BOSTON — A much-anticipated trial began in Massachusetts this week involving a woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowbank.
John O’Keefe died in a suburb about 20 miles outside of Boston on January 29, 2022.
The case has attracted national attention because the defense alleges that state and local law enforcement authorities framed her and allowed the real killer to go free.
Here are the facts and legal arguments of the case:
The accusations: A tumultuous relationship turns deadly
Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder in the death of John O’Keefe, 46. The 16-year police veteran was found unconscious outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer.
After a night of drinking at several bars, prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at a party shortly after midnight. While making a three-point turn, Read allegedly struck O’Keefe before driving away. She returned hours later and found him in a snowbank.
Part of what prosecutors are trying to do is show that Read’s actions were intentional. To do this, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally began offering evidence showing that the couple had a tempestuous relationship that began to “sour” a month before O’Keefe’s death. The prosecution’s first witness, O’Keefe’s brother Paul, testified that they argued regularly, including over what Read fed his two adopted children, and that he witnessed a fight the couple had in 2021 on Cape Cod over how O’Keefe treated her.
Paul O’Keefe’s wife, Erin, testified that Read told her the couple fought in Aruba after she caught O’Keefe kissing another woman.
The defense: the police are framing the suspect
In its opening statement, the defense team laid out plans to portray the investigation into O’Keefe’s death as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with police and other law enforcement officials at the house party.
They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient stranger” and that prevented them from considering other suspects. They plan to argue that someone other than Read was responsible for O’Keefe’s death, but have only suggested the theory that he was beaten inside the home and left to die outside.
They also criticized investigators for not searching the house where the party was held to see if a fight had occurred and argued that his injuries were consistent with a beating.
The scene: Read distraught, screaming in a snowstorm
Prosecutors seemed from the beginning to trust Read himself words to get a conviction. Most of the first week was dominated by first responders, who detailed a harrowing scene that January 2022 morning.
They found O’Keefe lying face down and Read, distraught and screaming near the body, appearing to have blood in her mouth from giving CPR.
The most incriminating testimony this week came from several first responders who recalled Read telling them loudly and repeatedly that she “hit him,” even though she never said that with her SUV.
Another witness, a police officer among the first to arrive at the scene, testified. Read said it was her fault and that she was responsible, although she did not say how she was responsible.
The evidence: are there inconsistencies?
The defense has worked to undermine the credibility of the first responders who testified for the prosecution. They pointed out errors in a police dispatch log, including the wrong address where O’Keefe’s body was found.
They also got a witness, who testified to hearing Read say that O’Keefe’s death was her fault, to acknowledge that he never wrote that in a police report. They also questioned the memory of another witness and suggested that another may have been too focused on saving O’Keefe’s life to be able to hear Read say he hit O’Keefe.
The defense also showed video of the scene to suggest that a first responder, who claimed to have heard Read say he hit O’Keefe, was not shown talking to her.
They also tried to plant doubt in the jury’s mind about the overall investigation, having several witnesses say they never heard Read say she hit O’Keefe, nor did they see dozens of pieces of her broken taillight at the scene, evidence that prosecutors they say show. she backed away from him.
The victim: how he died and when
The first days of the trial also detailed rescuers’ futile efforts to save O’Keefe. They found him face down when they arrived just before dawn on January 29th.
A witness testified that O’Keefe was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Another said his body temperature was just 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 Celsius), which he described as extreme hyperthermia.
O’Keefe’s condition never changed despite rescuers’ life-saving efforts en route to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital and an autopsy later found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
