The Karen Read murder trial has created a spectacle in the town of Canton, Massachusetts, as dozens of witnesses — partygoers, first responders, investigators and more — are summoned to Norfolk Superior Court to recount their memories and insight surrounding the death of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe in 2022.
While prosecutors allege that Read backed into O'Keefe, her boyfriend, while dropping him off at a house party on a blustery January night, her defense team has fired back with claims of a massive coverup. The defense's theory centers on close-knit family ties and small town politics leading to an innocent woman being framed.
Read has been charged with second-degree murder, which she denies. No one else is facing charges in the case.
Prosecutors listed 87 people they were considering calling as witnesses to help jurors understand the events of the night O'Keefe died; the defense listed 77. Some people appear on both witness lists.
Use this graphic to visualize how many of the key witnesses are related or know each other. Many are on the witness lists.
A central point of contention in the case is the nature of the relationship between the Proctor, Albert and McCabe families.
Read and O'Keefe met four couples, plus another friend, at the Waterfall Bar and Grille in Canton on Jan. 28, 2022: Brian and Nicole Albert, Chris and Julie Albert, Matthew and Jennifer McCabe and Karina Kololithas and Nicholas Kolokithas, as well as Brian Higgins, according to court filings and witness testimony.
As closing time approached, there was an open invite back to Brian and Nicole Albert's home on Fairview Road to celebrate the birthday of their son, Brian Albert Jr. Brian and Nicole Albert, Jennifer and Matthew McCabe and Brian Higgins went to the home in their cars. Read drove herself and O'Keefe to the address in her Lexus SUV, and dropped O'Keefe off.
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It's as she left, prosecutors allege, when she drunkenly hit O'Keefe with the SUV, driving off and leaving him to die in the snow.
Read's defense team has argued the evidence for that theory is thin and that the investigation was tainted — among other things, that there were connections between the family of lead investigator Trooper Michael Proctor and the Alberts, and thus a conflict of interest.
Instead of the hit-and-run allegation, Read's defense says some sort of fight broke out in the house and O'Keefe was brought out and left in the snowy front lawn.
The Commonwealth has blasted the theory, with Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey himself issuing a statement months ahead of the trial addressing the matter.
"Trooper Proctor had no close personal relationship with any of the parties involved in the investigation, had no conflict, and had no reason to step out of the investigation," Morrissey said. "Every suggestion to the contrary is a lie."
This story and graphic will be updated as new information is revealed in court throughout Read's trial.
