The fate of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend in 2022, is now in the hands of 12 jurors. They will determine whether she intentionally hit her boyfriend with her SUV and left him to die in the cold, or whether the officers framed her, as her lawyers claim.
The jury heard closing arguments Tuesday and began deliberations after nearly two months of testimony in the trial, which was closely watched in Massachusetts and among true crime enthusiasts across the country.
Read is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of her ex-boyfriend, John O’Keefe, and declared himself innocent the accusations
Here’s what you should know about the case:
Who are Karen Read and John O’Keefe?
O’Keefe was an officer with the Boston Police Department for 16 years before his death on January 29, 2022. He was discovered on the snow-covered lawn of a home in Canton, Massachusetts, the next morning after spending a night out with Read, his girlfriend and others, by NBC Boston. He was 46 years old when he died.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, Mass., worked as a stock analyst at Fidelity Investments and an adjunct professor at Bentley University, his soulmate, before the incident. She and O’Keefe dated about two years before her death, although prosecutors say the relationship was rocky in recent months.
The prosecution case
The night before O’Keefe’s body was found, prosecutors allege the couple and a few others spent the night drinking at several bars before Read dropped her boyfriend off at a house party shortly after midnight, according to the Associated Press.
While at home, Read allegedly made a three-point turn and struck O’Keefe before driving away, prosecutors said. When she returned hours later with two other women, Read found him in a snow bank. One of the women called 911 and O’Keefe was pronounced dead shortly before 8 a.m. at a hospital, prosecutors said, according to the AP.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be blunt trauma to the head and hypothermia, NBC News reported.
Prosecutors argued that Read intentionally hit O’Keefe and offered evidence of an increasingly difficult relationship, the AP reported. The prosecution called O’Keefe’s brother, Paul, to the stand, and he said the couple repeatedly argued about his brother’s adopted children. He recounted a fight the couple had on Cape Cod in 2021 over how his brother treated Read, according to the news outlet.
Paul O’Keefe’s wife, Erin, testified that she was told by Read that the couple had fought during a New Year’s trip to Aruba shortly before O’Keefe’s death, after Read found O’Keefe kissing another woman, she added. the news agency.
Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally told the jury that no individual at the party recalled seeing O’Keefe inside, with some claiming they saw the SUV pull up to the house and then leave, NBC News reported.
Lally presented data from Read’s SUV to show the timing and speed of his car at the time of the alleged incident, along with forensic tests that found O’Keefe’s hair in the taillight, NBC News added.
Leia’s Defense
Read’s lawyers argued that she was set up and that O’Keefe was dragged out after being beaten inside a party in Canton, Massachusetts.
Read’s defense team tried to show the jury that the investigation into O’Keefe’s death was poorly handled and pointed to what it called a close relationship between investigators, police and law enforcement officials who were at the party that night, it said. the AP.
Investigators targeted Read because she was a “convenient stranger” who helped them avoid looking at other suspects while someone else actually committed the murder, the defense argued.
One of the few defense witnesses was Dr. Frank Sheridan, a retired forensic pathologist who supported these claims, according to the AP.
Sheridan told the court he would have expected more bruising if O’Keefe had been run over by a heavy vehicle and suggested scratch marks on the officer’s arms could have come from a dog, consistent with the defense theory. O’Keefe was also bitten by a dog. indoors, the news agency said.
The defense also called witnesses from an independent consulting firm that works in forensic engineering, who reportedly said that Read’s broken taillight was not consistent with the injuries found on O’Keefe’s head and arm.
Read took no position.
Public reaction to the case
The nearly two-month trial attracted national attention, with true crime bloggers and media outlets seizing on the televised trial proceedings.
Reading supporters often aligned outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, in protest of the trial. Signals captured by local media appeared in the surrounding areas with the words “Free Karen Read” and “Enough is Enough.”
Meanwhile, other Massachusetts residents support O’Keefe, with some holding signs that read, “Justice for Officer John O’Keefe” or “Truth and Justice for John.”
What happens now
The jury of 14 was reduced to 12 for deliberations, CBS News Boston reported, and includes six men, six women and two women acting as alternates. A woman was removed from the jury Tuesday morning, becoming the third juror to be removed from the proceedings.
The jury will consider Read’s charges of second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and intoxicated manslaughter, which carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison. Read also faces a third charge, leaving a scene of personal injury and death, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
The jury was sent into deliberations around 1pm on Tuesday.
When asked if she was nervous before the verdict, Read said, “”I don’t know if nervous is the right word. Anticipation and…” before being interrupted by a crowd of media and supporters, according to CBS.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
