By Abby Patkin
updated on April 22, 2025 | 9:11 AM
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
Opening statements begin Tuesday in Karen Read’s second murder trial, laying bare the arguments for Read’s guilt or innocence in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Prosecutors allege Read, 45, drunkenly and deliberately backed her SUV into John O’Keefe while dropping him off at a home in Canton following a night of bar-hopping in January 2022. They’ve pointed to angry texts and voicemails suggesting the couple’s relationship was on the rocks, arguing Read left her boyfriend of two years to die alone in the snow.
Yet Read’s lawyers say she was a “convenient outsider” framed in a vast law enforcement conspiracy to protect the family of homeowner Brian Albert, a fellow Boston police officer with strong local ties. The defense suggests O’Keefe entered Albert’s home for an afterparty early on Jan. 29, 2022, and was beaten, attacked by the family’s pet dog, and ultimately dumped on the front lawn.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal collision. Her first trial ended in a mistrial last July after jurors returned deadlocked.
Tuesday’s opening statements will feature a change in lineup; where Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally and defense attorney David Yannetti delivered opening statements the first time around, special prosecutor Hank Brennan is now making the state’s case, and defense attorney Alan Jackson is up at bat for Read’s team.
Both sides have offered clues about what their opening statements might entail. Brennan has indicated he plans to use Read’s own words against her by introducing out-of-court statements she’s made about the case, including her comments to the media. Judge Beverly Cannone last week gave prosecutors the green light to play a short clip from one of Read’s interviews during opening statements.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys said they only plan to display a single photograph during their opening. In a court filing last week, Brennan alleged the photograph in question shows O’Keefe’s arm wounds, a hotly contested piece of evidence in the case.
He asked Cannone to bar Read’s lawyers from claiming in their opening statement that any of O’Keefe’s injuries were caused by a person or animal inside Albert’s home at 34 Fairview Road. Cannone has not yet ruled on the motion.
Sign up for our Extra newsletter to get updates from the retrial and other breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.
