Karen Read’s second murder trial set to start in death of boyfriend cop: What to know

Former Boston finance professional Karen Read will go on trial for the second time next week in the death of her police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, who prosecutors say she left for dead with severe injuries in a January snowstorm in 2022.

She has always maintained her innocence, and the first trial ended with a hung jury after her defense team floated the theory that someone else killed O’Keefe, left him outside and tried to frame Read. 

“Her entire case hinges on if she can get over the law enforcement problems,” said Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant and a criminal justice professor at Penn State-Lehigh Valley. 

Those problems helped derail the first trial. Here are five things to know ahead of Tuesday’s do-over:

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1. Karen Read is charged with 2nd-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe

O’Keefe, 46, was found dead in a fellow officer’s front yard on Jan. 29, 2022. A group of friends and acquaintances had gone there for an after-party following a night of drinking in Canton, Massachusetts. 

Prosecutors allege that Read backed into him with her Lexus SUV after a drunken argument and drove away, leaving him to succumb to his injuries in the bitter cold during a nor’easter snowstorm. 

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She has pleaded not guilty – and claimed that she’s being scapegoated by investigators, whom she alleges are helping cover for the real killers.

2. The victim, witnesses and investigators share connections

Read’s defense has highlighted the many connections between O’Keefe, who was a Boston police officer, other people present inside the home where he died and investigators who worked the case. 

Brian Albert, another Boston cop who recently retired, hosted a group at his house after they had all been drinking at the Waterfall Bar and Grille in Canton, a suburb of the city.

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Albert’s brother, Kevin Albert, is a detective in Canton, where O’Keefe was found dead on his brother’s front lawn. Kevin Albert was suspended in September for allegedly drinking on the job, according to Boston 25.

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The Alberts, who come from a family of six siblings, have a sister-in-law whom Read’s defense claims is close friends with the family of Michael Proctor – the lead investigator on the case who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police.

Another member of law enforcement at the after-party is Brian Higgins, a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to testimony from the first trial, Higgins and Read shared some romantic text messages, and he testified that she once kissed him outside O’Keefe’s house before his death.

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With everyone connected and Read an outsider, her defense argued that she has been framed in a cover-up.

“The old saying that if you can’t attack the evidence, attack the investigators,” Giacalone told Fox News Digital. “However, in this case, the defense has a field day with both.”

3. Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury

Jurors could not agree on a verdict after days of deliberations, resulting in a mistrial.

An alternate juror on the case, a lawyer who sat through the original trial but did not take part in deliberations, was so disenchanted with the legal process that she joined Read’s defense this week.

After the mistrial, a special prosecutor has been appointed to spearhead the second case. He is Hank Brennan, a private attorney who previously represented the Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in federal court.

4. Special prosecutor faces an uphill battle

“I assume full responsibility and all obligations for prosecuting this case and will do so meticulously, ethically and zealously, without compromise,” he told The Associated Press after being named special prosecutor. “I have two core obligations. The first is to make certain that Karen Read receives a fair trial… The second is to ensure that the facts surrounding John O’Keefe’s death are fully fairly aired in the courtroom without outside influence.”

He did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Although Read has failed repeatedly to have the case dismissed before a second trial, Brennan’s team will have to overcome the failed first prosecution and the fact that the lead detective, Proctor, lost his job with the Massachusetts State Police after sharing “inappropriate” texts about the investigation with people who weren’t working the case. 

Canton police collected evidence in red Solo cups at the scene. Read’s lawyers accused them of planting O’Keefe’s blood on her car. And they argued that the prosecution never explained cuts and gashes found on O’Keefe’s arm.

Further complicating matters is O’Keefe’s “undetermined” manner of death. The cause was listed as blunt impact injuries to the head and hypothermia. The autopsy found skull fractures, brain bleeding, swollen black eyes and cuts to his right arm, but the forensic pathologist held off on calling it a homicide.

“He’s still stuck with a case riddled with mistakes and reasonable doubt,” said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney who has been following the case. “There’s so much media attention already, it will be difficult to find a juror who doesn’t know anything about this unless they live under a rock.”

Retrials tend to go better for the defense, he said, with the Menendez brothers’ case in California being an exception.

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5. Read has been talking about the case

Read has given a number of public interviews about the case – rare for a defendant in a high-profile criminal case.

“My life is in the balance, and it shouldn’t be,” she told Boston 25 last month. “The more information the public has, the more they understand what we already know.”

To that end, she’s been speaking out – and so have a number of supporters who have sided with her theory of a cover-up online. In another interview, she weighed in on her dalliance with Higgins, the ATF agent.

“I knew Higgins found me attractive,” she told Vanity Fair in August. “It helped me emotionally validate myself, which is embarrassing to admit.”

The tactic could backfire, Gelman said, especially if she winds up making an “impeachable statement” along the way.

“I don’t really like that she’s done so many interviews,” Gelman told Fox News Digital. “There’s enough publicity with the case.”

Fox News’ Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.