Karen Read’s 2nd trial over cop boyfriend’s death kicks off with arrest outside court as protesters flood ‘buffer zone’
KAREN Read’s second murder trial has already spiraled into chaos as an onlooker was arrested while protestors surrounded the courthouse on the retrial’s first day.
Read’s supporters held signs proclaiming her innocence as the woman accused of killing her cop boyfriend smirked while walking past them into court on Tuesday.
Read, 45, is accused of intentionally reversing her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston cop John O’Keefe, in January 2022 after a night of heavy drinking and leaving him for dead.
After her first murder trial ended in a mistrial last year, Read is returning to court to face charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene.
The controversial case has sparked national attention as Read insists she was the victim of a cover-up by cops, drawing protesters to the Massachusetts courthouse on Tuesday to share their opinions on Read, who is pleading not guilty.
Read was pictured smiling as she passed her supporters holding signs calling her “innocent” and “framed.”
As dozens of people crowded around the building, cops established a “buffer zone” to keep the public separate from the key players in the court case.
A man was seen being handcuffed on the chaotic livestream by Court TV ahead of the trial’s start on Tuesday morning. It’s unclear why he was arrested.
As Read was pictured again smiling while speaking with her lawyers before opening statements, the judge addressed the public nature of the case.
Judge Beverly Cannone told the jury to ignore public comments about the trial and to avoid news coverage at all costs.
She also expanded the buffer zone outside the courthouse and said it was to prevent outside influence and distraction on the jury’s deliberation.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan kicked off opening statements by describing the scene where O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow.
He then began a fiery rant about Read’s “campaign” to prove her innocence after the mistrial by giving public media interviews.
Brennan played a Dateline interview from October 2024 where Read admitted she was drunk and had a poor memory on the night O’Keefe was killed.
“You’re going to hear from her own lips in many of her statements, her admissions,” Brennan told the court.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson then started his opening statement by slamming Michael Proctor, the former lead investigator on the case.
A timeline of Karen Read's case
Karen Read, the Mansfield woman accused of fatally striking her cop boyfriend with her SUV in January 2022, will face a retrial on January 27, 2025.
A judge declared a mistrial on July 1, 2024, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberation.
- January 29, 2022: O’Keefe’s body is found outside of a friend’s home.
- February 1, 2022: Read was arrested and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a vehicle homicide.
- February 2, 2022: Read pleads not guilty in Stoughton District Court.
- June 9, 2022: A state grand jury indicts Read on upgraded charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene.
- April 12, 2023: Read’s attorneys publicly release court documents they say contain “bombshell exculpatory information,” including Jennifer McCabe’s Google search.
- Nov. 20, 2023: Residents of the divided community vote 903-800 to audit the Canton Police Department over the case.
- May 23, 2023: During another pre-trial hearing, the defense says that the murder of John O’Keefe is a massive cover-up involving members of law enforcement and their friends and family members.
- Feb. 22, 2024: Prosecutors unveil long-awaited results of crime scene evidence tests, alleging that O’Keefe’s DNA was recovered from the broken taillight of Read’s vehicle.
- April 12, 2024: Read’s defense attorneys say in court that Brian Albert, his son Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins could have each killed O’Keefe at the party that night.
- April 16, 2024: Read’s trial began in Massachusetts Superior Court.
- May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when she discovered O’Keefe’s body, testifies that during their search, Read repeatedly said: “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?” She also says Read later said when emergency workers were on the scene: “I hit him.”
- June 3, 2024: The defense accuses police of planting the shattered fragments of taillight from Read’s car at the scene of the crime.
- June 24, 2024: The defense rests their case.
- July 1, 2024: A judge declared a hung jury after five days of deliberation.
- April 22, 2025: Read’s second murder trial begins.
Proctor was fired after it was revealed during Read’s last trial that he sent vulgar and inappropriate text messages about the suspect.
Jackson said “data and evidence” will prove O’Keefe was not killed by being struck by Read’s SUV.
“By the end of this trial, you’ll conclude that Karen Read is not guilty of hitting John O’Keefe with her SUV,” Jackson said, adding that there was “no collision.”
“She’s the victim of a botched and biased and corrupted investigation that was never about the truth, folks.
“It was about preserving loyalty.”
Prosecutors called their first witness as Timothy Nuttall, a paramedic who first responded to the scene where O’Keefe’s body was found on January 29, 2022.
Nuttall testified that he remembered Read saying, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” when he arrived at the snowy scene.
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