With Karen Read now being acquitted of the murder charges in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, the question remains who killed O’Keefe as no third-party culprit has been established in the high-profile retrial in Massachusetts. The jury found her not guilty of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death, but convicted her of operating a vehicle under the influence, for which she received one year of probation.Prosecutors alleged that Read, after a night of heavy drinking, intentionally backed her SUV into O’Keefe outside the home of another Boston police officer, Brian Albert, in Canton, Massachusetts, and left him to die in a snowstorm. Evidence included data from Read’s SUV showing it reversed at 24 mph for 53 feet, a broken taillight with possible DNA from O’Keefe, and testimony from witnesses like Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts, who claimed Read said, “I hit him” at the scene.Read’s defense argued she was framed in a police cover-up, asserting O’Keefe was beaten inside Albert’s home during a party and dragged outside. They pointed to O’Keefe’s injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head, hypothermia, and claw-like wounds on his arm—as inconsistent with a car accident, suggesting a dog attack or fight. The defense highlighted a 2:27 am Google search on McCabe’s phone for “hos long to die in cold,” allegedly made before O’Keefe’s body was found, and criticized the investigation
Then who killed Karen Reed’s boyfriend O’Keefe?
No definitive evidence identified another perpetrator, and the defense’s third-party culprit theory implicating Brian Albert, Colin Albert, or Brian Higgins was not substantiated in court. Judge Beverly Cannone restricted naming Colin Albert as a suspect in the retrial. Several witnesses, including McCabe and Brian Albert, called the acquittal a “miscarriage of justice,” while Read’s supporters celebrated, alleging police corruption.The case remains unresolved in terms of identifying a killer, as the acquittal does not confirm an alternative culprit, and O’Keefe’s death is still officially attributed to blunt force trauma and hypothermia.Jason, one of the jurors in the Karen Read trial, said he believed she was completely innocent. There were a lot of holes in the investigation, he said, adding that he was not, however, sure if Read was made a scapegoat. After her acquittal, Karen Read said no one fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than she had.
