Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
Updated 6/3/24 3:56 p.m.
DEDHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — After several days off last week, the Karen Read murder trial resumed on Monday in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
Prosecutors say Read hit her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV and left him to die in a snowstorm back in January of 2022. His body was found in the front lawn of a Canton home owned by retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert and his wife, Nicole Albert.
Read's defense attorneys say she is being framed. They argue O'Keefe was actually beaten up inside of the Alberts' home, and dragged outside.
On Monday, jurors heard testimony from Massachusetts State Police Lt. Kevin O'Hara, who led the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT). He answered questions about how investigators handled the crime scene after O'Keefe's body was found. O'Hara said the snow made the search difficult.
"We [all] had shovels. We had a couple of rakes, just smaller garden rakes just to kind of help us shift through the snow. I also had a small push broom to move the snow around as well," O'Hara said. "It was very difficult to clear the snow. I don't think we had very good visibility in what we were moving. Even with the push broom and the rake, it was very difficult to definitively say we had cleared the lawn properly."
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O'Hara said his team found red and clear plastic taillight fragments and O'Keefe's missing shoe. During cross-examination, the defense asked O'Hara if MSP Lt. Brian Tully gave him the okay to search the Alberts' home. O'Hara said they "never discussed searching inside the house."
Maureen Hartnett, a forensic scientist with the State Police Crime Lab, also testified. She answered questions about the evidence testing she had done, including on the clothes O'Keefe was wearing that night and Karen Read's black SUV. Hartnett said she noted a dent, taillight damage, scratches and an "apparent hair" on the rear of the vehicle.
During cross-examination, Hartnett told the defense that she did not make any conclusions that the damage was caused by a motor vehicle-pedestrian incident.
Later in the afternoon, the jury heard testimony from Ashley Vallier, another forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab. She told the jury she analyzed debris collected from O'Keefe's clothes.
"It was labeled as coming from jeans, boxer shorts, sneakers, a grey long-sleeved shirt, and an orange t-shirt," Vallier said.
Testimony in the trial is also scheduled to take place Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Thursday will be a half day, and there will be no court on Tuesday and Friday.
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