The second installment in Vanity Fair's profile of Karen Read was published online Wednesday morning, revealing new details about the controversial case.
This summer, Massachusetts murder defendant Karen Read invited VF’s Julie Miller to her home to discuss the case against her.
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 30, 2024
In part two of the story, Miller speaks to Read, her defense team, and other people close to the trial.
Read more: https://t.co/HiGvr7S5lK pic.twitter.com/GydAC68z4O
Read is accused of ramming into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. Her attorneys argue she is being framed and that other law enforcement officers are responsible for O’Keefe’s death. A judge declared a mistrial in July after finding that jurors couldn’t reach an agreement and her retrial on the same charges is set to begin in January.
The first installment in the two-part series was released on Tuesday, and included some interesting tidbits about Read and her trial. You can read our recap here.
Here's a closer look at Part 2 of the Vanity Fair story, which a representative for the Norfolk District Attorney's Office said it wasn't commenting on:
- Vanity Fair asked Umit Karabiyik, a PhD at Purdue's Department of Computer and Information Technology, to evaluate the prosecution's expert testimony about Jennifer McCabe's much-discussed "hos long to die in cold" Google search in the hours before O'Keefe was found dead. The prosecution's expert testified that the 2:27 a.m. time stamp on the Google search "was not indicative of the time of the search." But Karabiyik told the magazine that he concurred with Read's expert, Richard Green, who said the search was indeed conducted at 2:27 a.m.
- Part 2 of the magazine article references the Sandra Birchmore case, noting that it was also handled by the Norfolk District Attorney's Office. The segment doesn't include any new information about the case, serving as more of a review.
- Aidan Kearney, the blogger better known as "Turtleboy," gets his own section in the story, with author Julie Miller talking about his role in the case and mentioning that he makes as much as $50,000 a month off his live YouTube shows.
- The article also reveals that Read housed her lawyers, David Yannetti, Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little, and herself in the same hotel leading up to and during her trial, at a cost of $1.2 million. She used a combination of her savings, $500,000 from her legal fund and $400,000 donated by friends and family to cover the costs.
- The piece also touches on the federal grand jury investigation into some portion of the handling of Read's case, which was referenced repeatedly during her trial. A former federal prosecutor told Miller he couldn't remember a time in his 14 years working in the U.S. Attorney's Office got involved in an active state murder investigation. "Presumably, it's some type of federal obstruction or witness-tampering investigation -- a cover-up of some sort," the ex-prosecutor said.
- Vanity Fair spoke to one of the jurors from Read's first trial, who commented on the moment during the trial when the defense team pointed out that security video from inside the Canton Police Department garage showing Read's SUV had been inverted. "I'm like, 'Are you kidding me right now?'" the juror told the magazine. "That was like, 'Holy [expletive], they did this on purpose. This wasn't just an accident where they didn't know it was inverted.' I couldn't believe that a Massachusetts Police sergeant was defending this in open court." That same juror said later in the story that they "One hundred percent" believe Read was framed.
- Read acknowledged that at one point when she was called back into the courtroom while awaiting a verdict, she was not prepared for what they might decide. "Could I be in a jail cell in 20 minutes? My first thought is I need to use the bathroom because I don't know when I am going to have a private bathroom again. I couldn't find my brother. I'm like, what if I can't hug Nathan?" Read said she began bargaining with God, saying that she would take a mistrial if it meant she'd be able to go home that night.
- Read said she has a recurring nightmare where O'Keefe survived the events of Jan. 29 but can't remember what happened. In the dream, Read said O'Keefe's mother and brother are telling O'Keefe that Read tried to kill him.
- In the interview, Read also opens up about her relationship with O'Keefe, saying that they argued but the relationship was not abusive or neglectful. "Did I mistreat him emotionally or in any way? Or did we have ups and downs? And I helped him tend to the kids and we went on vacations and to sporting events and school and breakfast and haircuts."
- The O'Keefe family declined to speak with Vanity Fair, but did send them a statement saying they believe Read is liable for John O'Keefe's death. "Unlike most people accused of murder and sued for wrongful death, Karen Read has embraced her celebrity in outsized ways," the statement said.
- Near the end of the piece, Miller includes a conversation from her final night with Read, saying Read talked about a temperature-controlled storage unit she's paying for to house carpeting torn from the Alberts' home after they sold it. She said she hopes to get enough money to swab the carpet at some point for blood and DNA evidence.
- Read acknowledged that she Googles herself each morning, looking at the latest headlines to see if there is are any new reports about her and her case. She then goes to mass.gov to check if there have been any new filings in her case.
Read's legal team is scheduled to be in court next week, where they're expected to argue before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that two of the charges against her should be thrown out.
