Key Takeaways:
- Karen Read was charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in June 2022.
- The murder trial became a national news story as Read professed her innocence and doubts about the investigation into O’Keefe’s January 2022 death were raised.
- After her 2024 case ended in a mistrial, Read was found not guilty of most charges in June 2025. She now faces a wrongful death lawsuit.
On January 29, 2022, the body of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, was found in the snow in a fellow police officer’s yard. Authorities quickly concluded that O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, a 41-year-old financial analyst and adjunct professor, had killed him by striking him with her car. Three days later, she was arrested on charges of manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident. That June, a grand jury indicted her for second-degree murder.
But Read’s defense team soon alleged the investigation into O’Keefe’s death had been a cover-up to protect someone with ties to law enforcement that left Read taking the fall. After a mistrial in 2024, her second trial resulted in an acquittal in June 2025 on the charges of murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a crime.
Despite the official resolution, questions still surround O’Keefe’s death and the case against Read. Even today, she remains mired in legal proceedings related to her late boyfriend’s death. Here’s an overview of the legal twists and turns in the case that enthralled the public and what to know about Karen Read today.
The Death of John O’Keefe
Both sides agree on some facts surrounding O’Keefe’s death. On the night of January 28, 2022, despite an impending blizzard, he and Read were drinking at two bars in Canton, Massachusetts. They were then invited to the house of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston cop. Read drove there with O’Keefe, arriving at 34 Fairview Road at approximately 12:20 a.m. on January 29.
Read didn’t stay long. By approximately 12:36 a.m., she had returned to O’Keefe’s house, also in Canton. She went on to call her boyfriend more than 50 times, leaving angry voicemails like, “John, I f––ing hate you!” and “You’re f––ing another girl!”
At around 6 a.m. that day, Read returned to Albert’s house with Jennifer McCabe, a friend of O’Keefe’s and Albert’s sister-in-law, and another woman. Read spotted her boyfriend’s body lying in the snow outside the house. McCabe called 911, but it was too late to save O’Keefe’s life.
The state’s medical examiner found that O’Keefe died due to blunt impact head injuries and hypothermia. All that was left was to determine who, if anyone, was responsible for his death.
Prosecutors alleged Read drove into O’Keefe and left him out in the cold
Suspicion of Read’s involvement in her late boyfriend’s death formed quickly. Her SUV, which authorities said had a broken passenger-side taillight, was seized as evidence. Investigators then found pieces of the taillight from her SUV where O’Keefe’s body was discovered. Read was soon arrested but had to wait more than two years for her trial to begin.
Come April 2024, prosecutors’ version of events asserted that her two-year relationship with O’Keefe was in trouble. She’d consumed multiple alcoholic beverages before driving to the Albert house, where she rammed her SUV backwards into O’Keefe after he got out of the car. Read then drove away, leaving her injured boyfriend outside in a blizzard unable to seek shelter or get help.
McCabe testified that Read said, “I hit him,” after finding O’Keefe’s body. First responders at the scene also said they heard this.
Read claimed there was a cover-up that wrongly framed her
Read’s defense team noted that O’Keefe had no significant injuries below his neck and didn’t seem like he’d been struck by a car. Plus, injuries on O’Keefe’s arm looked like bites and scratches from a dog. The Albert family had a German shepherd who was known to be aggressive with strangers. The dog was in the house that night, though it was rehomed a few months later.
Read’s defense lawyer also received an anonymous call telling him to look at the people who were inside the house when O’Keefe died. The caller said O’Keefe had entered the Albert home, a fight ensued, and O’Keefe was then left outside.
The defense theory began to coalesce: Local law enforcement was banding together to protect one of their own, either an officer or a family member. Investigators never searched inside the Albert house for evidence. Read’s defense said pieces from her taillight, which according to them was only slightly broken when her car was seized, could have been planted at the scene of the crime. They pointed out that these pieces were only discovered after police officers had access to the vehicle.
The country watched in fascination as Read’s first trial unfolded
As these dueling narratives played out in court, people across the nation were riveted by the case. That’s partially thanks to a local blogger named Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney whose posts and videos began drawing attention to Read’s case in 2023. Turtleboy insisted Read was innocent and called out what he’d dubbed the “Canton Cover-Up.” Kearney went so far as to record himself confronting potential witnesses before Read’s trial started, leading to his ongoing charges of witness intimidation.
Read also spoke publicly about the case, an unusual move for most people in her situation. She declared she hadn’t killed O’Keefe and that there was a cover-up surrounding his death. Her interviews, including for the 2025 docuseries A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, and Turtleboy’s coverage attracted more people to come to Read’s defense. Supporters in pink gathered outside the courthouse with signs and chants of “Free Karen Read.”
Inside the courtroom, several surprising revelations came to light during the two-month trial. Some involved phone records and evidence tied to Albert, McCabe, and ATF officer Brian Higgins, who had all been at the Albert house on the night of O’Keefe’s death. Early on January 29, Albert and Higgins had phoned each other, while McCabe called O’Keefe’s phone seven times. They all categorized these as accidental “butt dials.”
Moreover, Higgins’s and Albert’s phones couldn’t be examined because both men got rid of them the day before receiving orders to preserve their phones and their contents. Albert said he’d upgraded his phone, while Higgins said someone linked to an investigation had accessed his information leading him to toss his phone and its SIM card at a military base.
In June 2024, the prosecution introduced a video showing Read’s car in the police garage, with the passenger-side taillight seemingly in view. The next day, the defense pointed out that the video had been inverted and actually showed the driver’s side of the vehicle. Outside the courthouse, Read’s attorney pointed out that the video’s timestamp wasn’t inverted and called it an effort to mislead.
Then there were the text messages state trooper Michael Proctor had sent while acting as the lead investigator on the case. In a group chat with friends discussing Read, he wrote, “Zero chance she skates” and “Hopefully she kills herself.” When a friend asked if the homeowner would be in trouble, Proctor answered, “Nope. Homeowner is a Boston cop, too.” Proctor also told colleagues he hadn’t found nude photos on Read’s seized phone. (Although Proctor said these messages hadn’t affected the integrity of his work, he has been terminated from his job but is appealing that decision.)
Ultimately, on July 1, 2024, the foreperson said the jury couldn’t agree on a verdict. The judge declared a mistrial, but Read wasn’t yet in the clear.
Read was acquitted at her retrial but convicted of a lesser offense
The Norfolk County district attorney’s office opted to retry Read on all charges. However, the second trial had a special prosecutor. Vanity Fair reported this was because no one in the office was willing to oversee the retrial. In a coup for Read, one of the jurors from the first trial, who had been designated as an alternate before deliberations, was so dismayed by what she viewed as legal wrongs in the case that she joined the defense team for the second trial.
Opening statements began this April, and unlike in the first trial, several key witnesses didn’t take the stand. That included Albert, Higgins and Proctor, though a friend of Proctor’s testified about his unprofessional texts.
On June 18, 2025, the jury acquitted Read of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a crime. However, they did find her guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence. The judge sentenced Read to one year of probation.
After the trial, a juror told ABC News “the sloppy police investigation” had kept her from being able to believe the prosecution’s case. “It could be tampering, that’s a possibility. It could just be bad police work,” the juror said. “But if anyone had done their job correctly, we wouldn’t be in this position.”
What’s Next for Karen Read
Read’s hard-fought innocence came at a price. She spent her savings and sold her house to pay for legal fees, but even as several members of her defense team worked pro bono in her second trial, Read still owes millions.
She also faces a civil suit for wrongful death. O’Keefe’s family filed the lawsuit against Read in August 2024, but it was delayed while she faced criminal charges. Read has attempted to have the suit tossed or select claims dismissed but has been unsuccessful so far.
A hearing in the wrongful death lawsuit took place Monday. If the case progresses to a trial, Read’s acquittal doesn’t guarantee her a positive outcome. That’s because civil trials have a lower burden of proof than criminal ones.
As Read seeks another legal victory, her criminal saga has already fueled multiple documentaries, and Prime Video is working on a limited series dramatization with Elizabeth Banks set to star as Read. Now, the 45-year-old is working on her own book and a scripted adaptation of her story with her attorney Alan Jackson.
The lawyer has been one of her most adamant supporters over the years. As he explained to Vanity Fair, he warned Read she’ll be a different person after these experiences. Jackson says he told her, “It’s going to take you a minute to figure out what the new normal is for Karen Read.”
Sara Kettler is a Connecticut-based freelance writer who has written for Biography.com, History, and the A&E True Crime blog. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America and also pens mystery novels. Outside of writing, she likes dogs, Broadway shows, and studying foreign languages.
