A Snowy Night and a Murder Mystery

The retrial of Karen Read, a 45-year-old woman from Mansfield, is underway. She is accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer named John O'Keefe. The jury selection process wrapped up on April 15, after three weeks of work. Out of the 18 people selected, 12 will make the final decisions, while the rest will be alternates. The prosecution claims that Read hit O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV during a snowstorm on January 29, 2022. This happened after a night of drinking outside a home in Canton. Read's defense team, however, has a different story. They believe that someone else is responsible for O'Keefe's death and that Read is a victim of a law enforcement cover-up. They plan to present data and evidence to support this claim. The prosecution's opening statement painted a vivid picture. Emergency medical technicians found Read screaming and O'Keefe lying in the snow. One EMT heard Read repeatedly saying, "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him. " The prosecution also mentioned that O'Keefe's cellphone contains crucial data that could reveal the truth. Since her arrest, Read has been vocal about her innocence. She has given numerous media interviews, including one with "Dateline" that was shown in court. In this interview, Read expressed doubt about whether she could have hit O'Keefe with her car. She wondered if she might have clipped him or tapped his knee, incapacitating him. She also mentioned that O'Keefe did not appear mortally wounded at the time. The defense's opening statement was equally compelling. Attorney Alan Jackson argued that O'Keefe's death was not caused by a vehicle accident. He suggested that O'Keefe was injured elsewhere, possibly inside the home, and then moved outside. Jackson also accused law enforcement of incompetence and deceit, claiming that the investigation was corrupted by disgraced officers. Read's legal team has expanded since her first trial, which ended in a hung jury. She now has five lawyers, including Victoria George, who was an alternate juror in the first trial. The prosecution is also led by a new attorney, Hank Brennan, who was part of James "Whitey" Bulger's defense team in 2013. The case has garnered significant public interest, leading Judge Beverly Cannone to reinstate and expand the buffer zone outside the courthouse. This is to prevent outside influence and distractions. Protesters, however, are challenging this order in court. The defense's strategy revolves around the idea that O'Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside. They argue that the injuries on O'Keefe's body are not consistent with a car accident. The retrial began after the first trial ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. Read's team has been fighting to get the charges dropped or the case thrown out entirely. A federal investigation into the case concluded without any charges being filed against the police.