Karen Read’s life was forever changed when she became a suspect in the murder of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in January 2022.
The morning after dropping off the Boston police officer at a late-night party, Read discovered him dead in his former colleague’s front yard, and she was subsequently accused of hitting him with her SUV.
However, the defense contends that he was injured in an altercation inside the home before being attacked by the homeowners’ German shepherd. Read’s lawyers further argued that she was a victim of a major police cover-up, Boston magazine reported in September 2023.
Read’s case has turned into a high-profile murder trial, eliciting mixed reactions in her small Massachusetts town, on social media and in the courtroom.
After a mistrial was declared in July 2024, Read will be tried again in January 2025, three years after her boyfriend’s murder, per ABC News. Although she’s spent years in and out of courtrooms and accumulating significant legal debt, Read remains determined to uncover the truth.
“I’m not backing down now,” she told Vanity Fair in October 2024. “As scary as a potential conviction is, I will go to jail for something I didn’t do before I plea out. I will never give them that win.”
So where is Karen Read now? Here’s everything to know about her life nearly three years after being accused of her boyfriend’s murder and what’s set to happen next.
Who is Karen Read?
Karen Read andJohn O’Keefe. Karen Read and John O’Keefe Police Officer Death courtesy David Yannetti
Karen Read was formerly a financial analyst and adjunct professor of finance at Bentley University, who resided in Mansfield, Mass., according to Vanity Fair.
She first dated John O’Keefe in their 20s, but they went their separate ways because of her job responsibilities, Inside Editionreported.
During an appearance on Nightline in August 2023, Read revealed that O’Keefe reached out to her in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they rekindled their relationship.
“He had reached out to me on Facebook. He said, ‘Hey, blast from the past. How’s things,’ ” she recalled.
By that point, O’Keefe had been an officer with Boston Police for about 14 years. They dated for two years before his death.
What happened to John O’Keefe?
A photo of Karen Read and John O’Keefe presented in court on June 10, 2022.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty
On Jan. 28, 2022, Read dropped off her boyfriend O’Keefe at retired Boston officer Brian Albert’s home for a late-night gathering in Canton, Mass., after they ran into him earlier that evening at a bar. She reportedly waited 10 minutes to hear whether or not she should join him inside, and when there was no word, she drove off.
Speaking to Nightline, Read recounted it was snowing and windy when she last saw O’Keefe, who wasn’t wearing a coat. The evening prior, 20 inches of snow fell, and the temperature dropped to 12 degrees, per the National Weather Service.
Hours later, after O’Keefe didn’t come home, Read and two mutual friends went searching for him, only to discover him unconscious and covered in snow in Albert’s front yard. O’Keefe was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022.
According to CNN, the medical examination revealed severe injuries, including skull fractures, two black eyes and arm abrasions. Blood was also around his nose and mouth, and claw-like wounds. NBC News reported the case of death was listed as “blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia.” The medical examiner reportedly couldn’t determine if it was accidental or a homicide.
What was Karen Read charged with?
Karen Read and attorney Alan Jackson arriving at court for a pre-trial hearing.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty
Three days after O’Keefe’s death, Read was arrested as a suspect on several charges, including manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a personal injury or crime, per The Boston Globe. The manslaughter charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder, and she pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Prosecutors allege Read, intoxicated after a night of bar hopping, hit O’Keefe with her SUV while dropping him off and left him for dead, PEOPLE previously reported. During Read’s first trial, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally presented a voicemail where a reportedly drunken Read yelled, “John, I f—— hate you!” as she left Albert’s driveway.
Additionally, witnesses testified that when Read and two friends found O’Keefe unconscious, she allegedly said, “I hit him,” per documents cited by Boston magazine.
The defense, however, argues that O’Keefe’s injuries occurred during a fight with someone inside the house with whom he had a longtime conflict. They allege he was then attacked by the homeowners’ German shepherd, dragged outside and left to die.
Read’s lawyers further claim that she was framed by local law enforcement protecting their colleagues, asserting that she did not say, “I hit him,” but rather, “Did I hit him?” The defense also stated that O’Keefe’s injuries weren’t consistent with being hit by a vehicle.
What was Karen Read’s verdict?
Karen Read with her defense attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti at Norfolk County Superior Court on February 26, 2024.
Getty
Read’s murder trial related to O’Keefe’s death began in April 2024.
After three months of hearing testimonies and the jury’s deliberation, though, the jury foreperson informed Judge Beverly Cannone that, despite thoroughly reviewing the evidence, they were unable to come to a unanimous verdict on June 28, per several outlets.
While Cannone sent the jury back to deliberate further, the trial ultimately ended with a deadlock, leading the Norfolk County Superior Court judge to declare a mistrial on July 1.
That same day, Massachusetts State Police announced that Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, had been removed from his position “effective immediately.” He was set to be transferred out of Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective’s Unit. Proctor was reportedly suspended without pay, per Vanity Fair.
During his testimony, Proctor was forced to read vulgar and derogatory texts he had sent about Read, including offensive language and a wish for her to take her own life. The former professor’s attorneys argued that Proctor was biased due to his personal ties to the Alberts and others involved that night, alleging that he had planted evidence of a broken taillight at the scene.
Additionally, reports surfaced that five jurors have since come forward contesting the hung jury, claiming that the jury had unanimously voted to acquit Read on two of the three charges, according to a motion published by WHDH and reviewed by PEOPLE. They were deadlocked on the manslaughter charge.
Will there be a retrial for Karen Read?
Karen Read appearing in court on June 10, 2022.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty
Immediately following the mistrial, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that “The Commonwealth intends to re-try the case.”
The new trial is slated for January 2025, during which Morrissey’s office will again prosecute Read on all three charges.
On Nov. 6, Read and her lawyers appeared in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to appeal Cannone’s decision to deny Read’s request to dismiss two of three charges against her, the Associated Press reported. Her lawyers claimed that trying her again amounts to double jeopardy.
The Boston Globe reported that Martin G. Weinberg, an appellate lawyer for Read, said that their appeal amounts to a fight for “protections that safeguard defendants, in this case Ms. Read, from re-prosecution for the very same offenses from which a prior jury was discharged without manifest necessity [for a mistrial declaration], without her consent.”
Where is Karen Read now?
Karen Read and her lawyers addressing the media in front of Norfolk Superior Court after a mistrial is declared on July 1, 2024.
Getty
Following O’Keefe’s death, Read spent the first few months mourning and reminiscing about her relationship and trying to distract herself by wallpapering the house, cooking with her mother, and reading, Vanity Fair reported. At the time, she was still in shock from the death, leading her to question whether she had accidentally killed him.
She recalled telling her parents, “If I did anything in any way, I’ll pay my dues. That’s how this should work. I want to know the truth — good, bad, ugly.”
After two years of replaying the events, uncovering evidence and being put on the stand, Read maintains her side of the story. “I did not kill John O’Keefe. I’ve never harmed a hair on John O’Keefe’s head,” she told Nightline.
Since being charged with three counts in February 2022, Read has lost both of her jobs, health insurance, car and life savings, according to Vanity Fair. Additionally, her privacy has been compromised — police visited her home three times, taken her phones twice (and shared her private text messages) and subpoenaed her family’s financial records, per the outlet.
“Other than feeling wrongfully persecuted and prosecuted, I feel incredibly violated,” Read told the magazine.
According to the outlet, the former professor is relying on what is left of her 401(k) as she faces over $5 million in deferred fees for her defense team. She has reportedly sold her Mansfield home to cover legal expenses and has been staying with friends and family while awaiting her second trial.
“This is no life. I’m not in prison, but this is no life. I’m stressed every day. I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop,” Read told 20/20in September 2024. “It just feels like a kind of purgatory.”
