A murderous romance or a frame job? Things to know about Boston's Karen Read murder trial

BOSTON -- A highly anticipated proceedings began successful Massachusetts this week involving a pistillate accused of striking her Boston constabulary serviceman fellow with her SUV and leaving him for dormant successful a snowbank.

John O’Keefe died successful a suburb astir 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boston connected Jan. 29, 2022.

The lawsuit has garnered nationalist attraction due to the fact that the defence alleges authorities and section instrumentality enforcement officials person framed her and allowed the existent slayer to spell free.

Here are the facts and ineligible arguments successful the case:

Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, faces respective charges including second-degree execution successful the decease of John O’Keefe, 46. The 16-year constabulary seasoned was recovered unresponsive extracurricular the location of a chap Boston constabulary officer.

After a nighttime retired drinking astatine respective bars, prosecutors accidental Read dropped O'Keefe disconnected astatine a location enactment conscionable aft midnight. As she made a three-point turn, Read allegedly struck O'Keefe earlier driving away. She returned hours aboriginal to find him successful a snowbank.

Part of what prosecutors are trying to bash is amusement Read's actions were intentional. To bash that, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally started offering up grounds showing the mates had a stormy narration that had begun to “sour” successful the period earlier O'Keefe died. The prosection's archetypal witness, O'Keefe's member Paul, testified they would regularly reason including implicit what Read fed his 2 adopted children and that helium witnessed a 2021 combat the mates had successful Cape Cod implicit however O'Keefe treated her.

Paul O'Keefe's wife, Erin, testified that Read told her the mates fought successful Aruba aft she caught O'Keefe kissing different woman.

In their opening statement, the defence squad laid retired plans to represent the probe into O'Keefe's decease arsenic shoddy and undermined by the adjacent narration investigators had with the constabulary and different instrumentality enforcement agents astatine the location party.

They argued investigators focused connected Read due to the fact that she was a “convenient outsider” and that prevented them from considering different suspects. They program to reason idiosyncratic different than Read was liable for O'Keefe's decease but person lone floated a mentation that helium was beaten wrong the location and near for dormant outside.

They besides criticized investigators for failing to hunt the location wherever the enactment was held to spot if a combat had occurred and argued his injuries were accordant with being beaten up.

Prosecutors appeared aboriginal connected to beryllium relying connected Read's ain words to get a conviction. Most of the archetypal week has been dominated by archetypal responders, who elaborate a harrowing country that greeting successful January 2022.

They came upon O'Keefe lying look up and Read, distraught and screaming adjacent the body, appearing to person humor connected her rima from giving CPR.

The astir incriminating grounds this week came from respective archetypal responders who recalled Read telling them loudly and repeatedly that she “hit him,” though she ne'er said with her SUV.

Another witness, a constabulary serviceman among the archetypal connected the scene, testified Read said this was her responsibility and that she was responsible, though she didn't accidental however she was responsible.

The defence has worked to undermine the credibility of the archetypal responders testifying for the prosecution. They pointed retired mistakes connected a constabulary dispatch log, including the incorrect code wherever O’Keefe’s assemblage was found.

They besides got 1 witness, who testified to proceeding Read accidental O'Keefe's decease was her fault, to admit helium ne'er wrote that successful a constabulary report. They besides questioned different witness' representation and suggested different whitethorn person been excessively focused connected redeeming O'Keefe's beingness to beryllium capable to perceive Read accidental she deed O'Keefe.

The defence besides showed a video from the country to suggest that 1 archetypal responder, who claimed helium heard Read archer him she deed O'Keefe, was not shown talking to her.

They besides tried to works doubts successful the jury's caput astir the wide investigation, getting respective witnesses to accidental they ne'er heard Read accidental she deed O'Keefe nor did they spot dozens of pieces of her breached taillight astatine the scene, grounds which prosecutors accidental shows she backed into him.

The trial's archetypal fewer days besides elaborate the futile efforts of archetypal responders to prevention O'Keefe. They recovered him look up erstwhile they arrived conscionable earlier dawn connected Jan. 29.

One witnesser testified O'Keefe wasn't breathing nor did helium person a pulse. Another said his assemblage somesthesia was lone 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 Celsius), which helium described arsenic utmost hyperthermia.

O’Keefe's information ne'er changed, contempt archetypal responders’ lifesaving efforts connected the mode to a section hospital. He was pronounced dormant astatine the infirmary and an autopsy aboriginal recovered helium died of hypothermia and blunt unit trauma.