Jurors in the murder trial of Karen Read returned to the courtroom Monday for a full day of testimony, with extended hours, as the prosecution turned to physical forensic evidence in the case.
The jury had been on break since last week, when they heard from medical experts about Read's level of intoxication the morning John O'Keefe was found dead and from O'Keefe's niece and nephew who testified they heard frequent arguments between the two.
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Read is accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die on the lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Her defense says she's being framed, and that the forensic evidence, some of which was brought up Monday, was manipulated to frame their client.
Police said they found a hair on the right quarter panel and glass on the bumper of Read's SUV, apparently from a broken drinking glass that was located near O’Keefe’s body in the snow.
State Police Lt. Kevin O'Hara said seven troopers searched the street in front of the house where O'Keefe was found. He said there were about 18 inches of snow on the ground. Using headlamps, shovels and rakes, they uncovered six or seven pieces of taillight and a sneaker.
The defense said the crime scene wasn't properly secured.
The jury was shown photographs of O'Keefe's clothes, including a gray sweatshirt and an orange T-shirt that he was wearing when he died. A lot of the items have been tested for blood and DNA, including one for animal DNA. The results of those blood and DNA tests have yet to be shared with the jury.
Monday was a full day of testimony with a shortened lunch break. There is no court Tuesday. Wednesday will be a full day, Thursday a half day and then no court on Friday.
Mass. State Police search team commander testifies
Monday began with testimony from Massachusetts State Police Lt. Kevin O'Hara. He is the team commander for the state police Special Emergency Response Team, or SERT.
On Jan. 29, 2022, the day of O'Keefe's death, he said he was contacted around 2:30 p.m. by Lt. Brian Tully, supervisor for the Norfolk County District Attorney's state police detective unit.
He said Tully told him he was conducting a death investigation in Canton and was looking for assistance with an evidence search. O'Hara told Tully members of the SERT team would be able to respond but it could take some time due to the blizzard-like weather conditions at the time.
O'Hara said it was about 3:45 p.m. when he told Tully his team was cleared to respond to Canton. The team members were told to bring shovels, brooms and rakes. O'Hara said he arrived at 34 Fairview Road at 4:56 p.m. Six other members of the SERT team responded along with him.
Once everyone was on scene, the team set up a grid search around where Karen Read's vehicle was believed to have been parked in front of the Albert home the night before. He said Tully told them O'Keefe had been struck by a vehicle and they should be looking for pieces of broken taillight and possibly O'Keefe's sneaker. O'Hara said it was already dark out by the time their search began.
After they found several pieces of taillight, O'Hara said he asked for a photo of the vehicle to see how large a section of taillight had broken. But Tully said the vehicle was being towed back to the Canton Police Department.
The taillight pieces were found on the street in between the flagpole and fire hydrant in front of the home, he said. About six or seven pieces in all were located that day. He said they also found a sneaker in the same general location.
The entire search was wrapped up around 6:15 p.m., O'Hara said. He said he told Tully that the team could return during daylight hours to continue their search.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally then showed the jury a series of photos of the snowy yard at 34 Fairview Road displaying where the pieces of taillight and the sneaker were found and members of the SERT team conducting their search.
Shortly after 10 a.m., defense attorney David Yannetti began cross-examining O'Hara. Yannetti started by pointing out that the scene had not been secured and had been left open to the public in the hours before the SERT team arrived.
Yannetti also got O'Hara to confirm that it was dark by the time their search began, and Tully advised them of the area they should search and told them what they should be searching for.
He also asked O'Hara about a section of his report where he wrote that O'Keefe had been hit and dragged by a vehicle around 12:30 a.m. That was also information that came from Tully, O'Hara acknowledged.
Forensic scientist testifies
The day's second witness was Maureen Hartnett, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory. She testified about an error she once made identifying a hair, and how that led to her prior work being examined and additional training.
She said she has probably been involved in over 1,000 criminal investigations in her time with the crime lab.
Hartnett testified that she reported to the Canton Police Department on Feb. 1, 2022, where she was asked to examine Read's SUV. She testified that she noted there was damage to the rear passenger side area of the vehicle.
She said there was a dent in the trunk door, scratches on the rear bumper and a broken taillight. She also said she saw an "apparent hair" on a rear quarter-panel of the SUV and some pieces of "apparent glass" on the rear bumper.
"At that time, I noted it was an apparent hair beause I had not done any microscopic examination of the hair," Hartnett said.
Later, back at the lab, she said she did conduct a microscopic examination of the hair.
Hartnett also performed blood screening on the undercarriage of the vehicle, the bumper and rear tires, but found nothing. She said she collected the apparent glass and several paint standards, the taillight housing and the apparent hair.
She also said she was presented with a broken drinking glass she was told was found at the scene, along with some red Solo cups with frozen red-brown stains inside.
Hartnett testified about the testing she conducted on the hair found on the rear of the SUV, and what she found.
"I determined the hair was consistent with a human hair with a root," she said.
Hartnett said she doesn't know what part of the body the hair came from.
She also testified about tests she performed on the sweatshirt that O'Keefe was wearing on the day he died. The jury was shown several closeups of the sweatshirt from different angles.
She said the sweatshirt had numerous red-brown stains in several areas, and she conducted blood tests on those stains.
Hartnett was still on the stand at 1 p.m., when the courtroom broke for lunch. Testimony resumed around 1:30 p.m.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson began cross-examining Hartnett just before 2 p.m. He asked who it was that dispatched her to the Canton Police Department on Feb. 1, 2022, and she said it was Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor.
Proctor, the lead investigator, is under investigation by state police for a potential violation of department policy in connection with the Read case.
Jackson also showed Hartnett a photo of O'Keefe's right arm, which is covered with scratches of some sort. He asked if she noticed anything underneath Read's SUV that could have caused that injury. She said she made no conclusions of that sort at that time, noting that she is not an expert in that area.
She added that the underside of the SUV, including the tire flaps, screened negative for blood.
Jackson also asked Hartnett about the red Solo cups with blood evidence inside, asking if they were in any way labeled.
She said she did not notice them being labeled in any way.
Hartnett said she took two swabs from just one of the Solo cups, assuming they were all related. The rest of the blood evidence was left with Canton police.
"It was my understanding they were all taken from the same stain," she said.
No DNA testing was ever done on the blood swab, Hartnett said.
She also testified about the "apparent hair" she found on the back of the SUV. She said it was not affixed to the vehicle in any way. It was just on the vehicle.
Jackson pointed out that the vehicle would have had to have made a 60-mile trip with the hair affixed to it, in the middle of a blizzard.
Second forensic scientist testifies
The day's third witness was Ashley Vallier, another forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory.
Lally showed Vallier a series of pictures of glass, plastic and an apparent black straw that she reviewed in during the investigation. She said it took a long time to go through the many pieces.
The process took the bulk of the last hour of testimony.
Vallier was due to return to court on Wednesday — the jury has the day off Tuesday.
