony of that, right? How hard was she fighting between 12:30 and 6 in the morning on Jan. 29, 2022?' Jackson said Thursday. 8 Karen Read speaking outside of Norfolk County Superior Court after she was found not guilty of murdering her boyfriend John O'Keefe on June 18, 2025. David McGlynn 8 Read claimed that she is fighting for O'Keefe to receive justice after she was acquitted. Courtesy of David Yannetti 'You want to fight for justice now, fine. But in the moment when he needed you, you weren't there. You caused it and you weren't there.' O'Keefe was left to die in a snowbank for hours overnight and his frozen body was discovered the following morning after Read dropped him off at a house party in Canton in January 2022 — setting off the explosive legal spectacle. The longtime pal of O'Keefe ripped into the financial analyst, claiming 'there is more evidence that points to her than anybody else' and eviscerated her obsessive legion of fans that went wild after she was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges. Read, 45, was accused of striking O'Keefe, 46, with her Lexus on Jan. 29, 2022 after dropping him off at a house party in Canton more than three years ago. She was quickly charged, but her legal team claimed the investigation was shoddy and argued she was being scapegoated by law enforcement. 8 A friend of John O'Keefe blasted Read's claim about seeking justice for the late police officer. AP 8 Read crying in the courtroom after the verdict was read. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images She took a victory lap after the acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges, boldly claiming to her crowd of supporters, 'No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have.' She was only convicted of drunk driving and given a year of probation. Her first trial ended in a hung jury. About 12 hours after the verdict was revealed, Jackson was still downtrodden while noting O'Keefe's family was 'surprised' and 'heartbroken' by the jury's decision to only convict on the drunk driving charge. 8 O'Keefe's mother Peggy O'Keefe in court during jury deliberations on June 18, 2025. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool 'The reality is whether it's beyond a reasonable doubt or not in the eyes of the jury, there is more evidence that points to her than anybody else,' Jackson, 49, said. 'And for us, that's a shame because we feel like it's a missed opportunity for justice.' 'The story is she was there the last time he moved,' he also claimed. 'She was there the last time he moved with her car. If you want to believe anything else, that's your prerogative. I would suggest you don't let other people tell you what to think.' One of the unavoidable scenes during the months-long retrial was the hordes of Read supporters congregating outside the courthouse to support the former college professor. 8 A crowd of Read's supporters outside the Massachusetts courtroom on June 18, 2025. David McGlynn 8 A supporter of Read celebrating the not guilty verdict. David McGlynn The fanatics wore pink and would flash a silent hand gesture that means 'I love you' in American Sign Language. Jackson said her supporters must've suspended 'all critical thinking' to root for Read and questioned if they longed to be part of a community. 'To turn around and see grown men wearing pink shirts and holding signs,' Jackson said. 'Really? That's what you want to do on a Saturday? You have time for that?' 8 Read making an 'I love you' hand sign to supporters at the courthouse. David McGlynn Jackson, who was a pallbearer at O'Keefe's funeral, said some supporters have harassed O'Keefe's family and friends during the legal saga that spanned over two trials and started more than three years, including doxxing anyone who spoke up against Read. 'I think there is some social control there,' Jackson said when asked if he thought the pro-Read group was like a cult. 'Whether it be the pull of wanting to belong to something greater than yourself … but you can fulfill that need by doing something good, something greater than supporting someone who the evidence doesn't point to anybody else but her.' Meanwhile, he remembered his late friend as an 'incredible man' who stepped up to raise his orphaned niece and nephew after their parents died. 'He didn't think about it. He did it,' Jackson said. 'That is a real hero.'
New York Post
29-05-2025
- New York Post
Karen Read prosecution rests case with video of her wondering whether she killed her boyfriend: ‘What if I clipped him?'
Prosecutors rested their case in Karen Read's new murder trial after more than a month of testimony — and closed with a video of Read expressing fears that she may have struck and killed her boyfriend John O'Keefe with her car. 'What if I ran his foot over or what if I clipped him in the knee, and he passed out or went to care for himself and he threw up or passed out?' Read said in an interview clip played for Massachusetts jurors Thursday. 'I thought, could I have run him over? Did he try to get me as I was leaving, and I didn't know it?' she said in the clip, which came from an April 2024 documentary released ahead of her first trial, according to WCVB. Advertisement 3 Karen Read called the prosecution's case against her 'unjust' after the case was rested on Thursday. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'I always have the music blasting. It's snowing. I had the wipers going, the heater blasting. Did he come and hit the back of my car, and I hit him in the knee, and he was drunk and passed out and [he] asphyxiated or something,' Read said in the video. Once the clip ended — with Read explaining that her lawyer, David Yannetti, said she would have 'some element of culpability' if all that had happened — the video dramatically faded to black, and jurors were left in silence as prosecutors closed. Advertisement Read, 45, is accused of deliberately backing her Lexus SUV into 46-year-old O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, before he died on a night of drunken arguing in January 2022. O'Keefe's body was found bloodied and battered in the snow outside a friend's house in Canton the morning after Read drove him there to party with some of his cop bodies during a blizzard. The couple reportedly had a rocky relationship before the fateful night. 3 Read and her boyfriend John O'Keefe, who prosecutors say she deliberately ran down with her car. Courtesy of David Yannetti Advertisement Earlier in the week prosecutors called accident reconstructionist Judson Welcher to the stand, who testified that data from Read's Lexus indicated she had driven forward then stopped and accelerated in reverse at 74% throttle — about 23 mph — at the time that she was dropping O'Keefe off at the house. And on Thursday, prosecutors pressed Welcher on whether or not the data could suffer from 'confirmation bias' — which Welcher denied, saying the car presented them with 'objective information.' With the prosecution's case finished, the defense will begin calling witnesses Friday, and is expected to kick things off with their own accident reconstructionist, according to Read told reporters it remains 'TBD' whether she will take the stand herself, which she did not during her first trial last year. Advertisement 3 Prosecutor Hank Brennan revisited testimony that data from Read's car suggested she reversed into O'Keefe. AP The defense will likely take about two weeks to present its case, Read added, before calling the prosecution's case against her 'unjust.' Read's first case ended in a mistrial last summer after jurors were unable to reach an agreement on her charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. She pleaded not guilty, with her defense arguing O'Keefe was beaten by his cop friends and dumped in the snow where he was found — and that the pals then tried to frame Read. The last trial dredged up responding officers' questionable investigation tactics — which included using leaf-blowers to melt snow and storing O'Keefe's frozen blood in Solo cups, along with vulgar texts officers exchanged about Read — to support their claims.
New York Post
18-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
New England fights invasive green crabs with ‘eat them' tactic
If you can't beat them, eat them. That's become a slogan of sorts for the New England seafood industry and some of the fishermen who supply them, as they try to eradicate – or at least control – the population of one of the world's most invasive species: the green crab. These pesky creatures offer little meat but have a voracious appetite of their own, wreaking havoc on the shellfish industry and the ecosystem. 'They're omnivores, so they eat everything, including a lot of our really important species and commercial species, like soft-shell clam,' Adrienne Pappal, habitat and water quality program manager for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, told Fox News Digital. Green crabs have been in New England since the mid-to-late 1980s, making their way from Europe and West Africa via cargo ships. 5 The New England seafood industry is trying to control the population of the invasive green crab species. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The crabs have broad environmental tolerances, Pappal said, so they can live anywhere from intertidal to subtidal areas, from 30 to 100 feet. 'They have a lot of ways to survive, and that's why they've been really successful,' said Pappal. 'They are so widespread in the environment and can have a lot of different impacts.' Green crabs are hard on the shellfish industry in Massachusetts, according to Story Reed, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). 5 Green crabs can live anywhere from intertidal to subtidal areas, from 30 to 100 feet. Oleg Kovtun – 'On the North Shore, there are five towns that have done eradication programs that have been mostly funded through the state to pay fishermen to go out and try to eradicate these things,' Reed told Fox News Digital. 'We've recently heard from towns in the Cape Cod area who are also interested in eradication programs because they're seeing impacts to their shellfish as well.' Fisherman Jamie Bassett, of Chatham, Massachusetts, said he's seen that firsthand. 5 'On the North Shore, there are five towns that have done eradication programs,' Story Reed, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'We have an issue with green crab,' he told Fox News Digital. 'A gravid female – gravid meaning egg-bearing – can, I believe, disperse up to 180,000 eggs into the water.' 'We have an issue with green crab.' Bassett said he frequently encounters hundreds of gravid females. 'The issue of green crab as an invasive species is not going to go away,' he said. 'One, because they reproduce so much. And two, because it's just not a sought-after species.' Finding a market for green crabs is a challenge, he said. 'How many pounds of green crabs is a restaurant going to order from one of the seafood wholesalers in Boston?' he said. 5 Sharon St. Ours with a commercial quantity jar of the company's new Crab Broth Powder. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'They're not too edible. It's not like you can pick through them like a lobster. You'll die of old age before you pick through a green crab for a thimble of it.' But Sharon St. Ours, whose family has been in the seafood business for 45 years, is hoping to change that. 'As it turns out, they're 'really delicious.'' 'When I learned how they were devastating the oyster population because of their numbers, I turned to my dad and said, 'We can do something about this problem,'' St. Ours told Fox News Digital. 'We got some crabs and cooked them.' 5 St. Ours & Company's new product broth powder, is made from the invasive green crab. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images As it turns out, they're 'really delicious,' she said. 'Their broth is a lot sweeter than any other crabs that I've used to make shellfish broth. It's a lot sweeter than lobster broth.' St. Ours & Company officially debuted its crab broth powder, after three years in the making, at the Seafood Expo North America trade show in March. It was named a finalist in the food service category. 'It's not profitable yet and I have more to sell,' she said. 'But I do have a lot of interest in it.' The broth was partially funded by the DMF's seafood marketing program. 'It was really neat to see it get that recognition at an international show and get to taste it,' Reed said. 'I think it's the creativity, the willingness to try new species, both from [the] consumer's perspective and from chefs in the culinary world. It's great that people are trying these different things.'
USA Today
07-05-2025
- USA Today
Who is Karen Read and why is she on trial again? Catch up on the murder case
Who is Karen Read and why is she on trial again? Catch up on the murder case Show Caption Hide Caption Karen Read's second murder trial begins with new jury Karen Read is starting her second trial after being prosecuted for the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, last year. A broken taillight, series of Google searches and supposed confession are just some of the disputed pieces of evidence at the forefront of Karen Read's highly-publicized second murder trial. Read, 45, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, in a Massachusetts suburb on Jan. 29, 2022. Prosecutors allege Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV after a night of drinking, while her defense claims a cover up by some of O'Keefe's fellow officers. Last year, Read's first trial ended in a hung jury. The second trial against her began in April and is expected to last around six weeks, according to the judge. USA TODAY is covering Read's second trial with daily updates. However, for those just tuning in, here's what to know about the case. Who is Karen Read? Karen Read is the former girlfriend of John O'Keefe, who she is accused of killing in January 2022. Before being embroiled in legal proceedings, Read had a career in financial services, according to The Patriot Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. She earned undergraduate and master's degrees in finance at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and later worked as an adjunct professor at the college. She also worked for Fidelity Investments, but was fired from both positions when she was arrested. Read grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Taunton, Massachusetts. At the time of O'Keefe's death, she lived in Mansfield, Massachusetts, which is about 30 miles southeast of Boston near the Rhode Island border. She is charged with is manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly crash. Who was John O'Keefe? John O'Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. He grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts, which is about 12 miles south of Boston. O'Keefe, 46, graduated from Northeastern University and earned a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Massachusetts, according to his obituary. In his obituary, O'Keefe is described as "a devoted son, brother, uncle, godfather, cousin and friend." Outside of his career, O'Keefe was the legal guardian of his niece and nephew. His sister and her husband died within two months of each other in 2014, and O'Keefe raised them after that. At the time of his death, O'Keefe was living in Canton, a suburb about 20 miles southeast of Boston. He died outside a friend's home in the town on Jan. 29, 2022. Karen Read trial updates: Testimony continues after angry voicemails played in court What happened in Karen Read's first trial? Read was arrested for O'Keefe's death on Feb. 1, 2022. She has maintained her innocence. During the first trial, her defense argued that other police officers who saw O'Keefe that night are complicit in his death and trying to frame Read for the murder. They also said police officers looking into O'Keefe's death botched their investigation — the lead investigator, Michael Proctor, was fired by the Massachusetts State Police in March tying back to misconduct in the case. The prosecution, on the other hand, painted the picture of Read as an angry girlfriend whose strained relationship with O'Keefe led her to kill him. Here are the key dates in the first trial against her: April 16, 2024 : Jury selection began : Jury selection began April 29, 2024 : Opening statements delivered, testimony begins : Opening statements delivered, testimony begins June 21, 2024 : Prosecution rested its case : Prosecution rested its case June 24, 2024 : Defense rested its case : Defense rested its case June 25, 2024 : Closing arguments delivered, jury begins deliberations : Closing arguments delivered, jury begins deliberations July 1, 2024: Judge declares mistrial after jury says they are "deeply divided" Key evidence in Karen Read murder trial Several pieces of evidence in the case — and whether they incriminate Read — have come under debate in both the court of law and public opinion. While not comprehensive, here are some of the key pieces of evidence in Read's trial: Google search Read and two of O'Keefe's friends, including Jennifer McCabe, found his body on the front lawn of the home where he allegedly died on Jan. 29, 2022. Phone records show McCabe Googled "hos (sic) long to die in cold" that morning. McCabe says Read asked her to search it when they found O'Keefe's body; the defense says she searched it hours earlier. Read's alleged confession Several people who were on the scene where O'Keefe's body was found, including McCabe and a paramedic, have testified in both trials that Read said "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him." However, Read — and McCabe's previous testimony to a grand jury — says she instead asked "Could I have hit him?" Broken taillight Pieces of Read's taillight were found on the scene where O'Keefe's body was located, investigators said. The prosecution says they broke when Read allegedly backed her SUV into O'Keefe, killing him. The defense argues the taillight may have been planted at the scene to frame Read. O'Keefe's injuries While prosecutors say O'Keefe died from being hit by Read's SUV, the defense says other cops beat him up and framed her for his killing. He had marks on his arms resembling that of an animal attack, the defense claims. Both sides are set to call witnesses in the second trial to testify to possible causes of the cuts. What has happened in Karen Read's second trial so far? Read's second trial began in early April, and the first witnesses testified on April 23. The judge in the case, Beverly Cannone, instructed jurors that the trial could take 6-8 weeks. So far, witnesses that have testified in the second trial include McCabe, O'Keefe's mother, police officers and paramedics involved in the case. How to watch Karen Read's trial live CourtTV has a live feed available to watch of the Read proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings begin daily at 9 a.m. ET. Karen Read case spurs slew of documentaries, interviews In addition to The Patriot Ledger and USA TODAY's coverage, there are several documentaries and projects recapping Read's case. Melina Khan is a trending reporter covering national news for USA TODAY. She can be reached at MKhan@
Boston Globe
01-05-2025
- Boston Globe
A Google search, a broken taillight, a disputed confession. Here are some of the pivotal issues in the Karen Read trial.
Advertisement Read's Did Read say 'I hit him' at the scene? Prosecutors say Read returned to the Fairview Road home with two other women just after 6 a.m. and found O'Keefe's snow-covered body on the lawn, and that she repeatedly said 'I hit him' in the presence of emergency responders. The defense maintains that Read wondered aloud, 'did I hit him?' or 'could I have hit him?' and that witnesses who testified to hearing her dramatic confession have changed their stories over time or been unduly influenced by investigators. Advertisement One such witness is McCabe testified that she heard a frantic Read tell an emergency responder, 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,' at the scene. ''I hit him, I hit him, I hit him' is just as fresh today as it was three years ago,' McCabe said on the stand Wednesday. She told Read attorney Alan Jackson during a tense cross-examination that a Canton police report saying she had indicated soon after O'Keefe's death that Read said something like 'I hope I didn't hit him' was inaccurate. 'I told [the officer] that she said 'I hit him,'' McCabe said. Jackson also handed her a 227-page transcript of her previous grand jury testimony, and rhetorically asked her to point out where in the stack of papers she told the panel that Read said 'I hit him.' 'Did you tell that to the grand jurors?' Jackson said. 'I'm not sure,' McCabe said. 'Because you didn't, did you?' Jackson asked. 'Again, I'm not sure,' McCabe said. Jennifer McCabe of Canton speaks on the witness stand as Judge Beverly Cannone listens in the background during the Karen Read murder trial in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) Greg Derr/Associated Press When did McCabe Google 'hos [sic] long to die in cold'? As with so much in this case, it depends who you ask. Read's lawyers have noted repeatedly that the contested Google search was timestamped on McCabe's phone at 2:27 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022. If they can convince jurors of the timestamp's accuracy, it's extremely damaging to the government's case: prosecutors maintain that O'Keefe didn't move from the flagpole area of the lawn from around 12:30 a.m. until just after 6 a.m., when Read, McCabe, and a third woman found his body. Advertisement But prosecutors recently digital forensic analyst with the company Cellebrite, who told jurors he believes the search and a second, similar inquiry were conducted on McCabe's phone shortly after 6:20 a.m. That tracks with McCabe's testimony that Read asked her to Google the information after finding O'Keefe's body in the snow. Whiffin told jurors the 2:27 a.m. timestamp marked when McCabe first opened the tab on her phone to look up a youth sports score, and that the timestamp didn't change when she used the same tab for the hypothermia searches. He conducted a live demonstration for jurors on an iPhone showing how that could transpire. In addition, Whiffin said he doesn't believe McCabe could have intentionally deleted the search, based on the forensic trail. While cross-examining Whiffin, Read attorney Robert Alessi asked if Magnet Forensics, a competitor to Cellebrite, 'still shows' a 2:27 a.m. timestamp for the Google search. Whiffin said that was correct. 'And Magnet Forensics is a reliable forensic company, correct?' Alessi asked. 'As reliable as they come,' Whiffin said. Ian Whiffin, a digital intelligence expert with Celebrite, testifies under cross-examination by the defense during Karen Read's murder retrial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Libby O'Neill/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool) Libby O'Neill/Associated Press Did the scratches on O'Keefe's right arm come from a dog? As they did in the first trial, Read's lawyers at the retrial plan to call Dr. Marie Russell testifies during Karen Read trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of backing her SUV into her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, and leaving him to die in a blizzard in Canton, in 2022. (Stuart Cahil/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool) Stuart Cahill/Associated Press The defense alleges that Chloe, a German Shepherd who lived in the Fairview home at the time, may have attacked O'Keefe during some kind of drunken fracas inside the residence. Advertisement The dog has since been rehomed to Vermont, according to prior testimony, and remains a frequent topic of discussion on Read-related social media. Prosecutors at the retrial 'Seventy pounder,' Jackson said of the dog's imposing frame while questioning McCabe on Wednesday. He also asked if McCabe was aware Chloe wasn't good with strangers. McCabe said she knew Chloe wasn't good with other dogs, 'so I could never bring my dog over there.' When, and how, did Read's taillight crack? Another key piece of evidence in the case is the damaged right taillight on Read's SUV, which prosecutors say was cracked when she rammed into O'Keefe. McCabe and Read's lawyers maintain her taillight was initially damaged when her SUV grazed O'Keefe's vehicle as she backed out of his driveway in an effort to find him around 5 a.m., before she met up with the other women and returned to his residence with them. The apparent impact with O'Keefe's vehicle was Read's attorneys allege that law enforcement officials later tampered with the taillight when her vehicle was brought back to a Canton police garage for processing on the evening of Jan. 29, 2022. Advertisement Jackson told jurors in his opening statement that investigators found no taillight pieces at the crime scene before investigator Michael Proctor gained access to Read's vehicle at the garage. Authorities have said collecting evidence at the scene was difficult in the blizzard-like conditions at the time. Proctor was later after he was forced during the first trial to read a number of crude and misogynistic texts he had sent about Read to friends and co-workers in the early stages of the probe, which the defense seized on to argue that investigators were biased against her from the start. Prosecutors also The 'corrected' video shows that Proctor was 'standing feet away' from Read's vehicle and 'never touched' the right taillight, prosecutors Were O'Keefe's injuries consistent with being hit by a car? A crash reconstruction firm initially hired by the Justice Department says no. The DOJ ( Advertisement The ARCCA analysts Analyst Andrew Rentschler testified that if O'Keefe were hit by the SUV as it as well as bruising and fractures beyond the superficial abrasions documented on O'Keefe's right arm. Rentschler also said the head injury O'Keefe sustained, in the absence of other trauma, 'is not' consistent with being struck by a vehicle. O'Keefe had suffered a skull fracture and also had severe swelling around his eyes. 'If there's enough force to cause a skull fracture then there's going to certainly be enough force' to cause injuries elsewhere, including on the cervical spine, Rentschler said. Having just the skull fracture, he said, 'is inconsistent' with being struck by a taillight, as prosecutors have maintained. The defense plans to call the ARCCA witnesses again. But prosecutors maintain the experts, rather than being the neutral fact finders the defense portrayed them as, actually Weeks after the mistrial, records show, ARCCA billed the defense for roughly $23,000, although Read's lawyers claim they had no prior knowledge of the bill, which Robert Alessi said came 'out of the blue.' Read's lawyers have since formally retained ARCCA, which conducted additional testing for the retrial. Prosecutors want Judge Beverly J. Cannone to restrict the analysts to testifying only about their findings contained in a February 2024 report that they submitted to the federal government and that was distributed to the prosecution and defense in Read's case. Cannone has yet to rule. Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at
